Date of Award

Spring 5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Film Studies

First Advisor

Emily Carman, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Nam Lee, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Michael Wood, Ph.D.

Abstract

This thesis traces the trajectory of Nikkatsu studio’s appropriation of American film noir aesthetics to come to terms with Japan’s changing national identity and regional role in the post- World War II period by examining the shift from domestic urban issues to regional criminal activity across three major films: Rusty Knife (Masuda Toshio, 1958), Pigs and Battleships (Imamura Shohei, 1961), and Cruel Gun Story (Furukawa Takumi, 1964). I argue that the style of film noir was specifically adopted by Japanese film directors at Nikkatsu in the 1950s and 1960s to critique the development of U.S.-Japan relations during this period as the two countries shifted from World War II enemies to Cold War partners. Through close textual analysis of Rusty Knife, Pigs and Battleships, and Cruel Gun Story, I illustrate how Nikkatsu noirs contemplate Japan’s postwar circumstances vis-a-vis Hollywood style in the wake of strict censorship of Japanese cinema by the occupying Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (1945-1952), American military power, which used Japan as a key strategic outpost during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and other nations in the East Asian region, especially the ongoing diplomatic normalization of Japan-Korean relations. By focusing on how these filmmakers responded to Japan's postwar political reality, I show how film noir was adapted not only as a cinematic style but as a mode of social critique. Thus, this study offers new insight into the global history of film noir, the genre’s meaning and function in the Japanese historical context, and the development of Nikkatsu's production style as the studio system in Japan experienced a general decline.

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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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