JAPAN TODAY, A Tale of Two Cities

Planned & presented by JETRO
Produced by Nichiei kagakueizou Productions
　Color　27min
In the late 1960s, Japan was amid rapid economic growth, with　excitement building for the 1970 World Expo. Yoshiko Kuga, a photographer working for a Tokyo publishing company, returns to Tokyo after completing a　photo shoot in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture. She calls her husband Saburo, workers for a musical instrument manufacturer with an office in Tokyo.
Tokyo, a metropolis that has undergone remarkable postwar reconstruction but is now grappling with overpopulation and pollution, is contrasted with Matsue, a city that has escaped the ravages of war and still retains its traditional Japanese culture and a leisurely pace of life. This story depicts fragments of various industries and cultures of the time through the eyes of a young working couple, using the contrast between these two cities as a central theme.
概要の日本語版
1970年の万国博覧会に向け高まる機運のなか、高度成長期を謳歌する1967年頃の日本。東京の出版社に勤めるフォトグラファーのクガヨシコは、島根・松江での撮影を終えて東京に戻り、同じく東京にオフィスを持つ楽器メーカーに勤める夫のサブロウに公衆電話から連絡。
戦後目覚ましい復興を遂げながらも、過密化や公害といった副産物を抱える東京という大都市。一方、戦火を免れたことで現在でも伝統ある日本文化が色濃く残り、穏やかな時間が流れる松江。ふたつの都市の対比を軸として、当時の様々な産業や文化の断片を、働き盛りを迎えた若いふたりの視点から描く。（日英のメタデータは本館アドバイザー赤塚紀彦氏による。感謝）