Third World, First World: Ishihara Yūjirō as a Cold War Star

Abstract

This chapter examines Ishihara Yujiro, a “national” or kokuminteki celebrity, as a Cold War star. Following his debut in 1956, the Kobe-born actor achieved instant fame by portraying a range of manly and masculine characters for Nikkatsu Studio and Ishihara Promotion, Inc. The so-called “Yujiro films” began by presenting Japan as a developing Third World nation in the mid to late 1950s but over time boasted their rise in status by engaging the United States and Western Europe. By the early 1970s, Ishihara’s Japan was a full-fledged member of the First World. The image and persona of the iconic star did not merely address “domestic” concerns but exemplified a desire for “uplift” within the tense geopolitics of the Cold War.