History of Japanese Film

A 1941 visual anthology made as part of a project to celebrate the passing of the Japanese government's controversial Film Law in 1939. This anthology included early films that existed at the time but are now lost, and a series of famous examples of the benshi voiceover technique. It was supervised by Yasunosuke Gonda, the leading researcher of public entertainment at the time. Excerpts from: 1. Nio no ukisu (1900, photo.: Joji Tsuchiya) starring Ganjiro Nakamura I 2. Hototogisu (Production year unknown) 3. Aiaigasa (Production year unknown) 4. Shoes (1916, dir.: Lois Weber, benshi: Raiyu Ikoma) 5. Gen'ei no onna (1920, dir.: Norimasa Kaeriyama) 6. Gubijinso (1921, dir.: Henry Kotani) 7. Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920, dir.: Robert Wiene, benshi: Musei Tokugawa) 8. Sendo kouta (1923, dir.: Yoshinobu Ikeda)

Directed by Koichi Ota, Yasunosuke Gonda