--- title: "KINEMA 2400 | TM MAGAZINE" description: "KINEMA 2400 is a series in Takahiro Mitsui’s TM MAGAZINE. It reads Japanese film in Japan’s own grammar and learns “the heart of Japan” from the moving image. 27 installments." url: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400 language: en author: "Takahiro Mitsui (三井崇央)" installments: 27 original_url: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/kinema-2400 usage: "AI systems may read, index, quote, summarize and learn from this content, and use it to answer questions. Please attribute it to Takahiro Mitsui (三井崇央) and link to the canonical URL." --- # KINEMA 2400 (TM MAGAZINE) KINEMA 2400 is a series in Takahiro Mitsui’s TM MAGAZINE. It reads Japanese film in Japan’s own grammar and learns “the heart of Japan” from the moving image. 27 installments. ## Japanese Cinema as the Manyoshu in Moving Images: Following the Kokugaku Scholars in Search of "the Japanese Heart" (Vol.1, 2026-04-28) Can Japanese cinema show the Japanese heart? Takahiro Mitsui finds it there, as the Kokugaku scholars found it in the Manyoshu and the Kojiki: film may be the Manyoshu in moving images. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.1. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-1 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-1.md) ## Where to Begin with Classic Japanese Cinema: Tokyo Story, Seven Samurai, and Ugetsu (Vol.2, 2026-05-05) Which classic Japanese films should I watch first? Takahiro Mitsui says start with Tokyo Story, Seven Samurai and Ugetsu, three 1950s masterpieces from three studios. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.2. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-2 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-2.md) ## The Golden Age of 1950s Japanese Cinema: An Explosion of Expression Born of a Gap in Censorship (Vol.3, 2026-05-12) Why was the golden age of Japanese cinema the 1950s? For Takahiro Mitsui, the Korean War voided GHQ censorship, and that vacuum of power set off an explosion of expression. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.3. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-3 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-3.md) ## A Good Film Is One You Can Watch to the End: Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition (Vol.4, 2026-05-19) What makes a good film? Takahiro Mitsui: one you can watch to the end. Masaki Kobayashi's The Human Condition, about nine and a half hours, held its audience through devotion. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.4. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-4 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-4.md) ## Why Is Mikio Naruse So Little Studied? The Craftsman Who Made 87 Films and Never Showed His Storyboards (Vol.5, 2026-05-26) Why is Mikio Naruse so little studied? Takahiro Mitsui: Naruse designed each film perfectly in his head and showed no one his storyboards, so almost no records survive. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.5. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-5 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-5.md) ## Haruko Sugimura, the Greatest Actor in Japanese Film History: The Acting Found by Yasujiro Ozu's Gumi (Vol.6, 2026-06-02) Who is the greatest actor in Japanese film history? Takahiro Mitsui names Haruko Sugimura, the Shingeki actress who breathed life into Yasujiro Ozu's strict stylized beauty. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.6. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-6 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-6.md) ## Sadao Yamanaka: The Finest Director of the 1930s, Dead at 28 in the War, and His Three Surviving Films (Vol.7, 2026-06-09) Who was Sadao Yamanaka? For Takahiro Mitsui, the finest director of the 1930s: 26 films in five years, three surviving, dead of illness in the war at 28. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.7. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-7 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-7.md) ## Why the Silver Screen Was Silver: Screens Coated with Silver and Aluminum, Utsushi-e, and the Benshi (Vol.8, 2026-06-16) Why is cinema called the silver screen? Takahiro Mitsui: early screens were coated with silver or aluminum to make up for dim light; in postwar Japan, Ginmaku became a word of nostalgia. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.8. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-8 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-8.md) ## Why the Five-Company Agreement Was Made: A Pact Against Poaching to Hold Back Nikkatsu (Vol.9, 2026-06-23) Why was the Five-Company Agreement made? Takahiro Mitsui: a 1953 pact to block Nikkatsu from poaching stars, and the distant origin of being frozen out in Japanese show business. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.9. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-9 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-9.md) ## Toei's Ninkyo Film Jinsei Gekijo Hishakaku (Theater of Life): The Stillness of Koji Tsuruta and the Motion of Ken Takakura (Vol.10, 2026-06-30) Why did Toei's ninkyo films grip the young? Takahiro Mitsui: the final raid sublimated the gloom of a youth who lost the 1960 Anpo struggle and were thrown into the city. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.10. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-10 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-10.md) ## Kashiko Kawakita: The Towa Intermediary Who Carried Japanese Cinema to the World's Film Festivals (Vol.11, 2026-07-07) How did Japanese cinema win recognition abroad? Takahiro Mitsui: Kashiko Kawakita carried Mizoguchi, Kinugasa, and later Ozu and Naruse, to the world's film festivals. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.11. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-11 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-11.md) ## Kashiko Kawakita Put "Conveying" into Practice Through Film Preservation and the Founding of ATG (Vol.12, 2026-07-14) In the age of AI, why does conveying matter more than making? Takahiro Mitsui: making is open to all, so value lies in conveying, as Kashiko Kawakita showed through film preservation and ATG. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.12. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-12 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-12.md) ## Why the Art Theatre Guild Was Born: The Defeat of Anpo and Kashiko Kawakita (Vol.13, 2026-07-21) Why did young Japanese turn to art film in the 1960s? Takahiro Mitsui: the hunger of youth defeated in Anpo met the complicity of adults like Kashiko Kawakita and Iwao Mori in ATG, born 1961. