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University of Shadow by Miyao,
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Duke University Press, 2013. All rights reserved. Downloaded 23 Oct 2016 18:14 at 76.176.70.208
The AesTheTics of
s h A d o w
s h A d o w
Lighting and Japanese Cinema
D a i s u k e M i ya o
DukeUniversityPress
DurhamandLondon 2013
Acknowledgments ix
IntroductIon
WhatistheaestheticsofshaDoW? 1
1.LightinganDcapitaList-i nDustriaL
MoDernity: Shochiku and Hollywood 15
2.fLashesofthesWorDanDthestar:
Shochiku and Jidaigeki 67
4.theaestheticsofshaDoW:
Shochiku, Toho, and Japan 173
conclusIon
thecineMatographyofMiyagaWakazuo 255
notes 283
BIBlIogrAphy 329
Index 365
IameternallygratefultothelateRobertSklar,mymentor.Ihad
countlessjoyfulmomentswithhimwhenwetalkedaboutfilms
and books. With his generosity, patience, and continuous en-
couragement,Ihavebeenabletotransformmyselffromanaïve
studentfrom Japanwhoknewverylittle about thepracticeof
cinemastudiesintoalittlemorearticulatefilmhistorian.Thank
yousoverymuch,ProfessorSklar.
IowesomuchtothebigheartofthelateKeikoI.McDonald.
Itwasmygreatpleasuretoreporttheprogressofmyresearchto
heratannualconferences.Ourmeetingswerealwaysafterher
dailyten-milerun,andshealwaysamazedmewithherpositive
energy.IamsorrythatIdidnothaveachancetorunthehistoric
HaywardFieldwithKeiko-sensei,whowasaUniversityofOre-
gonalumna.
SpecialthanksgotoKenWissokerofDukeUniversityPress.
Kenwastheveryfirstpersonwholistenedtomyinitialrough
ideaaboutwritingatransnationalhistoryofcinematiclighting.
ItwasinChicagoin2007whenmybookonSessueHayakawa
cameout.Hehasbeenenthusiasticaboutthisprojecteversince
andguidedmethroughalongandwindingroad.Thisbookisa
collaborationbetweenKenandme.
AsmyprojectinvolvedextensiveresearchbothintheUnited
States and Japan, I have been very fortunate to be assisted by
manyinstitutions.IthankaboveallCharlesSilverattheMuseum
ofModernArt,FilmStudyCenterinNewYork;OkajimaHisa-
x acknoWLeDgMents
acknoWLeDgMents xi
Whatistheaesthetics
ofshaDoW?
“‘Theaestheticsofshadow’[kage no bigaku]thatJapanesepeople
createdoveralongperiodoftimethroughoutlongyearsstays
deepinsideofourselvesnomatterhowmuchsocialtendencies
change.Wewanttobringout‘theaestheticsofshadow’fromits
hiddenplace,understanditcorrectly,anddoourbesttocreate
Japanesecinema.”SowroteYoshinoNobutaka,aproductionde-
signeratShochiku,oneofthemajorfilmcompaniesinJapan,in
thejournalEiga Shomeiin1979.1Cinemaisamediumoflightand
shadow.Cinemadoesnotexistwithouttheelectricallightbeam
thatpassesthroughthecelluloidstriptothrowashadowimage
ontoascreenbeforeaviewer.2Evenbeforetheprocessofpro-
jection,theproductionofmovingphotographicimagesisacon-
structioninlightandshadow.Evendigitalcamerasneedlightto
inputinformationtobetransformedintodata.Itisthereforeno
surprisethattheJapaneseproductiondesignerparticularlynoted
lightinginJapanesecinema.WhatattractsmeinYoshino’swords,
though,ishisstrongemphasisonshadow.Whatis“theaesthet-
icsofshadow”thathebelievedtobeveryimportantinJapanese
cinema?
In fact, Yoshino’s claim faithfully replicated the well-known
writing by renowned novelist Tanizaki Jun’ichiro, In Praise of
Shadows(“Ineiraisan,”December1933–January1934).Inhisdis-
cussionofJapanesearchitecture,Tanizakiwrites,“Ultimately,it
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