Some Hentai in style: a true disgrace for Japan's history of cinema

I can't believe a "true Japanese cinema fan" as you consider yourself actually thinks that Japanese cinema declined after the occupation. To simply ignore the Japanese cinema of the last 50 years (especially of the 60s) is beyond me. Surely, classic Japanese cinema reached its peak in the early 50s, but then came the 60s and many amazing directors, who grew in the aftermath of the war, brought fresh air in the film industry. From the violent chambara films to the yakuza films, but especially Japanese nouvelle vague... Directors like Yoshida, Terayama, Okamoto, Oshima, Kobayashi, Teshigahara are, for me, equal or superior to most pre-war directors.

I understand that Japanese cinema declined a bit during the 70s and 80s (with some exceptions), but during the 90s and 00s another generation of great directors has emerged. Iwai, Toyoda, Koreeda, Kawase, Hashiguchi, Kitano, and of course Sono, among others, are really talented directors. And yes, I really liked Love Exposure. It was a pretty unique cinematic experience to me. It entertained me, made me think and feel a dozen of different emotions over its 4-hours course.

Anyway, my whole point is that world cinema naturally changes and evolves over the decades. Japanese cinema was of course marked from the occupation and westernization, as was the whole society of Japan. But it was also influenced from the huge cinematic movement that happened in Europe at the time, which changed world cinema. And the product was the amazing Japanese Nuberu Vagu. Of course some of the old masters like Yamanaka, Kinoshita and Kinugasa are great (while others seem dated), but they, in turn, were also inspired by American Silents and German Expressionism of the 20s. That's cinema, and art generally. Evolution and change is vital for art. Clinging in the past and copying the same styles and cinematic languages would be the death of cinema.
Still, I do think that Japanese cinema in the last 6-7 years has become really stale.

I take care of the place while the Master is away.

I do agree with you on most of your points. I became a japanese cinema fan as soon as i started watchibg mid 50's and early 60's nasterpiecese but soon I realized that this [if I can say] radical criticism towards the modern Edo period (1568_1867) and old Japanese ways, which can be found in the postwar cinema, is a continuation of the same concepts introduced in the Meiji era as a tradition to speed up the cultural westernization. Kurosawa and Kobayashi for example, gained their fame partly because of this, through portraying the yakuza from an alien, western perspective (drunken angel is an excellent postwar example) and criticizing bushidou (this one was totally invented during the occupation years so as to neutralize Japanese militarism and was closely observed by its headquarters) are only simple examples. Japanese cinema is great in some aspects but it's lost originality. To some people that's not important, those believing in the global village idea, etc. This is more like cultural assimilation to me. It would be really stupid, boring and meaningless if all people could communicate through a uniformized system of arts and literature, which is what the western world's trying to do.

Funny thing zoroastera but Kinugasa is heavily influenced by western art movements ;)