Why Not?
The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
Top Billed Cast
Featured Crew
Shōhei Imamura
Director
Shōhei Imamura
Producer
Shigemi Sugisaki
Producer
Shoichi Ozawa
Producer
Jirô Tomoda
Producer
Nobutsugu Tsubomi
Production Manager
Shinsaku Himeda
Director of Photography
Shinichirô Ikebe
Original Music Composer
Keiichi Uraoka
Editor
Yasuo Iwaki
Lighting Technician
Shōhei Imamura
Screenplay
Ken Miyamoto
Screenplay
Images
