academic discourse, for which the English language plays a pivotal role, is engendering its own “Rashomon effect.” In this sense, it is unfortunate that the editors of Rashomon Effects did not use the anthology as an opportunity to refl exively examine the Rashomon effect of Kurosawa scholarship by inviting Japanese fi lm scholars into their project. With an increasing number of specialists in the fi eld of Japanese fi lm studies, we no longer need to lament the lack of a critical mass of specialists as potential interlocutors. At the same time, some of us may feel more deeply the institutional constraint on our research, not necessarily in the form of interdiction (“thou shall not work on this research project”), but in the form of an abundance of self-evidently research-worthy topics and issues ready to be taken on by graduate students and even by established scholars. On the one hand, these potential research topics and their underlying methodological assumptions clearly indicate the depth and scope of Japanese fi lm studies as a well-established academic fi eld. On the other hand, they function not simply as a barometer of the fi eld’s maturity but also as a powerful screening device reinforcing the disciplinary boundary of Japanese fi lm studies. To distance oneself refl exively from the conditions that enable us to formulate research questions approved by a discipline as legitimate while at the same time remaining a committed member of that discipline is easier said than done. Rashomon Effects could have been a book that allows us to engage in such a critically acrobatic maneuver through reexamination of the legacies of Rashomon. Unfortunately, the book as a whole presents only a missed opportunity for critically reassessing the history and current state of Japanese fi lm studies with an eye to the future of the fi eld.

中文翻译：

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1600-1900 年日本城市的街头表演者和社会：Gerald Groemer 的乞丐的礼物

英语语言在其中发挥着关键作用的学术话语正在产生其自身的“罗生门效应”。从这个意义上说，遗憾的是，《罗生门效应》的编辑们并没有利用选集作为机会，通过邀请日本电影学者参与他们的项目来反思性地审视黑泽明奖学金的罗生门效应。随着日本电影研究领域的专家越来越多，我们不再需要为缺乏足够数量的专家作为潜在的对话者而感到遗憾。同时，我们中的一些人可能会更深刻地感受到我们研究的制度约束，不一定是禁止的形式（“你不得从事这个研究项目”），而是以大量不言而喻的值得研究的主题和问题的形式，准备由研究生甚至知名学者进行研究。一方面，这些潜在的研究主题及其潜在的方法论假设清楚地表明日本电影研究作为一个成熟的学术领域的深度和范围。另一方面，它们的功能不仅是该领域成熟度的晴雨表，而且还是加强日本电影研究学科界限的强大筛选工具。反射性地使自己远离使我们能够制定被学科认可为合法的研究问题的条件，同时保持该学科的忠实成员，说起​​来容易做起来难。罗生门效应本可以成为一本书，通过重新审视罗生门的遗产，让我们参与到这种批判性的杂技动作中。不幸的是，整本书只是错失了一个机会，可以批判性地重新评估日本电影研究的历史和现状，并着眼于该领域的未来。