What Happened and Why: Akira Nobuchi’s movie, Murasaki Shikibu
(This article is in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and is a reminder to see that outrageous censorship in wartime never happens again.)
On June 22nd, 1939, the period drama movie Murasaki Shikibu by Akira Nobuchi was released through the Shinko Kinema Kyoto film studio. This featured the author Murasaki Shikibu and her renowned work The Tale of Genji earlier than any other work. Later versions include NHK’s period drama Dear Radiance and Kozaburo Yoshimura’s movie The Tale of Genji. In a brochure, Nobuchi wrote about this:
“The point I would like to show most strongly is not only that Murasaki Shikibu was faithful to her husband but that she was a person of letters who gazed at herself objectively. I included scenes in which she overcame temptation from Koresuke and the influential Chancellor Fujiwara no Michinaga, in order to protect her sole child Katako and also to adhere to the ideal of marital fidelity according to cool reason and judgement. Intentionally I put a scene of her writing, as if possessed, The Tale of Genji at Ishiyama Temple as the movie’s climax.”
Nobuchi made such an interpretation with a focus on marital fidelity, which is thought to have been an effort to soothe the censors.
In addition, an adaptation of The Tale of Genji was deemed impossible since this was regarded at the time as profanity against the Imperial Family. Therefore, he chose Murasaki Shikibu as the main theme of his work.
According to Nobuchi’s assistant director Toshio Mitsuboshi, the preview met with success. The movie depicted three main elements: a romantic relationship between men and women, the elegant artistic way of life in the Imperial Court, and a power game influenced by love and desire.
What happened to Murasaki Shikibu?
Nobuchi’s effort was shattered. On the evening of June 14th, Tokyo Asahi Shimbun ran an article under the headline:
“Ready to Show at Last After 800 Meter Cut – ‘Murasaki Shikibu,’ Movie in Question”
The article says that the Shinko Kinema film studio, though it had already taken steps to bring the movie into line with prevailing attitudes, had to agree to the substantial cut so that it could release the movie. As a result, it was reduced to a 40-minute piece.
Why Did This Happen to Murasaki Shikibu?
The same article alludes to the reason for the cuts made, quoting a comment from an unidentified censor:
“The work treats Murasaki Shikibu well, but the nobles such as Michinaga and Izumi Shikibu are regrettably depicted.”
It is not clear here why the movie was heavily censored except for this vague explanation. However, I came across a detailed article in the magazine Eiga Asahi when I visited the Ikeda Bunko library in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, last December.
The writer was Gencho Ohashi, who had worked as Chief Editor of a movie magazine, Katsudo Shashin Zasshi (Motion Picture Magazine). He pointed out that almost all of the scenes featuring Michinaga were cut because the chancellor’s descendants were still alive at the time. He went on to say that court ladies in the movie should not have chatted about noblemen even though those women lived in a sphere of life that no men were allowed to enter. In addition, he railed against the scenes in which Murasaki Shikibu and Koresuke cuddled together to excess. Ohashi went so far as to cast a slur on Nobuchi’s personality.
There were many different kinds of trimmed scenes, but Ohashi intentionally stopped mentioning them as he would be in danger of having his own article banned. Instead, he referred to various prohibited matters provided by Naimu-sho, the Home Ministry. Below are some of them, which he implied were true of the movie.
Any expression that could defile the dignity of the Imperial Family
Any expression that could harm the dignity of Japan
Any expression that could harm public morals
Aftermath
According to Ohashi, Murasaki Shikibu ended up coming under the strictest censorship in Japan. Unfortunately, this helped critics pan the film:
“On the whole, the movie has a disconnected structure and fails to develop smoothly. The work is careless about the minds of its characters and therefore the director seems to feel content with showing a decorative pretense of costumes.”
— Evening edition of Yomiuri Shimbun (June 17th, 1939)
“I cannot understand why the nonsensical movie is showing. Censors may have allowed it to hit the screen as incomprehensible pieces do no harm to the public. No other movie will cause filmgoers more inconvenience than this cinematic puzzle.”
— Jun’ichiro Tomoda on Kinema Junpo (July 1st, 1939)
“Since it was cut by about 800 meters due to censorship, this movie can no longer be properly evaluated.”
— Tadahisa Murakami on Kinema Junpo (July 11th, 1939)
As far as I know, no article exists which gives Nobuchi’s own opinion on the appalling censorship and severe criticism. Mitsuboshi, however, speculates that Nobuchi must have been heartbroken, as if he had seen his child after losing limbs in a traffic accident. He also supposed that the director must have been full of regret when The Tale of Genji was cinematized by Kozaburo Yoshimura in 1951.
Even after Murasaki Shikibu, Nobuchi suffered from restrictions on freedom of expression. Under the post-war censorship of the Allied occupation, he stayed away from samurai movies and made movies about itinerant entertainers, kabuki actors and geisha.
Nobuchi passed away in 1968 and rests in a certain cemetery in Kinki Region (I have visited three times). His gravestone has no inscription about censorship. That said, I cannot help thinking that it silently warns against the threat to freedom of expression, as the Hitler birthplace memorial stone in Austria continues to remind us that this kind of fascism must not be repeated in the interests of peace.
Yuki Yamauchi came to know stage director and filmmaker Akira Nobuchi thanks to the fact that his theatrical group Elan Vital performed dramas of Lord Dunsany in Kyoto (no other troupe did so in Kyoto earlier than Elan Vital). The Irish playwright has been one of the author’s favorite writers for about 15 years.