The Screening of Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom by Ogawa Productions

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which activities relating to the screening of Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom (1975), a film by Ogawa Productions, were developed. Ogawa Productions had filmed at Sanrizuka, which became the location for the struggles in opposition to the construction of Narita Airport from the late 1960s, but the space they chose for the location of their next film was Kotobukicho in Yokohama, which was known as one of Japan’s three major gathering places for labourers alongside San’ya in Tokyo and Kamagasaki in Osaka.

I proceeded with my investigation in relation to the way in which that Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom was screened, based on materials such as Ogawa Production’s newsletter, which was published by Ogawa Productions at the time when the film was released. In these screening-related activities, the harsh reality in Kotobukicho under recession was communicated to different regions through the film. However, I also pose the question in this paper as to whether this course of action in relation to the screening at the time of the film’s release obscured the way of life of the residents of Kotobukicho that Dokkoi! Songs from the Bottom had recorded.