Scenario writers and scenario readers in the golden age of Japanese cinema

This article seeks to open discussion on the history of Japanese scenario (shinario). It examines the notion of scriptwriter as author and the unique working spaces assigned for writers during the flourishing of the studio system in the 1950s. It also addresses the appearance of scenario reader that was prompted by extensive script publishing that placed the scenario in a focal position in film culture. Presented and consumed in this manner, scenarios both complemented and contested screenviewing experience and the emerging canon of Japanese cinema.