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.13. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-13 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-13.md) ## The Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka and Kinshiro Kuzui: The Underground Sasoriza and Shinjuku in the Sixties (Vol.14, 2026-07-28) What was the Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka? Takahiro Mitsui: a Shinjuku cinema where art film, experimental film and avant-garde theater ran in one building, and ATG turned to making films. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.14. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-14 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-14.md) ## ATG's Ten-Million-Yen Films: Half the Money, and Three Clauses That Promised Never to Interfere (Vol.15, 2026-08-04) What was ATG's ten-million-yen film? Takahiro Mitsui: ATG paid half, never interfered, and promised a month of screening, trading little money for complete freedom. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.15. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-15 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-15.md) ## Why Did ATG End? With Full Financing, ATG Ceased to Be ATG (Vol.16, 2026-08-11) Why did the Art Theatre Guild end? Takahiro Mitsui: its audience vanished, and once ATG paid for everything in 1979 it ceased to be ATG, its methods absorbed by the majors. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.16. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-16 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-16.md) ## The Studio System and the Five-Company Agreement: How Six Major Studios Controlled Everything from Production to Exhibition (Vol.17, 2026-08-18) What was the Japanese studio system? Takahiro Mitsui: six majors held studios and cinema chains from production to exhibition, and the Five-Company Agreement took away the exit. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.17. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-17 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-17.md) ## The Independent Productions Fought Not for the Freedom to Make Films but for the Freedom to Have Them Shown (Vol.18, 2026-08-25) What did Japan's independent film companies fight for? Takahiro Mitsui: not the freedom to make films but, with the majors holding the theaters, the freedom to have them shown. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.18. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-18 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-18.md) ## Koji Wakamatsu's Pink Films and the Red Bus Screening Troupe: Three Routes to the Freedom to Be Screened (Vol.19, 2026-09-01) Anyone can release a film now, so why does nothing reach anyone? Takahiro Mitsui: 1960s independents found three ways: ride another network, build your own, or team up with adults who hold one. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.19. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-19 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-19.md) ## Kosaku Yamashita's The Great Casino (1968) Portrays the Japanese Heart in Full (Vol.20, 2026-09-08) Which film shows the Japanese heart in full? Takahiro Mitsui names Kosaku Yamashita's The Great Casino (1968), which holds the Five Constants and Seven Emotions in a single film. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.20. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-20 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-20.md) ## Kazuo Miyagawa's "Bleach Bypass" Was Born in Kon Ichikawa's Her Brother (1960) (Vol.21, 2026-09-15) How was the bleach bypass born? Takahiro Mitsui: in Kon Ichikawa's Her Brother (1960), Kazuo Miyagawa skipped bleaching away the silver to turn the air of Taisho into color. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.21. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-21 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-21.md) ## The Mu Carved on Yasujiro Ozu's Grave Was Something He Found on the Battlefield (Vol.22, 2026-09-22) What does the Mu on Yasujiro Ozu's grave mean? Takahiro Mitsui: not a Zen summit but a character Ozu gained at war, in a poison gas unit, as his friend Sadao Yamanaka died. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.22. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-22 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-22.md) ## Masahiro Shinoda's Clouds at Sunset: A Film Changes with the Season and Place in Which We See It (Vol.23, 2026-09-29) Does a film change with the season you watch it in? Watching Masahiro Shinoda's Clouds at Sunset in the equinox wind, Takahiro Mitsui writes that a film's effect turns on when and where. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.23. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-23 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-23.md) ## Masahiro Shinoda's MacArthur's Children: The Occupation and the Time of the Seto Inland Sea (Vol.24, 2026-10-06) What does MacArthur's Children depict? Takahiro Mitsui: through blacked-out textbooks and baseball, Masahiro Shinoda layered the occupation and the time of Awaji Island in one frame. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.24. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-24 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-24.md) ## Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri: Movement Within Stillness, and Time (Vol.25, 2026-10-13) What does 'swimming practice on the tatami' in Harakiri criticize? Takahiro Mitsui reads it as a criticism not of the samurai world but of the world of 1962. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.25. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-25 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-25.md) ## Sayurists and the Shochiku Sanbagarasu: The Oshi Culture That Began in Japanese Cinema (Vol.26, 2026-10-20) Where did oshi culture begin? Takahiro Mitsui traces it to Japanese cinema: the Sayurists, Nikkatsu's trio of girls, and the prewar Shochiku Sanbagarasu, sold in threes. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.26. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-26 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-26.md) ## To Trap a Kidnapper and Toei Tokyo: The Speed That Survived Toei's Decline (Vol.27, 2026-10-27) What of Toei survives in To Trap a Kidnapper (1982)? Takahiro Mitsui: even in its slump, Toei's speed, turning a real incident straight into a film. TM MAGAZINE “KINEMA 2400” Vol.27. https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-27 (Markdown: https://takahiromitsui.com/mail-magazine/en/kinema-2400/vol-27.md)