Japan in the Asia-Pacific War years is usually remembered for economic deprivation, political repression, and cultural barrenness. Benjamin Uchiyama argues that although the war created the opportunity for the state to expand its control over society and mass culture, it also fractured Japanese people's sense of identity, spilling out through a cultural framework which is best understood as 'carnival war'. In this cultural history, we are introduced to five symbolic figures: the thrill-seeking reporter, the defiant munitions worker, the tragic soldier, the elusive movie star, and the glamorous youth aviator. Together they represent both the suppression and proliferation of cultural life in wartime Japan and demonstrate that 'carnival war' coexisted with total war to promote consumerist desire versus sacrifice, fantasy versus nightmare, and beauty versus horror. Ultimately, Uchiyama argues, this duality helped mobilize home front support for the war effort.
Author(s): Benjamin Uchiyama
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 294
Tags: Japan, Mass Culture, Asia-Pacific War
Cover......Page 1
Half-title page......Page 3
Title page......Page 5
Copyright page......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
List of
Figures......Page 9
Acknowledgments......Page 12
The Circus Freak......Page 15
Writing a History of Total War......Page 19
Cultural Practice versus Cultural Ideology......Page 28
The Idea of Carnival......Page 30
Carnival War......Page 31
The Five Kings of Carnival War......Page 34
1 The Reporter......Page 37
The Censor Becomes the “Effeminate Bookworm”......Page 41
The Reporter Becomes the “War Correspondent”......Page 45
The Thrills of Total War and the Crowning of the “Thrill Hunter”......Page 50
The Speed of Total War......Page 54
Thrills and Kills......Page 59
“’Tis the Season for the Fall of Nanjing!”......Page 68
Wild Dancing in Ginza......Page 75
The Decrowning of the “Thrill Hunter”......Page 76
2 The Munitions Worker......Page 81
Early Wartime Mobilization and Its Consequences......Page 84
The Profile of the Munitions Worker......Page 91
The Munitions Worker in Disguise......Page 95
The Munitions Worker Becomes the Industrial Warrior......Page 103
Conclusion......Page 115
3 The Soldier......Page 119
The Soldier Speeds Up......Page 120
The Military God Becomes a Sentimental Soldier......Page 123
The “Humanity” of the Wakizaka Unit......Page 131
“Heartfelt Comforts” from the Home Front......Page 135
The “Comforts” of the Warfront......Page 145
The Crowning of the Returned Soldier......Page 150
The Returned Soldier as Soldier-Freak......Page 158
The Rage of the Returned Soldier......Page 161
The Sorrow of the Returned Soldier......Page 164
The Guardians of the Returned Soldier......Page 166
Decrowning the Soldier......Page 174
4 The Movie Star......Page 176
Controlling the Movie Star: The Road to the Film Law......Page 179
The Film Law and the Registration System......Page 184
The Movie Star in the New Film Order......Page 190
The Case of Mito Mitsuko......Page 192
The Limits of Mobilizing Movie Stars......Page 195
Conclusion......Page 212
5 The Youth Aviator......Page 216
The Tragic Kamikaze Pilot......Page 218
The Foundations of Aviation Culture......Page 221
The Crowning of the Youth Aviator......Page 223
The Youth Aviator as Consumer-Fan......Page 239
The Youth Aviator Becomes the Kamikaze Pilot......Page 254
The Kamikaze Pilot Listened to Jazz Before Killing Americans......Page 263
Conclusion......Page 267
Gendering Carnival War......Page 269
Global Echoes of Carnival War......Page 272
The Circus Freak Next to the Policeman......Page 275
Bibliography......Page 277
Index......Page 291
