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Author Uchiyama, Benjamin, 1979- author.

Title Japan's carnival war : mass culture on the home front, 1937-1945 / Benjamin Uchiyama
Published Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2019

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 280 pages) : illustrations
Contents Introduction. The Circus Freak -- Writing a History of Total War -- Cultural Practice versus Cultural Ideology -- The Idea of Carnival; Carnival War -- The Five Kings of Carnival War -- The Reporter. The Censor Becomes the "Effeminate Bookworm" -- The Reporter Becomes the "War Correspondent" -- The Thrills of Total War and the Crowning of the "Thrill Hunter" -- The Speed of Total War -- Thrills and Kills -- "'Tis the Season for the Fall of Nanjing!" -- Wild Dancing in Ginza -- The Decrowning of the "Thrill Hunter" -- The Munitions Worker. Early Wartime Mobilization and Its Consequences -- The Profile of the Munitions Worker -- The Munitions Worker in Disguise -- The Munitions Worker Becomes the Industrial Warrior -- Conclusion --The Soldier. The Soldier Speeds Up -- The Military God Becomes a Sentimental Soldier --The "Humanity" of the Wakizaka Unit -- "Heartfelt Comforts" from the Home Front -- The "Comforts" of the Warfront -- The Crowning of the Returned Soldier -- The Returned Soldier as Soldier-Freak -- The Rage of the Returned Soldier -- The Sorrow of the Returned Soldier -- The Guardians of the Returned Soldier -- Decrowning the Soldier -- The Movie Star. Controlling the Movie Star: The Road to the Film Law -- The Film Law and the Registration System -- The Movie Star in the New Film Order -- The Case of Mito Mitsuko; The Limits of Mobilizing Movie Stars -- Conclusion -- The Youth Aviator. The Tragic Kamikaze Pilot -- The Foundations of Aviation Culture -- The Crowning of the Youth Aviator -- The Youth Aviator as Consumer-Fan -- The Youth Aviator Becomes the Kamikaze Pilot -- The Kamikaze Pilot Listened to Jazz Before Killing Americans -- Conclusion. Gendering Carnival War -- Global Echoes of Carnival War -- The Circus Freak Next to the Policeman
Summary "Japan in the Asia-Pacific War years is usually remembered for economic deprivation, political repression, and cultural barrenness. Benjamin Uchiyama argues that although the war created the opportunity for the state to expand its control over society and mass culture, it also fractured Japanese people's sense of identity, spilling out through a cultural framework which is best understood as 'carnival war'. In this cultural history, we are introduced to five symbolic figures: the thrill-seeking reporter, the defiant munitions worker, the tragic soldier, the elusive movie star, and the glamorous youth aviator. Together they represent both the suppression and proliferation of cultural life in wartime Japan and demonstrate that 'carnival war' coexisted with total war to promote consumerist desire versus sacrifice, fantasy versus nightmare, and beauty versus horror. Ultimately, Uchiyama argues, this duality helped mobilize home front support for the war effort."-- Provided by publisher
Notes Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Southern California, 2013, titled Carnival war : a cultural history of wartime Japan, 1937-1945
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed March 29, 2019)
Subject Popular culture -- Political aspects -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
War and society -- Japan -- History -- 20th century
Political culture -- Japan -- 20th century
HISTORY -- Europe -- Western.
Civilization
Political culture
Popular culture -- Political aspects
War and society
SUBJECT Japan -- Civilization -- 1926-1945. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85069377
Subject Japan
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781316953228
131695322X
9781316899823
1316899829
1107186749
9781107186743
9781316637449
1316637441
Other Titles Carnival war