The Barbarian And The Geisha

The Barbarian and the Geisha is a 1958 film starring John Wayne, Sam Jaffe and Japanese American actress Eiko Ando set in 1850s Japan. The movie, which was largely shot on location, was directed by John Huston.

Plot

Townsend Harris (Wayne) is sent by President Pierce to Japan to serve as the first U.S. Consul-General. Harris discovers enormous hostility to foreigners but the love of a young geisha.

Production notes

Director Anthony Mann initially owned the story but he sold the rights to 20th Century Fox after being unable to sign a big star to play the lead.

Exteriors were shot on location in Japan at Kyoto and the Tōdai-ji shrine in Nara. Interiors and additional scenes were completed at Toho Studios in Tokyo and 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles

Before release, the film was heavily re-edited by the studio. Director John Huston denounced this version and even wanted to have his name removed from the credits. Huston had wanted to make a particularly Japanese film in terms of photography, pacing, color and narration but according to him only a few edits - representing his vision - were left intact in the theatrical version.

The film received lukewarm reviews and did disappointingly at the box office.

Historical background

The story is based on American diplomat Townsend Harris and his time in Japan during the 1850s and 60s. This was the period just prior to the Meiji Restoration when Japan ended its period of international isolation and began massive industrialization. But in Harris' time, Japan was still ruled by a shogun in a manner that had not changed for hundreds of years.

President Franklin Pierce named Harris the first Consul General to the Empire of Japan in July, 1856, where he opened the first U.S. Consulate at the Gyokusen-ji Temple in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, sometime after Commodore Perry had first opened trade between the U.S. and Japan in 1853.

During his time in Japan, Harris had a romance with a 17-year-old geisha named Okichi. Their story is one of the most well-known folk tales in Japan. Harris died in New York in 1878. Tragically the real Okichi committed suicide in Shimoda in 1892.

References

1. ^ "Townsend Harris: America's First Consul to Japan" -- biography by the Consulate General of Japan in New York
2. ^ Japanese Delegation Visits CCNY July 24 2006 to honor founder Townsend Harris: Visit Coincides With 150th Anniversary of Harris' Appointment as First U.S. Consul to Japan

Notes

• Cosenza, Mario Emilio. (1930). The Complete Journal of Townsend Harris First American Consul General and Minister to Japan. New York: Doubleday. 10-ISBN B00085QAZQ
• Dulles, Foster Rhea, "Yankees and Samurai: America’s Role in the Emergence of Modern Japan, 1791-1900", Harper & Row, New York, 1965.
• Griffis, William Elliot. (1895) Townsend Harris, First American Envoy in Japan. New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. ...Click digitized, full-text copy of this book
• Perrin, Noel (1979). Giving up the gun . Boston: David R. Godine. ISBN 0879237732.

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