Reading Response Tokyo is a city in the earthquake zone, and in this small city, it has been forced to suffer more damage and reconstruction than other cities. Whether it is earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, nuclear pollution, these have kept Tokyo’s citizens in constant fear. Tokyo’s historical vulnerability to natural and man-made catastrophic events is reflected in popular culture’s fantasy of regular destruction (Tsutsui,2010). Although Tokyo was devastated by World War II, Japan responded by suppressing memories of this violence and looking away from reality (Murakami,as cited in Oh No, There Goes Tokyo,Unknown). Thus, monsters such as Godzilla

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Catastrophic genre is rather popular in Japanese film. Here are some reasons for such a preference on theme selection. Disastrous films mirror the historical vulnerability of Japan towards catastrophes caused by both by nature and mankind. For example, Tokyo had experienced several times of destruction and reconstruction in its five-and-half years of history. Besides, Hiroshima and Nagasaki’s trauma caused by atomic bombs is a major branch of Japan’ history related to disasters. Relying on disastrous films, Japanese film makers hope to release the unresolved tensions and terrors. Constructing films is also a path for reflecting on history. The theme is

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui

Japan as a popular site or reference for disaster films has a reason. Firstly, its unique geographical location — in the Circum-Pacific Mobile Belt, where there are constant seismic and volcanic activities. Although the country covers only 0.25% of the land area on the planet, 18.5% of earthquakes in the world occur in Japan, according to the World Geographical Distribution of Hypocenters and Plates. Despite the earthquake, tsunamis, typhoons, and destructive fires are also common in Japan. These all build Japan as an earthquake-prone country in everyone’s mind. Thus, while watching the film, we can be the “vicarious insideness” quoted

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui

In the reading Oh No, There Goes Tokyo， we get to know that why Japanese people are really keen on creating films that having giant monsters such as Godzilla or King kong destroying the city or featured architecture of the city, for example the Tokyo Tower. And in the second reading Technology and (Chinese) Ethnicity, the reason for them to make anime is quite similar. We all know that Japan is a country that has miserable history, as typical example: the earthquake, nuclear boom. All of these disasters gave unimaginable damage to Japan, not only to people, also the government,

Continue readingReading Response: Darrell William Davis AND William M. Tsutsui

In the disaster films of Japan, there are always some different perspectives which could be found. Donald Richie has pointed out that the way disasters are depicted in these films is influenced by reality or geography and he further confirmed this view; and “the truth of this observation is graphically illustrated in a land yearly ravaged by typhoons, a country where the very earth quakes daily.” An earthquake or tsunami that ruins homes in broad areas and sends entire cities into terror is a recurring scene in disaster films. Following that, the reconstruction following the destruction must be mentioned. As

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After reading, I have some new views on Japan’s disaster culture. After world War II, disasters not only became a part of life, but also became the eternal theme of creation. To some extent, the fantasy of creation is also the reflection of reality. In my opinion, this Japanese disaster movie is not only a kind of “nostalgia culture”, that is, it shows the impact of disaster on Japanese society and economy through virtual reappearance of disaster or horror fantasy and abstraction, but also shows “rare hope and beauty in disaster” in the form of “doomsday art”. For example, Ultraman

Continue readingReading Response:William M. TsutsuI

Through the tutorial study, I have a new view on the shaping of terrorist elements in doomsday movies. Disaster films are usually natural, man-made and invasive. Japan is one of the countries with outstanding disaster film production. After reading, I think Japanese apocalyptic films mainly convey their emotions and goals in two ways. The first is to abstract the disaster through the imagination of terror to achieve a “security terror” effect for the audience. In disaster movies in the decades after World War II, directors often used “monsters” as the theme of horror imagination elements and added a happy ending

Continue readingReading Response: William M. Tsutsui