“Kokusô no hi” The true nature of “fear” revealed by the flat depiction of the daily life of that day

“Kokusô no hi” Synopsis

September 27, 2022 -- Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's state funeral was held at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. The results of a public opinion poll asking whether they were for or against the idea were roughly 40% in favor and 60% against. Why were people's opinions so conflicting? What exactly was that state funeral? On the day of the state funeral that divided national opinion, Arata Oshima, the director of ``Why Can't You Be Prime Minister?'' and ``Kagawa 1 Ward,'' visited 10 cities nationwide: Tokyo, Yamaguchi, Kyoto, Fukushima, Okinawa, Hokkaido, Nara, and Hiroshima. , I used a camera to record people in Shizuoka and Nagasaki.

Index

• Draw the gradation of Japanese people
• Daily life captured from a flat perspective
• “Scary” acquired through rich metaphors

Draw the gradation of Japanese people

``Kokusô no hi'' is a scary movie. If I had to compare that fear, it would be the feeling of being suddenly thrown into a wilderness with no guideposts and standing there, unsure of what to do. Why does this seemingly simple documentary cause such ``scary'' feelings? This has something to do with director Arata Oshima's plan and how it landed in an unexpected way.

Arata Oshima has produced masterpiece political documentaries such as `` Why Can't You Become Prime Minister? '' (20) and `` Kagawa 1 Ward '' (21). In the summer of 2022, he was reportedly feeling anxious ahead of the state funeral of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Producer Aki Maeda, who has been making films with her in the past, had suggested ``something with the theme of state funerals,'' but no concrete image of the work had been formed. However, three days before the state funeral, he suddenly had an idea. ``On the Kokusô no hi, we will run cameras in 10 locations across the country and make a movie using only those materials.''

“Kokusô no hi” (C) “Kokusô no hi” Production Committee

The intention is revealed in the following caption at the beginning of the movie. “Public opinion poll on state funerals (September) Yomiuri Shimbun 38% approve, 56% disapprove Asahi Shimbun 38% approve, 56% disapprove” It is interesting to find that the public opinion is exactly the same in the polls of conservative and left-leaning newspapers. It's the result. Oshima wrote the following about his aim in stating this number at the beginning.

``I thought that there were not many people who were strongly against it, nor were there many people who were in favor of it.'' Japanese people are weak individuals, and they always look at the people around them. They don't decide for themselves. They want someone else to decide for them. That's why Japanese democracy doesn't work. I wonder if it's possible to make a movie that highlights the way Japanese people are..." and declares, "This is it. is a movie that depicts the gradation of Japanese people.'' (From DIRECTOR'S NOTE)

As a result, the plan was chosen to ``simultaneously interview people in 10 locations nationwide to find out their opinions on whether they are against or in favor of state funerals.'' In this way, the highly skilled staff that Oshima trusted flew all over the country and listened to the voices of the public.

However, as I watched the movie, a certain suspicion gradually reared its head. Indeed, as Oshima says, the image of Japanese people who ``don't make decisions for themselves and want someone else to make decisions for them'' is emerging. However, I think that there is actually no such thing as a ``gradation''.

People with clear opinions, such as those protesting against base construction in Henoko, Okinawa, and young people who praise Shinzo Abe as ``a great prime minister,'' are exceptional. Most of them have nuances such as "I rather disagree" or "I kind of agree." What's more, what permeated through those comments was the sense that they were someone else's problem, as if they were ``not really interested in state funerals themselves.'' The comments made by such people seem to be asking the interviewer, ``Is there any point in expressing support or opposition to state funerals?''

Unabashed indifference and other people's concerns are the core of this work. However, the theme alone does not reach the level of ``scary'' that I felt. Documentary artist Oshima's expressive methods have a lot to do with this.

Daily life captured from a flat perspective