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

Daily life captured from a flat perspective

Oshima gave the following instructions to the nine other directors who were conducting interviews all over Japan.

"First of all, I want them to listen to the voices of various people, regardless of their own ideology and beliefs. I think most directors are against state funerals. It's fine whether they convey that opinion to their subjects or not. However, I want them to take pictures from an unbiased perspective, rather than just photographing people who think like them."

It is clear that the government was trying to clearly reveal the overall state of people's consciousness by collecting each and every opinion on the state funeral from an unbiased perspective.

"I want the camera to be aimed at the 'everyday' things that happen in those places."

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

Oshima focused on depicting the "everyday life" of Japanese people on the day of the state funeral. Around the funeral site, Imperial Palace runners were jogging as usual, and people crowded around the huge smoking area at the west exit of Shinjuku. At a pachinko parlour in Ameyoko, Ueno, men were lining up for the 10am opening. Images like these were inserted unexpectedly. By presenting "everyday life," something we don't usually pay much attention to, alongside the state funeral, it began to take on an indescribably grotesque appearance. Combined with an editing technique that inserted footage that was devoid of the cinematographer's emotions at perfect "intervals," this direction produced a great effect, endowing the work with a rich metaphorical quality that the director himself did not intend.

“Scary” acquired through rich metaphors