The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.
You can now watch Why Not? online on the following streaming providers in the United States.
| Directing | Shōhei Imamura | Director |
| Production | Jirô Tomoda | Producer |
| Production | Nobutsugu Tsubomi | Production Manager |
| Production | Shōhei Imamura | Producer |
| Production | Shigemi Sugisaki | Producer |
| Camera | Shinsaku Himeda | Director of Photography |
| Production | Shoichi Ozawa | Producer |
| Editing | Keiichi Uraoka | Editor |
| Sound | Shinichirô Ikebe | Original Music Composer |
| Art | Akiyoshi Satani | Art Direction |
| Lighting | Yasuo Iwaki | Lighting Technician |
| Sound | Shotaro Yoshida | Sound Recordist |
| Writing | Shōhei Imamura | Screenplay |
| Writing | Ken Miyamoto | Screenplay |
| Directing | Hideo Nanbu | Assistant Director |
