The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the close relationship between the reception of novels and of films in Japan. From about 1900 to 1920, films were becoming the most modem of media, gradually replacing novels as a popular form of entertainment. Films were received as a substitute for novels. Actually, a great many novels serialized in the newspapers were made into Shinpa film dramas. During this time, the habit of reading aloud remained in many households, making reading an entertainment for the whole family. This reading style consisted of one narrator and several listeners. The same style was also observed in the reception of films. In the movie theater, a sense of unity developed between the benshi (the omniscient narrator) and the movie goers. This was one of the traits explored by Walter Ong in his discussion of orality, especially “primary orality.” In the case of early Japanese cinema, we find primary orality in kowairo, a form of vocal mimicry. Kowairo was a convention that was understood and shared by both the benshi and spectators.

As I showed in a former article (Eizogaku No. 66, 2001), the abstractness of bunka eiga/culture film helped Japanese disavow the increasing threat from their actual situation after the “China Incident.” But shooting a film itself inevitably forced them to come to face with reality. In this paper I will show how the discourses of bunka eiga avoided this critical phase. A well-known conflict between Kamei Fumio and his cameraman Miki Shigeru exemplified two different attitudes toward reality. In filming Fighting Soldiers, Kamei captured a Chinese boy and ordered Miki to shoot his face, but Miki was unable to do so. While Miki could not help recoiling from the violent sight, Kamei regarded the boy as just “material” for his film. In the discourses of bunka eiga, the Kamei-like attitude toward reality remained dominant over the Miki-like one, and this dominance resulted from the avoidance of a confrontation with the “relative Other,” such as the Chinese, compelled by the China Incident. Between the Incident and the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese, by discussing bunka eiga without facing the relative Other, fried to avoid looking squarely at reality.

This paper deals with “monster cat” films, a category of horror film in Japan, by analyzing Hiroku kaibyoden or Monster Cat Mystery, one such film. In general, a “monster cat” film is a story where a human takes the form of a cat or vice versa. In addition, in most of the stories, the cat revenges the barbaric death of her owner. Because “monster cat” films outnumber all other story lines in Japanese horror, they were obviously very popular with the public. However, “monster cat” films are regarded by some with disdain and valued less than other film types. This is evident in the fact that an actress who played the role of monster cat was disdainfully called a "monster cat actress" and her film itself regarded as having no artistic value, as just a copy of a kabuki play. Consequently “monster cat” films have never been subject to study. After 1975, “monster cat” films were no longer produced.

However, the author found that Hiroku kaibyoden is different from “monster cat” films in general, because the film seeks an affiliation between the cat and the woman. Such an attempt is much different from other works in which actresses are treated as an object of fear. This research aims to identify the differences between Hiroku kaibyoden and other films of this type by focussing on the connection between the woman and the cat in the film and in original monster cat images in kodan (Japanese story telling) or kabuki stories. It will reveal how such differences effect the film. Objective analysis is attemped according to the film story.