Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan. With so much history, one can find unique encounters with the past. All you need to do is take a careful look, and perhaps through a perspective. Through this blog, we follow Bondan, as he shares his views through his glasses on films.
As a student in Japan, exploring through the cities, especially Kyoto, this could be another way to enjoy life in Japan.
Kyoto as a city is to Samurai and Jidaigeki (era drama) films, as New York is to superhero and disaster films. The historical capital city of Japan has become the staple location for political intrigue and honorable battles between Samurai, members of the high social military rank in the 11th to 19th century Japan, to be portrayed in classic Japanese cinema as Samurai films.
To Samurai films, Kyoto has been used as the symbol of the Bushido, or the Samurai code of honor, as Samurai are retainers which are employed and enjoy a lifetime servitude to their Daimyo, or feudal lord. This may be portrayed positively or negatively as oftentimes rebellion to the establishment are a feature of some Samurai and Jidaigeki films.
Kyoto may also be used as a setting to portray the looming rigid social hierarchy and expectations in the past—this is especially the case in romance films where the noble lady falls in love with the retainers at the disapproval of the larger society. Here are some, but not all, classic Japanese films that heavily feature Kyoto as a setting.
Rashōmon (1950). Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune. Property of Kadokawa Corporation. Western distribution by The Criterion Collection.
This incredible masterpiece by the revered Akira Kurosawa and featuring the legendary Toshiro Mifune chose Kyoto as the setting for its enigmatic, paradoxical tale of misleading eyewitness accounts and unhinged characters. Rashōmon itself is referring to the now-demolished Rashōmon gate, the grand gate to Kyoto built in the Heian period (794-1185). In the film, the half-ruined gate is the symbol of the equally crumbling morals of the characters and the society at large at the time. In the present day, the only trace of the gate is a plaque in the middle of a nondescript playground.
The remains of the Rashōmon gate. Photo Credits go to Matthew Meyer.
Rashōmon gate as depicted in Rashōmon (1950). Property of Kadokawa Corporation.
The Crucified Lovers (1954). Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Starring Kyōko Kagawa. Property of Kadokawa Corporation. Western distribution by The Criterion Collection.
The next film on the list is also from the renowned director Kenji Mizoguchi as he is known to set his films in Kyoto.
The film highlights social issues wherein rigid social standards can be detrimental to what he considers to be morally right but not institutionally accepted. The Crucified Lovers, or its Japanese title Chikamatsu Monogatari, is set in 17th century Kyoto and tells the story of a scroll maker’s apprentice on the run with the wife of his boss as he is accused to be having an affair with her.
The film deals with issues regarding gender inequality at the time and also the harsh institutional punishments one can get for not falling in line with social standards. It doesn’t show a lot of iconic Kyoto locations, but it does show how Kyoto’s society was run at the time as well as the business and art of scroll-making. The "old-style" dirt road that you might find in the Kyoto of The Crucified Lovers might be quite difficult to find in real life now, but you can always visit the Toei Kyoto Studio Park where they have replica sets of Jidaigeki and Samurai films that you can fully immerse yourself in.
Left: Kyoto as depicted in The Crucified Lovers. - Right: Toei Kyoto Studio Park, photo by Japan Expertna.
The Life of Oharu (1952). Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Starring Kinuyo Tanaka. Property of Toho Company. Western distribution by The Criterion Collection.
This depressing, yet poignant piece of cinema by Kenji Mizoguchi again uses Kyoto as a device to highlight social issues and the hierarchical systems of the past. Similar to The Crucified Lovers, The Life of Oharu also deals with a forbidden love between a noble lady and a commoner-born retainer, albeit taking a darker turn highlighting the consequences of her actions and the society’s reactions to it.
The Life of Oharu shows more prominent locations in Kyoto like the still above which seems to show the area around Gion area and Kiyomizudera Temple. In the film, we are able to have a virtual tour of what Kyoto looked like in the past while also learning a few things along the way about Japanese society.
The streets near Hōkan-ji Temple. Taken by me (Bondan Syamsu) on October 8, 2018.
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955). Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Property of Toho Company. Western distribution by The Criterion Collection.
This film is part of the ‘Samurai Trilogy’ by director Hiroshi Inagaki starring Toshiro Mifune as the lead character Musashi Miyamoto (1584-1645). While the first film in the trilogy briefly showed Kyoto, this second film in the trilogy is set almost entirely in Kyoto and its surrounding area. Particularly, the film’s parts in Kyoto heavily focus on the area surrounding Sanjō and the Kamo River. The film even uses Sanjō Bridge as a point de rencontre where many of the film’s important plot points occur from the reunion between Musashi and Otsu to the first duel between Musashi and the goons from the Yoshioko school.
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple offers us a very interesting glance into Kyoto’s past, especially since the areas depicted are so vital and iconic to Kyoto’s tourism industry in the present day. And of course, it’s also fascinating how the dirt roads of the feudal past have been replaced by the modern asphalt of today in Kyoto.
Left: Sanjō Bridge in Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple. - Right: Sanjō Bridge in the present day, Photo from Anshar Photo.
Bondan covers more similar articles about art and films in his own broadly-specific website. Ritsumeikan encourages our students to take an active approach to student life and challenge the norm to find new and innovative inspirations. Challenge your mind and change our future.
The blog above is an opinion and thought provided by an individual student.