The Attractive Empire

Transnational Film Culture in Imperial Japan

Michael Baskett

"A tour de force of enthralling histori­cal scholarship that puts the appeal, and seductions, of imperialism on display, without underestimating its ugly con­sequences." —Darrell William Davis, University of New South Wales

"Michael Baskett removes imperial Japanese film from its solitary confine­ment and commandingly analyzes how it functioned internationally. This is a work that both historians and film scholars will appreciate." —Barak Kushner, Columbia University

The Attractive Empire is the first comprehen­sive examination of the attitudes, ideals, and myths of Japanese imperialism as represented in its film culture. Michael Baskett traces the development of Japanese film culture from its unapologetically colonial roots in Taiwan and Korea to less obvious manifestations of empire such as the semicolonial markets of Manchuria and Shanghai and occupied territories in Southeast Asia. Drawing on a wide range of previously untapped primary sources from public and private archives across Asia, Europe, and the United States, Baskett provides close readings of individual films and trenchant analyses of Japanese assumptions about Asian ethnic and cultural differences.

Michael Baskett is associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Film, University of Kansas.

FILM STUDIES APRIL 2008

6X9, EST 232PP, 25 ILLUS 978-0-8248-3163-9 CL $48.00s

(University of Hawai’i Press)