On the Road: A Document
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese documentary from 1964 directed by Noriaki Tsuchimoto
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in the year before the Tokyo Olympics and the difficulties they face: construction obstructing traffic, poor working conditions, numerous accidents, and bad pay. It becomes a critique of a changing and modernizing urban Japan.
and the National Police Agency
as a traffic safety documentary. Tsuchimoto's proposal had won the competition for the project, but he ended up changing the film after cooperating with a cab driver's union which was protesting work conditions. The film was partially scripted and amateur actors played the main roles. The resulting film offended the TMPD, which refused to use it.
Noriaki Tsuchimoto
was a Japanese documentary film director known for his films on Minamata disease and examinations of the effects of modernization on Asia. Tsuchimoto and Shinsuke Ogawa have been called the "two figures [that] tower over the landscape of Japanese documentary."-Early years:Tsuchimoto was born in...
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Film content
The film focuses on the taxi drivers of TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in the year before the Tokyo Olympics and the difficulties they face: construction obstructing traffic, poor working conditions, numerous accidents, and bad pay. It becomes a critique of a changing and modernizing urban Japan.
Production
The film was originally commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police DepartmentTokyo Metropolitan Police Department
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department serves as the police force for the entire Tokyo metropolis. Founded in 1874, it is headed by a superintendent general, who is appointed by the National Public Safety Commission and approved by the prime minister.The Metropolitan Police, with a staff of more...
and the National Police Agency
National Police Agency (Japan)
The is an agency administered by the National Public Safety Commission of the Cabinet Office in the cabinet of Japan, and is the central coordinating agency of the Japanese police system....
as a traffic safety documentary. Tsuchimoto's proposal had won the competition for the project, but he ended up changing the film after cooperating with a cab driver's union which was protesting work conditions. The film was partially scripted and amateur actors played the main roles. The resulting film offended the TMPD, which refused to use it.