"After more than forty years, Japanese young people can still feel the 1950's atmosphere, they smell the aroma of enchantment, and to them it must be fresh and attractive. They have not experienced anything like the fifties but this is how they would like America to be." - Yasutoshi Ikuta The Aroma of Enchantment investigates the "Idea of America" in Japan by weaving historical material about General Douglas MacArthur with stories told by collectors or practitioners of Americanization. Each person interviewed connects their concept of "America" to the post-war occupation period, a time when images and ideas about America were powerfully influential in Japan. Yasutoshi Ikuta, who has published twelve books that reproduce ads from his collection of 1950's LIFE magazines, describes watching the arrival of American GI's as a boy of fifteen. Shun Sakai, a jazz vocalist who sings Billie Holiday, Hoagy Carmichael, and Tom Waits songs, describes the disappointment she felt on her first visit to the U.S. because it was not the "Norman Rockwell world" that she expected. Shot with a Hi8 camcorder, the tape uses innovative visual metaphor and personal insight to come to terms with reciprocal cultural influence in the U.S. - Japan relationship. Screenings: The Japan Society, New York (Pacific Reflections film series, 1994) Museum of Modern Art, New York - Premiere Dec. 1992 Atlanta Film and Video Festival, 1993 Image Forum Festival, Tokyo, 1993 Fukui Video Biennial, Japan, 1993 Hawaii International Film Festival, 1993 SF Cinematheque Pacific Film Archive Distributed by Video Data Bank and EAI