History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess
Directed by	Shōhei Imamura
Screenplay by	Shōhei Imamura
Produced by	Nobuyo Horiba Motoo Ogasawara
Starring	Emiko Akaza Etsuko Akaza Akemi Akaza Shōhei Imamura
Cinematography	Masao Tochikawa}
Edited by	Mutsuo Niwa Noriaki Sugimoto
Music by	Haruo Ibe
Production companies	Nippon Eiga Shinsha Toho
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	6 March 1970 (1970-03-06) (Japan) [1][2]
Running time	105 minutes[1][2]
Country	Japan

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活, Nippon sengoshi – Madamu Onboro no seikatsu) is a 1970 Japanese documentary film by director Shōhei Imamura.[1][2][3]

Synopsis

Director Shōhei Imamura interviews Emiko Akaza, the bar hostess of the film's title, who reflects on her life as a prostitute and madam in post-war Yokosuka and comments on news reel footage of Japan's history from 1945 to the present.

Production

After the poor box-office performance of his ambitious 1968 film, The Profound Desire of the Gods, Imamura decided to undertake a more modestly budgeted film. Characteristically, Imamura seeks to investigate an alternative interpretation of recent Japanese history through the eyes of a person living in the lower strata of that society.[4]

Beginning with this film, Imamura was to spend the next decade working in the documentary format. He returned to purely fictional narrative with Vengeance is Mine (1979).[4]

Release

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess was released in Japan 3 June 1970 where it was distributed by Toho. The film was shown in Los Angeles in 1998 with any earlier American release being undetermined.[1]

References

1. Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. pp. 267–268. ISBN 978-1461673743.
2. "にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活 (Nippon sengoshi: Madamu onboro no seikatsu)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
3. "にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活 (Nippon sengoshi: Madamu onboro no seikatsu)" (in Japanese). Kinenote. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
4. Sharp, Jasper. "History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess". Midnight Eye. Archived from the original on 12 June 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2021.

External links

• History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess at IMDb