Based on J. Gaines’ discussion of “political mimesis,” this paper examines

how Japanese television documentaries in the 60s handled the provocative

power communicated by images of struggles arising from protest movements.

Gaines’ theory is often mentioned as an independent documentary methodology

that encourages viewers to take political action. In contrast, this paper focuses

on TV documentaries’ specific treatment of provocative political mimesis

among the various broadcasting circumstances. In this media environment, this

type of biased approach was not easily allowed due to the existence of ethical

regulations such as the “equal time” rule. Consequently, this prompted filmmakers

of the time to create alternative methods for representing political images

in their works. Through this argument, this paper aims to illustrate a historical

change to the 60s documentary media environment under the emergence of

television culture and a new way for documentaries to address political issues.

　　This paper mostly addresses two themes. The first theme is related to a

dispute concerning NHK documentaries that displayed protests over the Treaty

of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan

（known as the ANPO protests） in 1960. Foreshadowing Gaines’ argument, the

disputers indeed confronted the provocation of these images to manage its

impact within the broadcasting media environment. The second theme is

related to the audio-visual methodologies that were used in a few TV documentaries

with respect to such protest issues around that time. Introducing R. Williams’

view of the history of media, which reveals a socio-technological shift in

communication, this analysis investigates how far the documentary producers

and their approaches inclined toward a broadcasting-style concept and method ology.

　　The results of this analysis show that almost all of the TV documentaries

that addressed protest issues were commonly produced in accordance with

broadcasting circumstances that put more weight on information distribution

than political agitation. However, these documentaries did not dispel political

mimesis from their representation at all. They used it alternatively together

with dexterous methodologies aimed at spontaneously fostering an understanding

of social issues and political awareness inside the minds of the viewers.