In 1941, the government suddenly gave a notice that, from then on, provision of raw film stock for movie companies would be stopped (a sentence of death for Japanese movie industry). It was a bluff, but a very effective one. By accepting all conditions presented by the government, the industry was allowed to continue to exist.
In 1942, Japanese movie industry was drastically reorganized by the orders of the government. Production companies were merged into three: Shôchiku, Toho and Daiei. Shôchiku and Toho absorbed their related companies. Daiei was newly established by merging the production section of Nikkatsu, Shinko and other companies. Nikkatsu, though lost its production section, continued to exist as a movie distribution/exhibition company (i.e., Nikkatsu could keep on its distribution network).
The number of movies produced per year and the running-time of movie were severely limited.Through 1930s and 1940, the yearly total number of movies produced by major Japanese movie companies were approx. 500. The number decreased to approx. 100 in 1942, and further to approx. 60 - 40 in 1943 -1945.
Quality also decreased as well as quantity, as a result of the censorship of the projects and scripts. Projects, which were regarded as, for example, lacking elements that might lift fighting spirits, were rejected.
The publishing industry was also forced to be reorganized. Kinema Junpo was merged into Eiga Junpo in 1939. Eiga Junpo was discontinued in 1943. Accordingly, Top_10_Movies were not selected from 1943 to 1945.
No comments:
Post a Comment