Tetsuji Takechi - Legacy

Legacy

Jasper Sharp points out that the Japanese and western views of Takechi's legacy are quite different. While western sources assess him as a major figure in the early development of the pink film, many current Japanese sources on the subject ignore his work. Sharp notes, however, that during his lifetime, he was covered prominently in Japanese sources. He speculates that his legacy has been largely forgotten in his homeland partly because of his status as an outsider in the Japanese film communities—both mainstream and pink. Since his films were self-produced and distributed by major film companies rather than through the eroduction circuit, they are not technically pink films. Also, his right-wing political background conflicts with the generally revolutionary stance more often associated with the pink film. Since his death in 1988, the lack of a studio or other publicist, or coverage by writers on the pink film has kept his work out of the public's eye in Japan. In the west, however, some of Takechi's films, such as Daydream were shown during their first runs, reviewed by major publications such as Variety, and have been preserved and remained available to genre audiences on home video releases.

During his lifetime, Takechi's innovations and contributions to Japanese theater in general and to kabuki specifically were influential for decades. His theoretical work, as well as his mentoring of several important stars, helped bring about a rebirth in kabuki after World War II. His contributions to cinema were much more controversial. Considered a dilettante outsider by much of the film industry, and suspected of racism and nationalism by others, his work was nevertheless defended by the younger generation of filmmakers such as Seijun Suzuki and Nagisa Oshima. Though his films are today unknown to most Japanese filmgoers, through his career-long fight against censorship, the taboos which his films helped break, and the creative freedom which he helped enable, he remains an important figure in Japanese cinema.