Calico-world in rainbow colors: The aesthetics of gender in 1950s Toei Jidaigeki

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

The Toei period films of the late 1950s and early 1960s stand out in the history of postwar jidaigeki. Central to the aesthetics of gender in Toei jidaigekiis romance. The most popular singing star of 1950s Japan, Misora Hibari occupied the center of the star-driven Toei film culture. Sawashima Tadashi was among the up-and-coming directors who debuted in 1958, along with Masumura Yasuzo (Daiei), Nakahira Ko (Nikkatsu), and Imamura Shohei (Nikkatsu). In 1961, Okamoto Taro published an article on the new generations of postwar jidaigeki directors in Jidai Eiga, a monthly journal devoted to jidaigeki. As in the case of the dream sequence in Hibari's Ishimatsu, the ending of Samurai Vagabond falls short of the assumption that the experience of romantic love must be inherently oriented toward consummation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationA Companion to Japanese Cinema
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Pages130-148
Number of pages19
ISBN (Print)9781118955352
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 22 2022
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Arts and Humanities

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Hibari's Ishimatsu
  • Romantic love
  • Samurai Vagabond
  • Sawashima Tadashi
  • Toei film culture
  • Toei jidaigeki

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