Kissing off the Defeat: Cross-Dressing as the Japanese Postwar Condition in Oitsu Owaretsu

This paper focuses on cross-dressing performances in Yūzō Kawashima's Oitsu Owaretsu (1946), and the postwar socio-political conditions in which the text was released. The film is known for offering the very first kiss scene in a history of Japanese cinema. Produced under the strict censorship by the Occupation force, however, a kiss is not just a kiss, but represents Americanism, masculinity, and heterosexuality. This is significant as a vital postwar concern for Japanese men was how they could regain masculine pride after the emasculation. The male in disguise, therefore, is an abject representation of postwar Japan. In spite of the "feminization" of male characters, a masculine order is restored at the end, with a democratic kiss that makes the protagonist a Westernized hero. Cross-dressing performances function as an initiation rite for the defeated nation, after which Japan can attain a Westernized future and reclaim its masculine national identity.