This book is a rigorous interdisciplinary study of the role played by Hollywood films in the cultural reconstruction of early postwar Japan. The author explores in great detail the interweaved fabric of international politics, film industry, and the cultural venues of spectatorship, describing the complex ramifications of film distribution and reception. He observes from a historical perspective the transformation of the cultural landscape in occupied Japan under the influence of a well-defined set of institutions mediating Hollywood cinema. By offering a rich collection of historical data, the book is a valuable source for historians, film academics, scholars of diplomatic and international politics as well as for any researcher interested in U.S.–Japan relations and the role played by film in the mediation between cultures.

The subtle and nuanced narrative style of the book, its attention to detail and dialectical transformations both transport and inform the reader much like John E. Dower's Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of WWII (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999). Another trait that makes this book comparable to Dower's is the author's focus both on the American influence on Japan and on the lived experience of Japanese spectators negotiating and appropriating Hollywood films to their own needs. The cultural reorientation of Japan is described by the book as a dual process, involving the encounter between American politics and the willingness of Japanese people to appropriate American ideas and values. Hollywood film is strategically placed at the intersection of business interests, the desire of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP) to steer Japan towards peace and democracy, as well as the need of Japanese people to leave the past behind and to find new forms of cultural expression.

SCAP, together with representatives of the U.S. state department and U.S. army, censored not only Japanese films, a phenomenon explored in detail by Hirano Kyoko in Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese cinema under the American occupation, 1945–52 (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1992), but also the distribution and exhibition of Hollywood films described in this book. The censorship aimed at creating an imaginary America as a source of enlightenment and this process was helped by Japanese film magazines welcoming Hollywood films as “fountains of culture” (p. 87). Censor authorities closely monitored and in many cases rejected Hollywood war films, films describing social disorder and racist films, promoting narratives of peaceful and harmonious relationships, of individual success and affectionate family life. The promotion of Hollywood films as cultural venues was meant to familiarize the Japanese with democratic ideals and a vision of American national identity associated with dignity and superiority (p. 89). Hollywood films exhibited in Japan during the Occupation period promoted American values and ideals to a receptive audience in Japan.

The author describes in great detail the creation of the Central Motion Picture Association Exchange (CMPE) and its marketing strategies aimed at meeting the requirements of the SCAP. Besides the description of various organizations involved in the distribution of films, the author examines the role played by individuals such as Charles Mayer, the managing director of CMPE, in the dissemination of American cultural images. The role of the American film industry in this process is balanced in this study by informed accounts of how various Japanese contributed to the outcome. The author describes the creation of Japanese fan culture, the construction of exhibition places and the reaction of various intellectuals to Hollywood films. Each level of film distribution and reception is exemplified with specific cases such as the construction of Marunouchi Subaru-za, a prestigious theater attracting its patrons with inventive exhibition schemes. Another example is the detailed study of the rebirth of the magazine Eiga no tomo (Friends of the movies) and its founder's passion for American movies. The entire last chapter outlines the factors contributing to the popularity of this magazine as a promoter of Hollywood films.

Aside their entertainment value Hollywood films are perceived as sources of healing, hope for creating a new society, and civilizing inspiration and confidence in life. Japanese moviegoers imagined these to be genuine traits of American culture, a culture worthy of emulating. This ground level reaction together with the clear mission of the SCAP to use American films as tools for reforming the Japanese, explain the well-chosen title of the book. Although the author successfully describes the popularity of Hollywood films as a “joint creation” of various institutions in both countries, some readers might find fault with the absence of a more critical attitude towards American expansionism. However, the lucidity of the analysis, the complexity of details and its multilayered structure make this study a very important resource for film scholars and historians. The book enriches and continues the research framework of cinema as a global cultural phenomenon.