Scouting for scripts: Mizuki Yōko and social issue film in post-war Japan | Intellect Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Journal of Screenwriting
  4. Volume 11, Issue 3
  5. Article
Women in Screenwriting
  • ISSN: 1759-7137
  • E-ISSN: 1759-7145

Abstract

During the heyday of the studio system in Japan in the 1950s, Mizuki Yōko (1910–2003) was one of Japan’s most prominent and celebrated screenwriters. Despite screenwriting being a markedly homosocial profession, Mizuki forged a remarkable career as a freelance writer, working both for major studios and independent productions. Her collaboration with directors such as Naruse Mikio and, above all, Imai Tadashi resulted in a string of critically acclaimed films. While Imai’s films were lauded by contemporary critics, his approach to directing has subsequently been regarded, especially by western scholars, as somewhat impersonal and his sympathies too leftist. Conversely, these social issue () films, often based on original screenplays by Mizuki, scrupulously displayed the anxieties and ambiguities of the post-war era when the social fabric of Japan was radically reconfigured as its people embraced the newly imported values of democracy and consumerism. In this article, I examine the contributions of Mizuki to the oft-neglected oeuvre of Imai and social issue film in particular. I argue that besides pointing at the capacity and bounds of narrative cinema to engage with timely and sensitive social topics, Mizuki’s working methods underline a screenwriter’s awareness of her own agency in filmmaking.

