In his article, Tsutsui makes a connection between the popularity of disaster films in Japan and social problems in Japan. It is well known that disaster films illustrate the devastating impact that disasters have on society and the built environment. It is popular for a reason: Japan is known as a nation with a high density of citizens, and indeed a big income gap between the rich and poor. Films about disasters often depict such a world after a huge disaster; the world is rebuilt to eliminate the gap. In such a world, everyone gets to begin on equal footing.

Continue readingReading Response: Darrell William Davis

A common theme I’ve always noticed in futuristic dystopian films is that the cyberpunk world is portrayed to bear a striking resemblance to Hong Kong, or Chinatown. Watching the clip of ‘Ghost in a Shell’ evoked an eerie sense of familiarity, the neon lights, the bamboo scaffolding, the large frames and signs that stretch across the street, all reminded me of the urban landscape I grew up in.  It left me wondering – just like after seeing Blade Runner – why are such depictions, using visuals from specifically this city, so successful in creating the cold and suffocating picture of

Continue reading[Reading Response: Darrell William Davis]

The virtual end of the world happens far more often in Tokyo than anywhere else, whether it’s a monster (Godzilla) or a disaster, like an earthquake or an atomic bomb. The surprising popularity of this disaster culture in Japan may have something to do with Japan’s ‘history vulnerability’. Disaster is a wound that is hard to heal but is brought up repeatedly in the film because this fantasy will normalize and naturalize the unbearable things. These movies often have happy endings, which compare with relatively realistic. Furthermore, there is no denying that people may sometimes indulge in the aesthetics of

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui

Tsutsui talked about the reasons why the Japanese are keen on disaster films. The mainstream view is that they reflect the Nation’s fear and post-disaster trauma of frequent natural (earthquake, tsunami) and man-made disasters (war, nuclear bombs) in its history (the creation of Godzilla is a straightforward metaphor for Japan’s fear of nuclear bomb). At the same time, the entertaining expression of monsters and fantasy elements in the films can also be recognized as a distraction from people’s anxiety and wounds about reality. The ending of Japanese disaster films often demonstrates certain optimism –monsters are knocked down and damaged cities

Continue readingReading Response:William M. Tsutsui

Japanese monster films introduce not only monsters but also catastrophic events (natural and manmade). Take earthquake and Godzilla as examples. Earthquake is usually being featured in Japanese films and is due to natural factors. Likewise, Godzilla is a rather well-known fictional monster created by the Japanese. It was empowered by nuclear radiation.   Tsutsui argues that the elements mentioned in these Japanese monster films are closely related to their culture and history. These elements have mirrored Japan’s ‘historical vulnerability’. The article also mentions that most of these films have a happy ending, in contrast to the harsh reality. Furthermore, Tsutsui

Continue reading[Reading Response]: William M. Tsutsui

In Oh No, There Goes Tokyo, William discussed the relationship between Japan’s history and its disaster fictional movies. The geography of Japan has shaped its conditions for frequent natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis etc. Besides, the war brought disaster and trauma to Japan. Both conditions have shaped Japan into another disaster capital in the movie world. This chapter also discusses the effect or purpose of this kind of movie. On one side, movie makers claimed replacing those events in movies could release citizens’ deep anxieties and psychological stress in the postwar. On the other hand, some people consider

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui

Japanese disaster films often feature giant monsters, cities destroyed, and the end of the earth. These things, in William’s view, are related to the history of Japan. After Japan has experienced various disasters, in order to make themselves able to get out of the disaster, the Japanese have made many disaster movies. In the midst of disasters, victims are often greeted with intense warmth. And then the part about race, some movies will shoot some multi-racial places, such as Chinatown. It’s easy to shoot different cultures and metaphysics in these kinds of places, these elements make the film more interesting,

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui

William M. Tsutsui in his book chapter called “Oh No, There Goes Tokyo” discussed the relationship between apocalyptic films and Japanese history. It investigated the postwar history of Japan and found out the fantasy of annihilation in popular culture is indeed reflecting Japan’s vulnerable history of man-made and natural disasters. Examples such as the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2. This history was expressed by different filmmakers and animation makers. Another point the author quoted from Susan Sontag that has mentioned is the reasons why imagination of disaster can be such a popular mainstream in film

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui

Willian dug deep into the connection of Japan’s disaster movie craze with social problems and historical issues. I think the disaster movie craze plays the same role as the low desire society when considering their effects on society. Explicit social stratification makes the lower middle class under high pressure. The imagination of massive disasters breaks social rules. As Willian said in the article, people “put aside their difference.” The class difference would weaken after the apocalypse. All their worry is gone with the social rules. Thus, Movies give people a way to escape from dissatisfactory reality. From the historical perspective,

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui