From the late 1920s through to World War II, film became a crucial tool in the state of Japan. Detailing the way Japanese directors, scriptwriters, company officials and bureaucrats colluded to produce films that supported the war effort, ""Imperial Screen"" is an account of the realities of cultural life in wartime Japan. The author's treatment of the film world as a microcosm of the entire sphere of Japanese wartime culture demonstrates what happens when conscientious artists and intellectuals become enmenshed in a totalitarian regime.