Tanaka Kinuyo - (Edinburgh Studies in East Asian Film) by Irene González-López & Michael Smith (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the first book in English dedicated to the actress and director Tanaka Kinuyo. Her career overlapped with a transformative period in Japanese history, and this close analysis of her fascinating life and work offers new perspectives, subjectivities and modes of analysis for the classical era of Japanese cinema.

Book Synopsis

Bringing together a range of Japanese and western scholars, this is the first book in English dedicated to the actress and director Tanaka Kinuyo. Praised as amongst the greatest actors in the history of Japanese cinema, Tanaka's career spanned the industrial development of cinema - from silent to sound, monochrome to colour. Alongside featuring in films by Ozu, Mizoguchi, Naruse and Kurosawa, Tanaka was also the only Japanese woman filmmaker between 1953 and 1962, and her films tackled distinctly feminine topics such as prostitution and breast cancer. Her career overlapped with a transformative period in Japanese history, and this close analysis of her fascinating life and work offers new perspectives, subjectivities and modes of analysis for the classical era of Japanese cinema.

From the Back Cover

Bringing together a range of Japanese and western scholars, this is the first book in English dedicated to Tanaka Kinuyo - praised as one of the greatest artists in the history of Japanese cinema. Tanaka's career in acting and directing spanned the industrial development of cinema; from silent to sound, monochrome to colour. In addition to featuring in films by Ozu, Mizoguchi, Naruse and Kurosawa, Tanaka was the only female Japanese filmmaker active between 1953 and 1962, and her films tackled distinctly feminine topics such as prostitution and breast cancer. Her career overlapped with a transformative period in Japanese history. This close analysis of her fascinating life and work offers new perspectives, subjectivities and modes of analysis for the classical era of Japanese cinema. Irene González-López is a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Visual and Material Culture Research Centre at Kingston University, London. Michael Smith was awarded his PhD from the University of Leeds in 2013. Cover image: (c) Tanaka Kinuyo Memorial Hall, Shimonoseki Memorial Museum of Modern Forerunners Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-0969-8 [PPC]

Review Quotes

It would appear that English language scholarship on Kinuyo Tanaka is just beginning. In addition, this volume is helpful in better understanding some of the outside forces that also played a part in the history of Japanese cinema.--Peter Nellhaus "Coffee, Coffee and more Coffee"

This collection offers long-overdue attention to Japanese actress/director Tanaka Kinuyo (1909-77)...Taken together, these essays offer praise for a woman--already highly successful as an actress--who claimed her own authorship as a director and continued to grow as an actress as she aged...As someone who refused to be pigeonholed, and who took considerable chances, she blazed a strong trail for others to follow.--LINDA EHRLICH "FILM QUARTERLY"

This collection provides a valuable overview of Tanaka Kinuyo's long and prolific career as an actress and director. While Tanaka took on the roles of some of the most iconic figures in Japanese cinema, she also embodied many of the deep contradictions around women's status in a rapidly changing society. These authors brilliantly demonstrate how Tanaka overcame multiple challenges to direct her own powerful films about men and women in the unfixed landscape of postwar Japan.--Professor Catherine Russell, Concordia University, Montreal

About the Author

Irene González-López is Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Visual and Material Culture Research Centre, Kingston University (London). Irene's research interests are Cinema, Gender Studies, Popular Visual Culture, and Stardom. In addition, she is a translator and has worked with several film festivals in Japan and Europe.

Michael Smith was awarded his PhD from University of Leeds in 2013. His research looked at the representation of women in early postwar Japanese cinema, particularly focusing on how the key political and social issues of the period affected their onscreen portrayal. Michael's main research interests are Classical-era Japanese cinema, women directors and 1990s American independent cinema.