著者

溝渕 久美子 MIZOBUCHI Kumiko

出版者

名古屋大学大学院文学研究科附属「アジアの中の日本文化」研究センター

雑誌

JunCture : 超域的日本文化研究 (ISSN:18844766)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.5, pp.80-91, 2014-03-28

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This paper focuses on the National Cinema Screenplay Prize, and discusses a screenplay contest that was held in wartime Japan. From 1914 to 1944, the National Cinema Screenplay Contest, sponsored by Department of the Interior and the Japan Film Society, was held with the intention of generating national cinema. The Japanese government tried to collect screenplays written by the people suitable for this new genre. At the 1st contest, people with various backgrounds (in terms of class, gender, employment, and residence) submitted 209 works. Kurosawa Akira's work received the Johokyoku-Sho (second place) and Shindo Kaneto's work earned honorable mention. Most studies mentioning this contest focus only on Kurosawa and Shindo from the viewpoint of their career during wartime; they ignore Koito Nobu and her work Hahakogusa (Jersey Cudweed), even though that was the only work adopted to film by Tasaka Tomotaka after the contest. In this paper, I will focus on Koito Nobu and Hahakogusa in order to examine the complexity of contests held in wartime Japan. The National Cinema Screenplay Prize was based on the national film policy, designed to generate national cinema. Hahakogusa, on the other hand, was a melodrama that depicted the relationship between a mother and her step children, which does not seem to fit the typical image of national cinema at the contest. Considering her career, her favorite novels, and her previous works, it is likely that Koito simply wrote a story that she wanted to write rather than what organizers. This contest was a part of the wartime mobilization efforts by the government, and therefore, Hahakogusa and Koito were used to fit that purpose. The movie Hahakogusa was highly praised as an example of national cinema, and Koito was treated as a female icon that contributed to wartime society.