Monday, April 21, 2008 ; 6:23 AM
Uproar over film on Yasukuni Shrine
First it was slammed as being anti-Japanese,
now its lead character says he wanted out
By Kwan Weng Kin, Japan Correspondent
TOKYO - AN AWARD-WINNING documentary on Japan's Yasukuni war shrine is mired in further controversy after an ageing swordsmith claimed that his wish to be axed from the final cut of the film was ignored.
Shot over 10 years, Yasukuni the film was originally scheduled to begin screening in Japan today. But it ran into problems in February when a group of lawmakers asked to preview the movie after a weekly magazine branded it as an 'anti-Japanese' production funded by Japanese taxpayers.
The lawmakers said they wanted to see if it was appropriate for the movie to have received a 7.5 million yen (S$100,500) grant from the Japan Arts Council.
News of the preview generated so much negative press that last month, theatres decided not to show the movie after they received threatening calls from right-wing groups, which wanted the screenings to be cancelled.
It has now run into another hitch, with Japan's oldest-living swordsmith Naoji Kariya voicing unhappiness over his part in the movie.
'The movie was not what I had expected it to be when I was asked to be filmed. I never thought I would become entangled in the Yasukuni issue,' he told local media.
In the documentary, Mr Kariya reveals mixed feelings about World War II and the Yasukuni Shrine, but previews on the movie have so far been vague about what he says exactly.
The shrine is viewed by Asian countries as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism because it honours both Japan's war dead as well as Class A war criminals.
In recent years, visits to the shrine by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had clouded Japan's ties with China and South Korea.
Tokyo-based Chinese director Li Ying told a press conference on Thursday that Mr Kariya had agreed to be included in the movie, which is simply entitled Yasukuni.
He said he was perplexed as to why the 90-year-old swordsmith had now apparently changed his mind.
He said that when he visited Mr Kariya, who lives in Kochi prefecture, western Japan, in February, the latter had expressed uneasiness over the movie, but after a long conversation, Mr Kariya left Mr Li with the parting words: 'Do your best for the screening.'
The first hint of Mr Kariya's change of heart came when ruling party lawmaker Haruko Arimura wrote on her website that she had said at an Upper House committee on March 27 that Mr Kariya had told her he wanted his scenes removed from the movie.
Mr Li, who had not heard directly from Mr Kariya, said: 'I wonder what kind of pressure the lawmaker applied to get Mr Kariya to change his mind to that extent. I wonder if she is allowed to do that.'
In a statement released by her office, Ms Arimura denied applying any pressure on the swordsmith.
Removing Mr Kariya from the movie would destroy it, said Mr Li. 'If the movie cannot stand, of course we cannot screen it. Is that her aim?' he asked.
The movie received an award for best documentary at the Hongkong International Film Festival last month. Following the furore, only about 20 theatres in Japan plan to screen it, in May or later.
LAST OF 'YASUKUNI SWORD' MAKERS
THE 123-minute documentary is centred on swordsmith Naoji Kariya, who reveals mixed feelings about World War II and the Yasukuni Shrine.
He is billed as the last in a line of swordsmiths who make the so-called 'Yasukuni Swords' that are said to embody the spirits of the dead.
(CONTROVERSIAL FILM: Mr Kariya, Japan's oldest-living swordsmith, revealed mixed feelings about World War II and Yasukuni. -- PHOTO: DRAGON FILMS)
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