Patricio Guzmán’s work has often touched upon the theme of the memories of Chile. Most previous studies on this subject, however, have focused on memories of Pinochet’s dictatorship, in his post-1990 films. Therefore, The Battle of Chile (1975-1979), Guzmán’s early masterpiece, has not been studied from the perspective of “memory.” This paper aims to analyze the state of memory in this film by classifying it under the genre of “testimonial cinema,” films composed of human testimonies, and to present a new perspective on the genealogy of this genre. Section 1 connects the discussion of the “unrepresentable memory” raised by Shoah (1985) with the “culture of testimony” emerging in Latin America and leading to Guzmán's later work. Section 2 analyzes the function of testimonial cinema in the New Latin American Cinema from the 1960s, identifying the differences and common problems with post-1980s testimonial cinema. Clarifying that The Battle of Chile was created at the intersection of these periods, Section 3 examines the composition of the testimonies in the film. The author proposes that the testimonies pertaining to struggles are connected to the novel possibility of collaboration with the future.

Fukuhara Shinzo’s essay, “The New Mission of Photography” has been published nine times since first appearing in April 1922 in the magazine Shashin Geijutsu which he founded. Although he wrote many photography theories, this was the first with a clear purpose.

Fukuhara’s theory is famous for introducing the concept of “The light with its harmony (Hikari to sono kaicho),” considered by many to be an explanation of how to perceive an object as a tone of light. However, based on earlier research, in this paper, we propose to interpret Fukuhara’s photography theory as a text written by a photographer describing the action of perception in the act of photography. Therefore, we take the approach of a close reading of “The New Mission of Photography.”

In the first section, I clarify what Fukuhara considered to be the relationship between “photography” and “art.” In the second section, I examine the act of photography, which he considered ideal, as the formation of “photographic perception.” In the third section, I examine the relationship between the photographer’s goal of “subject-object unity (shu-kyaku gōitsu kyō)” and Nishida Kitarō’s philosophy. Furthermore, based on the discussion, I clarify why the act of photography necessitates “improvisation.”

In conclusion, I argue that his writings on photography theory is a text that explores the universal issue of the importance of perception in the act of photography.

The paper examines ambiguous aspect of Ainu photographic representation taken by Ryuzo Torii, a pioneer in the use of photographs in Japanese anthropology. One source I use is a photograph of “Chishima Ainu”, taken in 1899 by Torii. Interpretations of Torii’s Ainu photographic representations are polarized between those critical and those affirmative of depicting imperialism.

Therefore, I consider the more detailed meaning of the photographic material through analysis. These images are represented with photographs taken for anthropology framed in an authoritative portrait style in the 1903 book “Chishima Ainu”.

As in this case, portrait photography functioned as a medium that simultaneously represented oppression and praise, both of which Allan Sekula indicated in “The body and the archive”. This attitude strongly reflects the method of colonial rule of Japanese Imperialism, as sociologist Eiji Oguma defined it as a “colored empire”. The conclusion of the paper, Ainu photographic representation taken by Torii has ambiguous attitude such as “colored empire” which represents oppression and praise.

Since 1954, Hanae Mori has contributed greatly to the film industry as a costume designer. Costumes require a high level of skill in production and play an important role in defining the impression of a film. This article discusses Koreyoshi Kurahara’s I Hate But Love (1962, Nikkatsu) focusing on costumes designed by Mori and worn by Ruriko Asaoka. The article incorporates Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical analysis to point out how “performance” and costumes are closely related in the way Asaoka generates the character. In the early 1960s, the majority of women’s costumes centered on styles that strongly emphasized femininity, and played a role in serving the narrative premised on the binary opposition between male and female. On the other hand, both male and female characters “act” in order to obtain what they want through “performance” in I Hate But Love, which can be seen as an alternative to the action epics that Nikkatsu mainly produced at that time.

In addition, the article looks at the nuances that Asaoka brings to the multi-layered female image by analyzing the camera work as well as the costumes. Lastly, Asaoka’s career is reviewed to consider the transition of female representations in Nikkatsu productions in the context of Japanese cinema.