One Big Happy Family? The Social Relationships and Legacy of the Kinoshita-gumi

The interpersonal relationships in Japanese film production under the studio system have often been represented in familial terms, as the work commonly took place in team (kumi) built around individual directors. Arguably, none of these possessed the intimacy and longevity of the one devised by Kinoshita Keisuke at Shōchiku, the core of which comprised his actual family members (composer-brother Kinoshita Chūji, screenwriter-sister Kusuda Yoshiko, cinematographer-brother-in-law Kusuda Hiroshi). The line-up of the Kinoshita-gumi also included a number of protégés who subsequently went on to have careers as some of the most important directors of their generation (Kobayashi Masaki, Teshigahara Hiroshi, Yoshida Kijū) as well as several hitherto understudied filmmakers and writers (Kawazu Yoshirō, Matsuyama Zenzō, Ōtsuki Yoshikazu, Yamada Ta’ichi). While such master-apprentice relationships have been at times regarded as oppressive, according to the reminiscences of former crew members, the nurturing and supportive Kinoshita seems to have been an exception to the rule. The aim of this essay is 1) to delineate the Kinoshita-gumi and its inner relationships and by so doing 2) to identify the scope and influence of its working methods and thematic preoccupations beyond Kinoshita’s own directorial features as well as 3) to chart his legacy as it extended to popular television drama series broadcasted under the label of Kinoshita Keisuke Theater (Kinoshita Keisuke gekijō, 1964-67) Kinoshita Keisuke Hour (Kinoshita Keisuke awā, 1967-74) and Kinoshita Keisuke’s Songs of People (Kinoshita Keisuke Ningen no uta, 1970-77).