Protest Through Art: Japan’s Post WWII Movement Against A U.S. Presence

Some of the photographs and documentary film footage in Linda Hoagland’s film, “ANPO: Art X War,” look like they could have come out of Cairo, during the massive protests that ousted leader Hosni Mubarak this winter. But the images are from Japan in 1960 when millions of people protested Japan’s continuing relationship with the U.S.

In 1951, after the U.S. occupation of Japan, a security treaty, known as ANPO in Japan, was signed allowing the U.S. to maintain military bases there.

The treaty was then revised in 1960, setting off massive protests.  Hoagland’s film tells the forgotten history of the demonstrations against the Japanese government and its relationship with the U.S., and the art that emerged from the protest movement.  She has a unique perspective: Hoagland was raised in Japan, the child of missionaries, and is fluent in Japanese.  She is also a leading subtitler of Japanese films.

• Harvard Film Archive: Watch ANPO Monday April 11, in Cambridge, Mass.
• Visual Arts Library: “The Base” by Hiroshi Nakamura
• Visual Arts Library: Artist Hiroshi Nakamura
• Art in America: Know Your Enemy- ANPO