Pink Auteur, Red Outlaw: Adachi Masao and Japan’s Cinema of Revolution
Adachi Masao is one of the most radical figures in postwar Japanese culture. Once a fugitive from the Japanese state, Adachi forged his filmmaking career amid the upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s counterculture, shaped by student uprisings, political violence, and global conflict.
This critical biography traces his life and work from early collaborations with Wakamatsu Koji and Oshima Nagisa, through his years in the Middle East fighting for the Palestinian cause with the Japanese Red Army, to his highly anticipated return to filmmaking in the twenty-first century.
The first-ever English-language book on Adachi, based on extensive interviews with the director and years of research, this study offers a comprehensive portrait of the filmmaker and his provocative oeuvre – from socially engaged pink films and New Wave cinema to experimental documentary and avant-garde psychodrama. An essential read for those interested in cinema, history, or politics.
Awai Books, 2026
Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima
Following the March 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear crisis, the media remarked with surprise on how thousands of demonstrators had flocked to the streets of Tokyo. But mass protest movements are nothing new in Japan. The post-war period experienced years of unrest and violence on both sides of the political spectrum: from demos to riots, strikes, campus occupations, factional infighting, assassinations and even international terrorism.
This is the first comprehensive history in English of political radicalism and counterculture in Japan, as well as of the artistic developments during this turbulent time. It chronicles the major events and movements from 1945 to the new flowering of protests and civil dissent in the wake of Fukushima. Introducing readers to often-ignored aspects of Japanese society, it explores the fascinating ideologies and personalities on the Right and the Left, including the student movement, militant groups and communes. While some elements parallel developments in Europe and America, much of Japan’s radical recent past (and present) is unique and offers valuable lessons for understanding the context to the new waves of anti-government protests the nation is currently witnessing.
C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 2016
Die japanische Rote Armee Fraktion
A German translation of parts of Dissenting Japan, fully updated and expanded with new material. It provides a short, accessible introduction to the Japanese Red Army, including its origins within the domestically based Red Army Faction and then its activities in the Middle East and across the globe.
Translated by Rudi Gradnitzer and with a foreword by Gregor Wakounig
Bahoe Books, 2018