THE MYSTERIOUS ORIENT, THE CRYSTAL CLEAR ORIENT, THE NON-EXISTENT ORIENT: DILEMMAS OF WESTERN SCHOLARS OF JAPANESE FILM

Japan raises unique problems for Western film scholars. The situation can be sum marized, perhaps a little too cynically, as follows: Western film scholars are accus ing each other of being Western film scholars. Or to put it a bit more accurately, Western film scholars are accusing each other of being Western in their approach to Japanese film. Is this a genuine dilem ma with possible solutions or is it a pseudo-issue which obscures the real is sues? Is it productive for us as modern Western film scholars to pursue this quest for the proper Japanese response?