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Hagimoto Haruhiko, Muraki Yoshihiko
As the influence of television spread rapidly in the late 1960s, Hagimoto Haruhiko and Muraki Yoshihiko at TBS were among those who sharply questioned the standardization of documentary style that was under way. Making use of the technical characteristics of both synchronized sound and live broadcasting, they produced programs full of experimentation, the novelty of which provoked both praise and criticism. This program traces their efforts to confront the essential questions of what televisual expression should be.
All the following programs are produced by TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television).
Our Love for Thoroughbreds
(Thoroughbred waga ai)- JAPAN / 1964 / Japanese / B&W / Video / 25 min
Director: Hagimoto Haruhiko
Narrative Structure: Terayama Shuji
Through the fierce struggle between two racehorses, the standing champion of consecutive races, Fujino O, and archrival Taka Raijin, this program asks about the meaning of horse racing and the meaning of life, developing Terayama Shuji’s theme of horse racing as a model of life.
Number 6, Nakanishi Futoshi
(Nakanishi Futoshi sebango 6)- JAPAN / 1964 / Japanese / B&W / Video / 25 min
Director: Hagimoto Haruhiko
Narrative Structure: Terayama Shuji
This program is a mid-career portrait of the prodigy hitter Nakanishi Futoshi, who as a young man was celebrated in the professional baseball world as a player of superhuman ability. Focusing on one game day in particular after Nakanishi had become a coach for the Nishitetsu Lions, the film layers the unfolding of the game with Nakanishi’s career.
One Life
(Inochi hitotsu)- JAPAN / 1965 / Japanese / B&W / Video / 25 min
Director: Hagimoto Haruhiko
Narrative Structure: Tanikawa Shuntaro
This is a document of the heart surgery of a five-month-old girl with a congenitally malformed heart at Tokyo Women’s Medical College Hospital. On the advice of doctors, her mother accompanies her into the operating room and places her on the operating table.
Do You . . . ?
(Anata wa . . . )- JAPAN / 1966 / Japanese, English / B&W / Video / 53 min
Directors: Hagimoto Haruhiko, Muraki Yoshihiko
Narrative Structure: Terayama Shuji
Music: Takemitsu Toru
People passing in the street are confronted with the microphone: outlooks on life, national identity, and happiness among Japanese people are brought to the foreground. This is a legendary program that gained attention by catching people off-guard in an unanticipated place with unexpected questions.
Cool Tokyo: Autumn 1967
(Kuru Tokyo ’67 nen aki)- JAPAN / 1967 / Japanese, English / B&W / Video / 25 min
Director: Muraki Yoshihiko
Narrative Structure: Yamada Masahiro
This work of fictional reportage puts into images the zeitgeist of the 1960s, forming a collage of phenomena that overflowed the streets, including the anti-Vietnam War movement, naked performances, “futen” hippies, and right-wing demonstrations.
Our Times
(Warera no jidai)- JAPAN / 1967 / Japanese / B&W / Video / 25 min
Director: Muraki Yoshihiko
Narrative Structure Support: Yamada Masahiro
A collection of frank interviews with five men and women in their 20s on the topics of youth, politics, and sex, which clearly draw out the agitation and anxiety of young people during the era that has been called the “season of politics.”
Hanoi: Den Hideo’s Testimony
(Hanoi Den Hideo no shogen)- JAPAN / 1967 / Japanese, Vietnamese / Color / Video / 53 min
Directors: Ota Hiroshi, Hogan Masaaki, Muraki Yoshihiko
Presenter: Den Hideo
This is a report by Den Hideo covering North Vietnam. At a time when the Vietnam War was being reported exclusively through American information, this first coverage from the North Vietnamese perspective reported in detail on the lives of citizens and the extent of damage.
My Volcano
(Watashi no kazan)- JAPAN / 1968 / Japanese / B&W / Video / 25 min
Director: Muraki Yoshihiko
Narrative Structure: Yamada Masahiro
Against the backdrop of the Sakurajima volcano, a 20-year-old woman projects her secret “passion” onto the landscape. This program is a subjective travelogue that portrays travel as a voyage of self-discovery.