Category: Before The War
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1931 – ACTUAL FIRST SUMO
I have an apology to make: I missed a cartoon. And it’s significant because it’s the first surviving depiction of sumo wrestling.
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1931: MURATA. THE INCIDENT.
1931 saw Murata and his studio “only” release seven films. But one of them was a prequel for something far more famous. And something awful was about to begin.
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1931: THE UNKNOWNS
Sometimes a cartoon, or a part of it, survives without much in the way of background material. Four animations from 1931 have made it to the present day, but their directors and studio names haven’t.
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1931: OFUJI NOBURO
The first completely original record talkie – unless new evidence emerges – was made by Ofuji Noburo fill a demand from movie theatres, for a National Anthem.
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1931: NIKKATSU AND YAMAMOTO
In 1929, Nikkatsu Studios set up a new animation department at their studio in Uzumasa, to the north-east of Kyoto. They would soon hire “the father of anime”.
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1931: IWASAKI & A NEW PILLAR
By 1931 in Japan, animation was a viable industry again, even if that was largely down to government funding. So some new directors were joining the fray, although not all of them lasted.
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1929-30: THE LEFT AND THE LOST
What did you do in Japan when your ideals were miles to the left of the government? Make good cartoons and get arrested, apparently.
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1929-30: MURATA II AND OFUJI
MURATA Yasuji continues to set a blazing pace in 1930, while OFUJI Noburo goes for quality and mostly succeeds.
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1929-30: THE MINISTRY AND MURATA
MURATA Yasuji and Yokohama Cinema Shokai’s edutainment film series, the “Athena Library Series”, was clearly a success by 1929. Which is why this is only half his films.
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1927-1928: YAMAMOTO AND KIMURA
YAMAMOTO Sanae produces the earliest surviving animated tale of a key Japanese folk hero, and KIMURA Hakusan turns his hand to propaganda.