Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji書を捨てよ町へ出よう
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnSho o suteyo machi e deyō
Directed byShūji Terayama
Written byShūji Terayama
Based onSho o suteyo machi e deyō
by Shūji Terayama
Produced by
  • Shūji Terayama
  • Eiko Kujo
Starring
CinematographyMasayoshi Sukita
Edited byKeiichi Uraoka
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byArt Theatre Guild
Release date
  • April 24, 1971 (1971-04-24) (Japan)
Running time
137 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥10 million

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (Japanese: 書を捨てよ町へ出よう, Hepburn: Sho o suteyo machi e deyō) is a 1971 Japanese experimental film written and directed by Shūji Terayama in his feature-length directorial debut. The film was adapted from Terayama's 1967 essay collection and subsequent 1968 stage play of the same name, and stars Hideaki Sasaki, Masaharu Saitō, Yukiko Kobayashi, and Fudeko Tanaka. Centering on an unnamed protagonist navigating the counterculture of 1970s Tokyo, the film features a nonlinear narrative frequently interspersed with staged set pieces, street interviews, and musical interludes.

Cast

  • Hideaki Sasaki as Hideaki Kitamura (北村英明), the protagonist, referred to throughout only as "Me" (私)
  • Masaharu Saitō as Masaharu Kitamura (北村正治), or the Father (父親)
  • Yukiko Kobayashi as Setsuko Kitamura (北村セツ子), or the Sister (妹)
  • Fudeko Tanaka as Hatsu Kitamura (北村ハツ), or the Grandmother (祖母)
  • Sei Hiraizumi as Ōmi (近江)
  • Akihiro Miwa as Maya of Hell (地獄のマヤ)
  • Keiko Niitaka as Midori the Prostitute (娼婦みどり)
  • Maki Asakawa as Prostitute on the Stairs (階段の娼婦)
  • Izumi Suzuki as Female Doctor (女医)
  • J. A. Seazer as Long-Haired Poet (長髪詩人)

Production

Development

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets was first published as an essay collection in 1967.[1] This publication laid the thematic groundwork for the film, exploring youth rebellion and the concept of musical expression as modern isolation.[2] The material was adapted into a 1968 Tenjō Sajiki stage play of the same name, which toured Japan until 1970.[3]

Throw Away Your Books was financed under the Art Theatre Guild's standard "ten million yen film" model, in which the ATG and the director contribute to the film's budget equally.[4] To fund his half, director Shūji Terayama established the independent production company Jinriki Hikōki Sha.[5]

Casting

Lead actor Hideaki Sasaki was cast following his performances in Terayama's 1968 stage play of the same name.[6] Sasaki coincidentally shared the character's given name, Hideaki (英明), and his erratic, existential ethos.[a][7] Drag queen singer Akihiro Miwa was cast as the prostitute Maya of Hell, as a retooling of the actor's role as Marie in Terayama's 1967 play Kegawa no Marii.[8]

Release

Theatrical

The film premiered at the Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka in Japan on April 24, 1971.[4][9] Throw Away Your Books marked Terayama's feature-length directorial debut.[b][4] Despite the film's anti-establishment themes and focus on the working class, its experimental form and limited distribution through the ATG distanced it from the general public.[10]

Home media

Throw Away Your Books has only been distributed on home media in Japan.[11] The film was released on Blu-ray by King Records on April 24, 2013, as part of a box set containing Terayama's ATG feature films.[12]

Reception

Kinema Junpo ranked the film as the 9th best Japanese film of 1971.[13] At the 14th Mostra Internazionale del Film d'Autore in 1971, the film tied for the Grand Premio, the festival's highest honor.[14][15]

Notes

  1. ^ While official Japanese databases and cast billings romanize the given name 英明 as Hideaki, English-language scholars, including Steven C. Ridgely and Ferran de Vargas, have romanized the kanji using its alternate reading, Eimei.
  2. ^ Though Terayama's original cut of the film Emperor Tomato Ketchup was 75 minutes long, it was ultimately edited down to a 27-minute short film for its initial release.

References

Bibliography

  • De Vargas, Ferran (8 May 2023). "Throwing Ideology Away: Yoshimoto Takaaki's Theory of Taishū and Terayama Shūji's Film Parody of the People". Japan Forum. Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group): 1–20. doi:10.1080/09555803.2023.2209590.
  • Fowler, Glenn (14 May 1983). "Shuji Terayama, Playwright, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  • Mostra Internazionale del Film d'Autore (1971). 14. Mostra internazionale del film d'autore: Sanremo 4-10 ottobre 1971 (in Italian). Sanremo.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Ridgely, Steven C. (4 January 2011). Japanese Counterculture: The Antiestablishment Art of Terayama Shūji. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-6753-6.
  • Terayama, Shūji (1967). 書を捨てよ、町へ出よう [Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Haga Shoten.

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