Why Edo?

[Ashigaru]

I find it strange that the bulk of samurai films and jidai geki are set in the Edo era. By then the samurai class was starting to stagnate and decline, and most of the dramatic upheaval had ended (at least until the Bakumatsu chaos). It seems like the Sengoku era would be a much more exciting backdrop for a film.

At first I thought budget constraints might be the limiting factor, since Japanese companies tend to lack the Hollywood-sized budgets needed for effective battle scenes. But I then noticed that the bulk of historical novels, where prop costs and salaries for extras are not a factor, are also set during the Tokugawa era.

Why does the Edo period get so much cinematic and literary pop culture coverage?
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Meditate upon exile, torture, wars, diseases, shipwreck, so that you may not be a novice to any misfortune.
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[nagaeyari]

You are absolutely right. While there are great gems focusing on the Heian-jidai or the Sengoku-jidai, the Edo-jidai gets most of the focus.

1. Could it be that this is the most romaniticized period in Japanese history? This would make it most appealing. There is a set class structure, which works well with a plot.
2. The Edo-jidai is typically mentioned as the brewing grounds for traditional Japan. Whether audiences (Japanese) have a desire to see traditional elements that they can possibly relate with or wish find more of a connection with 'traditional Japan' I don't know. However, if that's the case, any novelist or director would bend to their wishes.

[Ashigaru]

I think you're onto something, and it's an idea I've been kicking around myself. Most of what we recognize as culturally Japanese in character (kabuki, ukiyo-e, courtesans, formalized Bushido, etc.) either started in or flourished during the Edo period. So maybe that period in time has a little bit more cultural familiarity to modern audiences than the slightly more alien lifestyles of Sengoku bushi.

Commoner culture really came into it's own during Tokugawa's reign, too. Despite all the draconian laws, the average farmers and townsfolk seemed to lead more interesting lives than in previous eras. So I guess setting your story in the Edo period might offer a little bit more freedom in character choice (i.e., not all samurai, all the time) than the Sengoku period. Still, not every movie is a deep character piece like Tasogare Seibei. I still find it a little odd that more trashy chanbara flicks aren't set in the 1500s...
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Meditate upon exile, torture, wars, diseases, shipwreck, so that you may not be a novice to any misfortune.
- Seneca

[kitsuno]

[_RK_]

At the top of all this valid points movies are:

- built on stereotypes already existing, "living" in collective memory
- have limited time/resources when it comes to research so they tend to pick up best documented and thus "easiest" themes

Just my 3 grosze

[Ashigaru]

[kitsuno]

[ltdomer98]

Even fictional Sengoku accounts like Ran, with a completely invented clan and setting, has to have clan warfare as a background. It's really hard to do anything else--it all comes back to that. The Edo period lends itself to so many different things because it wasn't solely focused on civil war. You can have some wandering samurai without wondering why he isn't in some daimyo's army.

That said, a "wandering samurai on a musha shugyo" movie made about Kamiizumi Hide(Nobu)tsuna would be awesome--it'd be that genre we see so often set in the Edo period, but the backdrop would be Sengoku.
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[Kazuki]

Definitely all good points that have been mentioned thus far, and yes, it does seem kinda weird that the Sengoku suffers from relative neglect (to say nothing of the Kamakura/Heian timeframe). We need some serious Dan-no-Ura action, boys and girls.

I think that another factor may be the inherent instability of the period. Given a time like, say, the Momoyama period, you're looking at a lot of abrupt changes in regards to who's on top of the stack. People are getting displaced here and there (whih Ironically, would make for good stories), and I think it would probably have to involve a little more understand on the part of the viewer for them to be able to grasp at what's moving the plot along. Needless to say, for most viewers, intermittent historical narratives about why the characters are fighting each other (or sometimes painful exposition) aren't what catch box office tickets.

There's a similarity in written material. Just check out 'Hi-Lo' genre books (high interest, low reading ability).

-Kazuki
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"Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue." -Francois Duc de La Rochefoucald

[ltdomer98]

Another point: think about movies set during the US Civil War (a comparable, if much shorter event). ALL of them have to have some sort of placement of the war as a backdrop if not a vital driving element. I'd say it's much the same for the Sengoku.

Personally, one period not mentioned is the Nambokucho to the Onin--I'd *LOVE* to see someone set the streets of Kyoto on fire..
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[nagaeyari]

"Shin-Heike Monogatari" with Ichikawa Raizo and the last Taiga drama: "Yoshitsune" are the only Heian 'films' I can think of. I suppose there's "Ugetsu" as well.

Not too many prominent ones.

And for the ancient period, you have NHK dramas, "Hi no Tori" and...not too much!

Some of you may remember William Letham. He once was telling me about a silent Japanese film about the 'life' of Susano O. It was destroyed...but man...what a treasure that would have been.

[Ashigaru]

[Kazuki]

[ltdomer98]

I know there's a ton more out there on the Gempei War--if you consider that "Heian". I'd like to see some more done actually prior to that. Onmyoji was okay, but the fantasy elements could be toned down for my tastes.
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[nagaeyari]

Right, onmyoji should be incuded. There're so many historical films that'll never see my eyes, so I'm bound to miss tens of other titles.

[AngusH]

[nagaeyari]

NHK's "Shoutoku Taishi" and "Taika no Kaishin" were good--very enjoyable. They are also subtitled, but you need to make sure if you ever pick them up that you are buying THE subbed copy. There are two versions.

[ltdomer98]

[AngusH]