Page 18 - Nightmare Japan Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema

Introduction 5

major thematic and aesthetic trends within a specifically Japanese cultural
context that takes into account both the radical economic and political
fluctuations of the last half century, and an ever-emerging politics of
identity informed by shifting gender roles, reconsiderations of the
importance of the extended family as a social institution, and re-
conceptualisations of the very notion of cultural and national boundaries.
In the process, Nightmare Japan maps not only how both prominent and
obscure horror film directors bring their individual and, at times,
collaborative, talents to the construction of compelling narratives, but also
how these texts function as a mode of critical discourse engaging a
transforming culture at a vital crossroads, a society at once increasingly
nationalistic and global.
Written to offer readers an expansive socio-cultural analysis of
this vital film genre, Nightmare Japan at once contributes to existing
critical dialogues on the current state of the horror genre in Japanese
cinema, and provides a platform from which future academic and popular
inquiries into this exciting tradition in world cinema may commence.
Additionally, as spatial restrictions inevitably limit the number of films
and directors a single volume can address, undoubtedly some readers may
be disappointed if a favourite film is not explored in as much detail as
others. It is, after all, virtually impossible to address every Japanese
horror film produced over the last two decades. As such, it is important
for readers to note that this book is by no means intended to be
‘exhaustive’ or ‘the last word’ on this compelling topic. Such a claim
would be an act of indefensible hubris, not to mention foolish. One of the
primary goals of this book, then, is to stimulate further writing and
discussion on the plethora of exciting and important new visions that
constitute so much of contemporary Japanese horror cinema.
Before commencing upon a discussion of the chapters that
comprise Nightmare Japan, a brief survey of the horror genre in the latter
half of twentieth century Japanese cinema is in order. Given that this
book constitutes an aesthetic and cultural analysis of Japanese horror
cinema in its most contemporary manifestations – with an extensive
concentration on the last two decades – such a review of the genre’s rich
history may provide some crucial contextualisation. By no means, of