With the closing of Iwanami Hall, scheduled for July, a page in the history of cinema in Japan has been turned. For more than half a century, the small 192-seat hall, at the top of a building in the district of booksellers, large bookstores and universities of Jinbocho, the “Latin Quarter of Tokyo”, has been a window on the world for the Japanese who discovered there films from all over the world and ignored by the major distribution circuits.
“I was surprised and moved by the expressions of sympathy following the announcement of the closure of Iwanami Hall, confie sla directrice, Ritsuko Iwanami. I knew that we were esteemed for showing hitherto unknown films in Japan and bringing the public to consider cinema as an art and not as an entertainment. But I was not aware of the great attachment of moviegoers to this room. » The closure of Iwanami Hall is “a clap of thunder in a cithe blue, writes the daily Mainichi. But also a symptom of the crisis in independent cinema.
The Covid-19 pandemic, the changing tastes of younger generations and the possibilities of accessing films on platforms like Netflix, the higher price of buying film rights have sealed the fate of Iwanami Hall – like that of other small independent halls called miniseata (“mini-theatres”) which do not benefit from any subsidy.
Special atmosphere
For a long time, Iwanami Hall had a loyal following that never missed a new movie. The frequentation of the room had its ritual giving it a particular atmosphere: the two elevators in which fifteen people crowded to reach the tenth floor demanded to arrive in advance. And, after the screenings, the queues to go down allowed the spectators to exchange comments. The new generation has lost the habit of going to the cinema, and the Covid has deterred their elders from going there.
Reflecting an era, this small room with wooden slat walls is linked to the history of one of the most prestigious Japanese publishing houses: Iwanami Shoten. But its unique character was due to the determination of the three women who presided over its destiny.
Founded in 1913 by Shigeo Iwanami, the publishing house that bears his name publishes literature and the humanities. Several times censored during the militarist period, it also published the journal Sekai (“the world”) which, sometimes compared to Modern times, exercised a great influence on intellectual circles after the war through his independence and his criticism of power.
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