In AY 2019, I focused my research primarily on the shifting of national narratives during the late Heisei Era about modern Japanese history, and particularly their planned appearance in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. This represented a shift in my originally planned project about the commemoration of the 150^th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration in part because of the national government’s limited response. I have drafted my section of a co-authored article on commemoration of the Meiji Restoration, while also publishing papers that reflect in different ways on the depiction of postwar Japanese history in scholarship as well as the politics of representations of Japan. Presentations at universities in Tokyo drew a connection between my previous work and the current project. In particular, I focused much of my work during the year on the cinematic career of the director Yamazaki Takashi, who was chosen to helm the Opening Ceremony of the 2020 Olympics, and particularly the ways in which Japanese history appear in his films, like the Always: Sunset on Third Street series, The Eternal Zero, and A Man Called Pirate.