© 2020 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00033_1
2020-09-01
2024-04-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aa himeyuri no tō (Ah, Tower of Lilies) ( 1968), Iwai Motonari and Ishimori Fumio (wrs), Masuda Toshio (dir.) , Japan:: Nikkatsu;.
  2. Anderson, Joseph L., and Richie, Donald. ( [1982] 1959), The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, Princeton, NJ:: Princeton University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Aoi sanmyaku (Blue Mountain Range) ( 1949), Imai Tadashi and Ide Toshirō (wrs), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Tōhō/Fujimoto Production;.
  4. Are ga minato no hi da (These Are the Harbour Lights) ( 1961), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Tōei;.
  5. Brief Encounter ( 1945), Noël Coward, Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean and Ronald Neame (wrs), David Lean (dir.) , UK:: Eagle-Lion;.
  6. Cazdyn, Eric. ( 2002), The Flash of Capital: Film and Geopolitics in Japan, Durham, NC:: Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Choi, Sungwook. ( 2013), Imai Tadashi: Senji to sengo no aida (‘Imai Tadashi: Between wartime and postwar’), Tokyo:: Kurein;.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Dew, Oliver. ( 2016), Zainichi Cinema: Korean-in-Japan Film Culture, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Ehara, Shinjirō, and Nakahara, Hitomi. ( 1990;), ‘ Kantoku to no deai wa watashitachi no zaisan’ (‘Meeting with the director was our fortune’). , in Eiga no Hon Kōbō Arisu. (ed.), Imai Tadashi ‘zenshigoto’: Sukuriin no aru jinsei (‘“The oeuvre” of Imai Tadashi: A life of screen’), Tokyo:: ACT;, pp. 231–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. High, Peter B.. ( 2003), The Imperial Screen: Japanese Film Culture in the Fifteen Years’ War, 1931–1945, Madison, WI:: University of Wisconsin Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Himeyuri no tō (The Tower of Lilies) ( 1953), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Tōei;.
  12. Himeyuri no tō (The Tower of Lilies) ( 1982), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Geiensha;.
  13. Himeyuri no tō (The Tower of Lilies) ( 1995), Kōyama Seijirō and Katō Nobuyo (wrs), Kōyama Seijirō (dir.) , Japan:: Tōhō;.
  14. Hiroshima mon amour ( 1959), Marguerite Duras (wr.), Alain Resnais (dir.) , France:: Pathé;.
  15. Imai, Tadashi. ( 1952;), ‘ Mizuki-san to shinario’ (‘Mizuki and scenarios’). , in M. Yōko., Himeyuri no tō, Okāsan, Mata au hi made: Mizuki Yōko shinarioshū (‘The Tower of Lilies, Mother, Until We Meet Again: Collection of Mizuki Yōko’s Scenarios’), Tokyo:: Hōbunkan;, pp. 1–3.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Imai, Tadashi. ( 1990;), ‘ Omoitsuku mama’ (‘As it occurs to me’). , in Eiga no Hon Kōbō Arisu. (ed.), Imai Tadashi ‘zenshigoto’: Sukuriin no aru jinsei (‘“The oeuvre” of Imai Tadashi: A life of screen’), Tokyo:: ACT;, pp. 15–164.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Imai Tadashi Kantoku o Kataritsugu-kai (ed.) ( 2012), Imai Tadashi eiga tokuhon (‘Imai Tadashi’s cinema reader’), Tokyo:: Ronsōsha;.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Jacoby, Alexander. ( 2008), A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day, Berkeley, CA:: Stone Bridge Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Jun’ai monogatari (A Story of Pure Love) ( 1957), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Tōei;.
  20. Kagawa, Kyōko. ( 1990;), ‘ Kakasareta sakubun’ (‘An essay I was made to write’). , in Eiga no Hon Kōbō Arisu. (ed.), Imai Tadashi ‘zenshigoto’: Sukuriin no aru jinsei (‘“The oeuvre” of Imai Tadashi: A life of screen’), Tokyo:: ACT;, p. 299.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Katō, Kaoru. ( 2010), Kyakuhonka Mizuki Yōko: Ōinaru eiga to sono shōgai (‘Screenwriter Mizuki Yōko: Great legacy in cinema and her life’), Tokyo:: Eijinsha;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Kigeki: Nippon no obaachan (A Comedy: Japanese Grandmas) ( 1962), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: M.I.I. Production;.
  23. Kiku to Isamu (Kiku and Isamu) ( 1959), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Daitō;.
  24. Kitagawa, Fuyuhiko. ( 1955;), ‘ Mizuki Yōko. ’, Kinema junpō, November, pp. 62–64.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Kitsnik, Lauri. ( 2016;), ‘ Scenario writers and scenario readers in the golden age of Japanese cinema. ’, Journal of Screenwriting, 7:3, pp. 285–97.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Kitsnik, Lauri,, Selbo, Jule, and Smith, Michael. ( 2015;), ‘ Japan. ’, in J. Nelmes, and J. Selbo. (eds), Women Screenwriters: An International Guide, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 108–30.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Koko ni izumi ari (Here Is a Spring) ( 1955), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Chūō;.
  28. Mata au hi made (Until We Meet Again) ( 1950), Mizuki Yōko and Yasumi Toshio (wrs), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Tōhō;.
  29. Mizuki, Yōko. ( 1952), Himeyuri no tō, Okāsan, Mata au hi made: Mizuki Yōko shinarioshū (‘The Tower of Lilies, Mother, Until We Meet Again: Collection of Mizuki Yōko’s Scenarios’), Tokyo:: Hōbunkan;.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Mizuki, Yōko. ( 1964;), ‘ Shinario sakuho zakkan’ (‘Impressions on screenwriting techniques’). , in Kinema Junpō zokan: Shinario sannin-shu: Hashimoto Shinobu, Mizuki Yōko, Shindō Kaneto, Tokyo:: Kinema Junpōsha;, p. 124.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Mizuki, Yōko, and Imai, Tadashi. ( 1995;), ‘ Taidan: Mizuki Yōko + Imai Tadashi’ (‘Conversation: Mizuki Yōko + Imai Tadashi’). , in Shinario Sakka Kyōkai. (ed.), Mizuki Yōko: Hito to shinario (‘Mizuki Yōko: The person and scenarios’), Tokyo:: Shinario Sakka Kyōkai;, pp. 380–85.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Naitō, Hisako. ( 2008;), ‘ Kyakuhonka Mizuki Yōko to eiga Are ga minato no hi da’ (‘Screenwriter Mizuki Yōko and the film There Are the Harbour Lights’). , Shōhoku kiyō, 29, pp. 95–107.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Naruse, Mikio. ( 1952;), ‘ Jo’ (‘Preface’). , in M. Yōko. (ed.), Himeyuri no tō, Okāsan, Mata au hi made: Mizuki Yōko shinarioshū (‘The Tower of Lilies, Mother, Until We Meet Again: Collection of Mizuki Yōko’s Scenarios’), Tokyo:: Hōbunkan;, pp. 4–5.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Nigorie (Muddy Waters) ( 1953), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Imai Tadashi (dir.) , Japan:: Shinseiki Production/Bungakuza;.
  35. Onna no isshō (The Life of a Woman) ( 1949), Yasumi Toshio and Mizuki Yōko (wrs), Kamei Fumio (dir.) , Japan:: Tōhō/Fujimoto Production;.
  36. Otōto (Brother) ( 1960), Mizuki Yōko (wr.), Ichikawa Kon (dir.) , Japan:: Daiei;.
  37. Rashōmon ( 1950), Kurosawa Akira and Hashimoto Shinobu (wrs), Kurosawa Akira (dir.) , Japan:: Daiei;.
  38. Rebel Without a Cause ( 1955), Stewart Stern (wr.), Nicholas Ray (dir.) , USA:: Warner Bros;.
  39. Richie, Donald. ( 2001), A Hundred Years of Japanese Film, Tokyo:: Kodansha International;.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Rolland, Romain. ( 1922), Pierre and Luce (trans. C. De Kay.), New York:: Henry Holt and Co;.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Rolland, Romain. ( 1946), Pieeru to Ryūsu (‘Pierre and Luce’) (trans. M. Miyamoto.), Nara:: Yōtokusha;.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Russell, Catherine. ( 2008), The Cinema of Naruse Mikio: Women and Japanese Modernity, Durham, NC and London:: Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Satō, Tadao. ( 2003;), ‘ Kyakuhonka Mizuki Yōko no shigoto: Sengo Nihon eiga no mottomo jūyōna kyakuhonka no hitori’ (‘The work of the screenwriter Mizuki Yōko: One of the most important screenwriters of postwar Japanese cinema’). , Kinema junpō, July, pp. 132–34.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Satō, Tadao. ( 2010;), ‘ Mizuki Yōko to Imai Tadashi’ (‘Mizuki Yōko and Imai Tadashi’). , Shinario, 66:9, pp. 24–27.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Standish, Isolde. ( 2005), A New History of Japanese Cinema: A Century of Narrative Film, New York and London:: Continuum;.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Kitsnik, Lauri. ( 2020;), ‘ Scouting for scripts: Mizuki Yōko and social issue film in post-war Japan. ’, Journal of Screenwriting, 11:3, pp. 265–285, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00033_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00033_1
Loading
Scouting for scripts: Mizuki Yōko and social issue film in post-war Japan
Journal of Screenwriting 11, 265 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1386/josc_00033_1
/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00033_1
/content/journals/10.1386/josc_00033_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): anti-war film; hibakusha; Imai Tadashi; Japanese cinema; melodrama; Zainichi cinema

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error