Japan Press Weekly

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2008 April 2 - 8 [HISTORY]

No theater will show ‘Yasukuni’ film due to right-wing pressure

Akahata editorial

Movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka have been forced to give up showing a documentary film entitled “Yasukuni” due to interference by Liberal Democratic Party politicians and right-wing groups. This is a matter of concern because it arises from a violation of the constitutional freedom of expression threatening the very foundations of democracy.

Pro-‘Yasukuni’ politicians’ interference

“Yasukuni” is a documentary film about Yasukuni Shrine. The director, a Chinese resident of Japan, filmed various scenes of the shrine, with people in uniform as well as the former Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichiro’s offering their prayers. He also includes relatives of the war dead demanding that their loved ones be removed from the enshrinement and also includes an interview with a master of blacksmith who crafts “Yasukuni Swords” to be dedicated to the shrine.

“Yasukuni” was to be shown at movie theaters from April 12, but late last year, some media launched a campaign criticizing the film as “anti-Japanese.” Some LDP lawmakers jumped on the bandwagon and, in an extraordinary move, forced the Cultural Affairs Agency to hold a preview for Dietmembers in mid-March.

Since late last March, these LDP Dietmembers raised questions about the grant money amounting to 7.5 million yen which the film maker received from the government-funded Japan Arts Council. They have been demanding that the filmmaker return the subsidy. This is a flagrant interference with the freedom of filmmaking.

LDP member of the House of Representatives Inada Tomomi spearheaded the attack on “Yasukuni”. He is a deputy secretary general of the parliamentarians’ league affiliated with the Japan Conference,” a driving force of the pro-“Yasukuni” group. He also denies the Japanese Army’s involvement in the Nanjing Incident and “mass suicides” during the Battle of Okinawa. The reaction to the film is, therefore, part of the activities of the pro-“Yasukuni” group trying to justify Japan’s past war of aggression.

Arguing that the film is political in nature and is devoted to “anti-Yasukuni Shrine propaganda,” LDP lawmakers are insisting that the subsidy is inappropriate. One politician went as far as to say that the film is “political propaganda” because plaintiffs of a lawsuit challenging former Prime Minister Koizumi’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine as unconstitutional, are shown in the film.

There is nothing extraordinary about a documentary film taking up social issues, and there is nothing strange about a documentary film focusing on persons who are critical of the government or the ruling parties. What Inada and like-minded people are trying to do is to express hostility toward the film featuring the “Yasukuni” issue and demand that government-funded grants not be offered to any works that are not in line with their ideology.

These LDP lawmakers also question the appropriateness of awarding a grant for this film which was co-produced with a Chinese movie company. Nevertheless, the Japan Arts Council subsidizes international co-productions under certain conditions. The Cultural Affairs Agency stated, “The application for the subsidy was processed appropriately.”

Inada says he has no intention of violating the constitutional right of freedom of expression,” but this can only be taken as a trick to conceal their real purpose for the interference.

Succumbing to LDP politicians’ pressure, the Cultural Affairs Agency gave them a helping hand by holding a preview for them and providing them with details about the film. The agency’s servile response to them has only encouraged the pro-“Yasukuni” group and exacerbated the situation. The agency’s action will only hamper the diffusion of independent documentary films and deprive people of the right to watch them.

Do not give in unfair pressure!

Many in the film industry, including the Directors Guild of Japan and the Federation of Cinema and Theatrical Workers Union of Japan (Eien-Roren), have already raised their voices in defense of the freedom of expression.

Movie theaters should fulfill their duty to defend the freedom of expression and play their role in the arts, without giving in unjust pressure or interference.

The Japanese Communist Party, which clearly advocates the “freedom of cultural activities” in its party program, is firmly committed to defending the freedom of expression as well as the public showing of movies regardless of ideological bias.
- Akahata, April 3, 2008