Discussion on the Relationship between Lens Language and Visual Culture in Japanese Films

Authors

  • Yitong Fan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/5e7bd619

Keywords:

Lens Language, Visual Culture, Japanese Cinema, Social Ideology, Hanataba no Koi, Everyday Aesthetics, Post-Bubble Generation

Abstract

Research on the link between lens language and visual culture in modern Japanese cinema was conducted in this paper, with a particular focus on the film Hanataba no Koi (A Bouquet of Love), directed by Hiroyasu Doi, 2022. With the help of film semiotics (Metz), visual culture theory (Mirzoeff), and Japanese aesthetic traditions such as mono no aware and ma, this paper will examine how certain cinematographic techniques-long takes, static composition, object close-ups, colour design-are used to present social concepts. Based on the above analysis, the film's visual language has revealed the sadness of the post-bubble generation, their anxieties about cultural-class identity, and a loss of urban intimacy. Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car (2021) serves as a reference point for the above observations and is also in line with a wider trend in contemporary Japanese films. The paper believes that lens language in this case does not just show ideology but also creates it actively to spread a unique Japanese sense of sight around the world.

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References

[1] Metz, C. (1974). Film language: A semiotics of the cinema (M. Taylor, Trans.). Oxford University Press.

[2] Bordwell, D. (1985). Narration in the fiction film. University of Wisconsin Press.

[3] Mirzoeff, N. (2009). An introduction to visual culture (2nd ed.). Routledge.

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[6] Deleuze, G. (1989). Cinema 2: The time-image (H. Tomlinson & R. Galeta, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press.

[7] Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste (R. Nice, Trans.). Harvard University Press.

[8] Phillips, A., & Stringer, J. (Eds.). (2007). Japanese cinema: Texts and contexts. Routledge.

[9] Dasgupta, R. (2013). Re-reading the salaryman in Japan: Crafting masculinities. Routledge.

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Published

14 June 2026

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Fan, Y. (2026). Discussion on the Relationship between Lens Language and Visual Culture in Japanese Films. International Journal of Education and Humanities, 23(3), 27-30. https://doi.org/10.54097/5e7bd619