JAPANESE CINEMA is a three-part sequence of classes providing a comprehensive historical survey of Japanese cinema, tracing its evolution from the silent era to the present day. Rather than limiting our focus to celebrated “auteurs,” we will situate films within the broader historical, political, social, economic, and cultural contexts that shaped them. Questions of gender, class, and cultural identity will serve as recurring themes. Across the series, students will engage with both canonical masterpieces and overlooked gems, gaining a fuller understanding of the diversity and complexity of Japanese cinema. This five-week course explores the radical shifts of the 1950s through the 1970s. We will trace the rise of the Japanese New Wave, focusing on directors like Nagisa Ōshima (Cruel Story of Youth, In the Realm of the Senses), Shōhei Imamura (The Insect Woman, The Pornographers), Masahiro Shinoda (Pale Flower), and Seijun Suzuki (Tokyo Drifter, Branded to Kill). Special emphasis will be placed on underground and independent filmmaking, as well as popular genres often excluded from official histories: the yakuza films of Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), the erotic pink films of the late 1960s, and the enduring appeal of kaijū cinema from Ishirō Honda’s Godzilla onward. These works reveal an alternative lineage of Japanese cinema that is both politically charged and stylistically daring.