Tojo Hideki and the Cinematic Imagination of Postwar Japan
This paper examines how Tojo Hideki has been portrayed in Japanese cinema and television from 1945 to the present. It identifies twenty domestically produced feature films and documentaries and analyzes how they engage with Tojo’s life, trial, and symbolic meaning.
The study explores whether Tojo’s image has undergone a process of repatriation, rehabilitation, or continued marginalization. It asks how cinematic portrayals have mirrored broader societal attitudes toward war responsibility, victimhood, and the construction of national identity. These Japanese productions are also contrasted with foreign films that present Tojo through an external lens—often reinforcing a monolithic narrative of guilt and authoritarianism.
Through this comparative visual archive, the paper reveals not only competing characterizations of Tojo as man, martyr, or monster, but also divergent interpretive frameworks for understanding Japan’s wartime past.
Ultimately, the analysis underscores the role of cinema as a site of memory-making, where representations of historical figures like Tojo become proxies for wider debates over Japanese history.
Date and Time
November 27, 2025 6:00pm - 7:00pm [JST]
Details
- Venue
- Online (Zoom Webinar)
- Language
- English
Speakers
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Dr. Ivo Plsek Postdoctoral Researcher, Uppsala Unviersity, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies Ivo Plsek is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Uppsala University. He specializes in modern Japan, East Asia, and memory studies. His research focuses on the legacies of World War II in East Asia and Europe, with particular attention to Japan and Germany. Before joining Uppsala, he served as an assistant professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at Masaryk University. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
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