Description
On October 21, 1968, the demonstrators protested against the Vietnam War on the occasion of International Anti-War Day. In Shinjuku station, the demonstrations resulted in what is known as Shinjuku Riot, when some 2000 people clashed with police, destroyed train cars, and set fire in the station. In this film, Jonouchi superimposed footage of the uprising in Shinjuku, documenting the chaos of the scene. He projected the images onto himself while reciting Dada-style poetry. “In 1974 Jonouchi filmed his own performance/screening, and the currently surviving edition is a re-editing of this newly created film. Kanai Katsu, who was also at Nihon University College of Art, but working as an independent film artist rather than affiliated with the Film Club, recalled the performance/screening of Shinjuku Station, which took place at the same time as the screening of his own work in October 1974: ‘Jonouchi was dressed in what looked like a white safari outfit, and when he stood up, the first thing he did was forcibly screw something into the loop of his epaulet. It was a flashlight. I looked on dumbstruck as he called out to me in his usual loud, clear voice, “OK, here I come,” switched on the projector, and strode purposefully forward. The projected film was black and white footage of riot police and student protesters. It must have been October 21 in Shinjuku. Jonouchi screamed out, “Station! Station!” as he marched toward the screen, and when he reached a spot where the film was projected on his body, he began reciting poetry he had written. The flashlight stuck into his epaulet brilliantly lit up a notebook in his left hand. Meanwhile, his right hand made a repeated upward motion. What was it? The gesture, like beckoning, seemed to be casting some kind of spell.’ (Kanai Katsu, “Jonouchi Motoharu’s Technical Shinjuku Station,” “●,” Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, p. 45.)”—Go Hirasawa, "Moment When a Singularity is Born: Essay on Jonouchi Motoharu," Collaborative Cataloging Japan, April 10, 2019, http://www.collabjapan.org/essay-go-hirasawa-jonouchi-motoharu-english
Creation Date
1974
Format
16mm
Color