The birth of Golden Week: rival adaptations of School of Freedom and the postwar constitution of Japan

The introduction of new liberties in Japan’s post-war constitution sparked nationwide debate during the final years of the Allied Occupation. Shishi Bunroku’s satirical novel School of Freedom (1950) captured the public’s fascination – and puzzlement – over this influential yet elusive notion. Serialised in Japan’s leading newspaper, the Asahi Shinbun, the story follows a married couple navigating the social realities of early post-war life. The salaryman husband abruptly abandons both his job and his marriage in pursuit of freedom, prompting his wife to reconsider her own life prospects. Following the novel’s success, two film studios swiftly acquired the rights, and their competing adaptations were released simultaneously in May 1951, coinciding with a newly established string of national holidays. This timing boosted audience turnout, and the unexpected surge in box-office earnings led a film executive to coin the term ‘Golden Week’, which soon became synonymous with the holiday period itself. School of Freedom thus left an imprint not only on Japanese cinema but also on the cultural imagination and leisure practices of the emerging consumerist nation. This article explores the production and reception of the rival films, situating them within the late Occupation-era popular discourse surrounding the new rights – and accompanying obligations – stipulated by Japan’s 1947 constitution.