Rashomon Revisited: A Re-analysis of the Film and Implications for Mass Psychology

The author notes that the title of the film has been used to identify a social-psychological concept that has been widely applied in the literature. The author gives a synopsis of the film. In order to debunk the standard interpretation of the film and provide a new one, the author places the making of the film in an historical context. This requires an explication of the absorption of the samurai into modernized Japan and the country's history before, during, and immediately after World War II. The perception of the Emperor as a deity and his de-deification are central to understanding the culture and the problem of managing aggression in that society. The social structure of the society can be described as massification. The effects of these sociocultural issues on psychotherapy in Japan are discussed along with the implications for group psychotherapy.