INTRODUCTION

BEFORE THE SECOND World War no Japanese films were shown in British cinemas. At this time British connoisseurs of international cinema had only a single opportunity of seeing a Japanese production; when the London Film Society included Kinugasa Teinosuke's ‘A Page of Madness’ (Kurutta Ippeiji) in one of its programmes. Between 1931 and 1937 a small number of British films were distributed in Japan but they were a minor presence amid the large numbers of American, German and French features which were seen in Tokyo. Following the Second World War major Japanese films finally entered Britain, and their high reputation, contributed greatly to the renewal of Japanese cultural prestige. High quality British films also re-appeared on Japanese screens.

In the history of Anglo-Japanese film relations a single couple, Kawakita Nagamasa and his wife Kashiko, were outstanding intermediaries influencing Anglo-Japanese cinematic exchanges for half a century.

KAWAKITA NAGAMASA (1903–81)

The Early Years

Kawakita Nagamasa was born in Yotsuya, Tokyo on 30 April 1903. His father, Daijirō, was an artillery captain in the Imperial Army, and his mother, Kō, had been head of the Imperial Women's College (Teikoku Joshi Senmon Gakkō). In his life Nagamasa was to have many international experiences; the first was in 1906 when the whole family moved to Northern China. His father, who favoured Asian solidarity and admired Chinese traditional culture, had accepted a lecturing post at a Chinese military academy. Within less than a year the family returned to Tokyo, but Daijirō soon travelled to Beijing alone to begin teaching at an elite Chinese officer training school. On 1 August 1908 the family received news that Daijirō had been assassinated by elements in the Japanese Army, perhaps because he had developed close relations with his Chinese colleagues. These early associations with China were to remain influences on Nagamasa throughout his early adult life. In 1918 while still a middle school student, he visited China alone, and decided to begin the serious study of Chinese language and culture. In 1921 he graduated from middle school, and began studying Chinese in Tokyo; he then travelled to Beijing and made further study of Chinese, hoping to enter Beijing University. He was soon admitted, but in some respects University life proved a sad disappointment.