Despite its global popularity last summer and early fall, including in China and other Asian markets, it was no shock to find that a wide release in Japan was kept on hold. Might have happened anyway, but this was guaranteed after Japanese protested some of the early \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d promotion there, which I wrote about here<\/a>. Sample of an offending poster:<\/p>\n Some Japanese Twitter users responded with photos of the 1945 bombing victims.<\/p>\n Yesterday we finally got word<\/a> of a release in Japan, with no fixed date but likely in spring, for Oscar season, which even there gets wide attention. The distributor has the rather too on-the-nose name, Bitters End.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a statement carried in Japanese media, the firm said it had taken the decision after lengthy discussions that took into account the backlash<\/a> it had sparked in Japan after it went on international release at the same time as the comedy movie Barbie in July. \u201cThe film\u2019s subject matter is of great importance and holds special meaning for Japanese people, so we decided to release it in Japan<\/a> after various discussions and considerations,\u201d Bitters End said.<\/em><\/p>\n And there was this in the Los Angeles Times<\/em>:<\/p>\n Jeffrey J. Hall<\/a>, who researches pop culture in Japan, said the news of the film\u2019s release was warmly received, becoming the country\u2019s No. 1 trending topic<\/a> on X, formerly Twitter, after it was announced.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThere was definitely a sense of exclusion among Japanese cinephiles,\u201d Hall, a special lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies outside Tokyo, said in an email. \u201cEven if the subject matter of the film might be a bit uncomfortable for Japanese viewers, the fact that it was created by a world-famous director will be reason enough for many viewers to give it a chance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there will be a repeat of the Barbenheimer controversy,\u201d Hall said, \u201cprovided that Japanese distributors approach the subject matter in a tasteful manner.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Thanks for reading Oppenheimer: From Hiroshima to Hollywood! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff57dbd36-3c5b-4a6e-a9df-b118736ac47e_546x708.webp)
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