Atomic Bomb in Japanese Cinema

Matthew Edwards is a primary school teacher and freelance writer from Cirencester, England. He is the author or editor of numerous books on world cinema.

“A valuable contribution”—Steve Okazaki, Emmy award winning director; “A fascinating and enlightening read”— Ian and Dominic Higgins, film directors; “So incredibly honored to be a part of this wonderful collection of essays that explore the extensive collection of stories about the atomic bomb in popular cinema.”—Steve Nguyen, film director; “A work of immense scholarship and devoted passion”—David Rothauser, director.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPreface • Matthew EdwardsIntroduction • Matthew EdwardsPrologue: Hiroshima/Nagasaki • Matthew EdwardsPart I: Gojira and the BombThe Rhetorical Significance of Gojira: Equipment for Living Through Trauma • Shannon StevensJapan Removed: Godzilla Adaptations and Erasure of the Politics of Nuclear Experience • Jason C. JonesAtomic Reaction: Godzilla as Metaphor for Generational Attitudes toward the United States and the Bomb • John VohlidkaPart II: Japanese Atomic Cinema, 1945–2014Suppression and Censorship: Japanese Cinema During the Occupation • Matthew EdwardsPica-don: Japanese and American Reception and Promotion of Hideo Sekigawa’s Hiroshima • Mick Broderick and Junko HatoriThe Shadow of the Bomb in Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face of Another • Tony PritchardNuclear Skin: Hiroshima and the Critique of Embodiment in Affairs Within Walls • Julia AlekseyevaThe Atomic Bomb Experience and the Japanese Family in Keiji Nakazawa’s Anime Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen) • Kenji KanekoYuichi and Jizō in Black Rain: Imamura’s Phenomenological Attempt to Render a Hiroshima Wormhole Experience Among His Audience • Keiko Takioto MillerTrauma and Witness in Hideo Nakata’s Ring • Tienfong HoThe Fragile Roots of Memory • Robert McParlandInconceivable Anxiety: Representation, Disease and Discrimination in ­Atomic-Bomb Films • Yuki MiyamotoKazuo Kuroki and Hisashi Inoue’s Chichi to kuraseba: Remember, Protest and Return to Ordinary Life • Yoshiko FukushimaBreaking the Silence of the Atomic Bomb Survivors in the Japanese Graphic Novel Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms and the Film Adaptation • Senjo NakaiThe Sound of the Bomb: Gō Shibata’s NN-891102  • Johannes SchönherrPart III: Western PerspectivesHiroshima Films: Cultural Contexts Before, During and After the Cold War • Greg Nielsen and Margaret M. FerraraHiroshima: An Interview with Director Roger Spottiswoode • Matthew EdwardsWhite Light/Black Rain: The “Atomic Films” of Steven Okazaki • Matthew EdwardsA[nime] Bomb: An Interview with Hibakusha Director Steve Nguyen • Matthew EdwardsHibakusha: Our Life to Live: An Interview with Director David Rothauser • Matthew EdwardsAll That Remains: An Interview with Ian and Dominic Higgins • Matthew EdwardsAppendix: Japanese Titles of Films Referenced in TextAbout the ContributorsIndex