Akira Kurosawa and Modern Japan

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

The samurai films of legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa are set in the past, but they tell us much about the present, as do his crime stories, romances, military films, medical dramas and art films. His movies are beloved for their ageless protagonists and haunting vistas of old Japan, but we haven’t yet fully grasped everything they can teach us about modern Japan. This detailed study of all 30 of Kurosawa’s films analyzes the links between the thrilling narratives onscreen and the equally remarkable events that occurred in Japan over his long, productive career.

Kurosawa’s films evolved as Japan redefined and reinvented itself, from films made for Japan’s wartime regime to those made amid the trials of American occupation. Could we change that sentence to the following?: Kurosawa’s films also include lavish epics from the economic miracle years and searching masterpieces he made with international assistance. This book explores how Kurosawa’s classics depict the political, economic, cultural, sexual and environmental upheavals of a nation at the center of a turbulent century, whether directly or through period-piece mythmaking.