Similar to many of his other post-World War II films, Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story focuses on changes within a Japanese family. While superficially, the film seems to only deal with its primary characters, in actuality, the fragmented Hirayama family is allegorical of Japanese families in the post-war era. In looking at Tokyo Story, it is important to look the economic and sociological history of Japan in addition to the film's precise style to notice how Ozu blames his country's explosion into modernity for the decay of the family.

Geist, Kathe. "Yasujiro Ozu: Notes on a Retrospective." Film Quarterly 37 (1983): 2-9. JSTOR.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/3697303>.

 

In her analysis of Ozu’s works, Kathy Geist claims that the director had three distinct periods within his career.  The first, in the years before 1938, Ozu generally made light comedies and a few gangster films. These films were fairly lighthearted pieces which did not have many themes unifying them as a body of work.  Although Ozu only made four films from 1938 to 1948, Geist claims that this second period in his career marks the transition from the earlier period and “anticipates” his post-war style (2).  While they still had many similarities with the Ozu’s prewar films, they are considerably more melodramatic than previous works.  In his third period, after 1948, Ozu’s films were largely restricted to house set dramas.  Not only did Ozu radically shift genres, but he also completely transformed his style between the two ends of his career.  The use of lighting and selective focus was common in his early films and would help lead his audience along the narrative.  His late period featured a strict, reserved style with flat lighting and simple cinematography.

Ozu’s shift during the war is rather significant in understanding his purpose in Tokyo Story.  The fact that his films became much more moralistic and relevant to his time suggests the war and the post-war era to have a significant effect on him.  Furthermore, almost of his post-war films deal with the same issue: changing family structure.  Either a daughter is getting married and leaving, or a family member dies, or parents visit their children.  Therefore, it seems Ozu felt World War II and the massive changes following the end of the war had negative effects on the traditional Japanese family.  The idea is underscored by the sadness and resignation which characterized his later period of work.

Mellen, Joan. The Waves at Genji's Door: Japan Through Its Cinema. New York: Pantheon Books, 1976.

Call #: PN1993.5.J3 M4

 

In her chapter on Ozu, Joan Mellen gives a close analysis of several of the director's films.  When speaking about his later works, she writes, "Ozu's implicit hope, in all the films he made after the War, was that traditional Japanese values could be continued within the context of the family, despite the social degradation outside," (321).  She develops this idea deeper over the next several paragraphs and goes as far as saying that the preservation of family values, in Ozu's mind, would prevent total "moral anarchy" (321).  While it sounds extreme to label the world as being in moral anarchy, Tokyo Story certainly portrays the Ozu's distress of his contemporary world. 

This anxiety is nicely shown through the contrast between exterior scenes in Tokyo and interior scenes of the family.  Many of the outdoor shots consist of noisy, dirty elements of city life.  While the camera generally remains static, there is significant movement through the frame which gives an unstable and unreliable tint to the world.  On the other hand, the indoor shots-the shots protected from the outside world-have a calm, soothing feel to it.   As Mellen suggests, home and the family can be a valuable shelter.

By the end of the film, however, we see that the family is no stronger than the world on the outside; everyone is separated physically and emotionally.  Despite this inverse, Mellen's analysis seems to be correct because the destruction of the cinematic family allows Ozu calls attention the underlying problem.  Only by recognizing the decomposition of family can his audience put an end to it.

McDonald, Keiko. "Ozu's Tokyo Story: Simple Means for Complex Ends." The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 17 (1982): 19-39. JSTOR.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/489426>.

 

In her analysis of Tokyo Story, Keiko McDonald suggests that Ozu provides three possible reactions to the changing world.  The first, shown by Shukichi, Tomi, and Noriko, depicts a saddened acceptance of change.  They are clearly disappointed by new values, but manage to continue their lives calmly.  The second reaction is shown through the three oldest children, Koichi, Shige, and Keizo.  They take the changing world for granted and passively go with the flow.  Finally, the youngest child, Kyoko, represents a denial of modern changes.

It does not seem fair to suggest that one of these points-of-view is better than another, and it is easy to see the reasoning behind each opinion.  While each philosophy is certainly subjective, McDonald astutely points out that Ozu aligns himself with the first group's view of the world.  Throughout the film, he pushes his audience to sympathize with Shukichi and Tomi's loneliness.  At the same time, viewers come to love Noriko who gives her full attention to the elderly couple despite not even being blood related.  On the other hand, the three oldest children are depicted as cold and selfish.  From a completely neutral position, it is not fair to blame them for their inattentiveness towards their parents; the children each have busy lives of their own, complete with children or time consuming professions.  Yet, at the end of the film, one cannot help but dislike them.

By aligning himself with the parents, Ozu shows himself to be a reflection of his protagonists.  He knows modernity is producing significant changes around him, and just like Shukichi at the end of the film, he is forced to accept the alterations in society.

 

Nakao, Keiko. "Sociological Work in Japan." Annual Review of Sociology 24 (1998): 499-516. JSTOR.<http://www.jstor.org/stable/223491>.

 

Keiko Nakao writes about the changing family structure following World War II.  The traditional family unit, known as ie, consisted of grandparents, a son and wife, and their children.  In 1947, however, Japanese laws were revised and no longer recognized the ie as a legal entity.  From here, Americanized nuclear families became more common in Japanese society.  While the nuclear family unit may seem typical to most contemporary viewers, the transition from ie to smaller families fragmented and separated traditional social roles.

Tokyo Story is essentially about the disbanding of the ie.  While the division of family is catalyzed by urbanization, the end of the ie familial structure is largely responsible for the the unwinding of the film's family.  In a symbolic scene, Noriko and the parents stand at the top of a building looking over Tokyo.  Noriko points across the city in different directions to show the parents where their children live.  Besides demonstrating the physical distance between the members of the family, these scene places Tokyo at the center of the detachment, making the city a central character in the film. 

This lack of ie which Nakao refers to is apparent throughout the film.  Traditionally, the son's wife would take care of the grandparents as they get old; with everyone separated in Tokyo, however, this is no longer possible.  Additionally, the lack of ie is shown when the parents are sent to a seaside spa.  The children give up their responsibility of caregivers and pay for someone else to entertain their parents on the vacation.  Had film taken place before the war with the ie still existing as the conventional family unit, the parents would not have been neglected.

Complementing other sociological reports for this paper, Helen Macnaughtan's article on women in the workforce provides intriguing insight into Tokyo Story's world.  Traditionally, middle class women did not have jobs and instead were expected to take care of the home.  Beginning after World War II, however, legislation, such as the 1947 Labour Standards Law, emancipated women in the labor force.  Macnaughtan sees a few key trends following the war; first, the number of female workers increased significantly.  Second, there was a noticeable increase specifically for middle-aged women.  Finally, although women were working more than the past, they remained "supplementary to the core of predominantly male permanent workers," (40).

This trend of women in the workplace is visible in Tokyo Story through the characters Noriko and Shige.  Both women, who in the past would not have had a job, are both full time workers.  Had they not been working, they would have been responsible for taking take of and spending time with Shukishi and Tomi.  For Shige, her job as a hairdresser takes away time that she would otherwise spend with her parents.  While Shige can come off as an uncaring person, it is fair to blame her inattentiveness on post-war pressures and expectations of city living.  Noriko, although full employed as well, is better able to manage her time.  She dedicates tremendous amounts of her days with the parents, even though she is not even a blood relative.  Through his writing and direction, Ozu gets his audience to love Noriko which clearly shows Ozu's love of the family.  By casting a negative shadow on the less caring character, Ozu tries to promote family life in the face of modernity's new social roles.