[Index]
1. Introduction
2. Early Japanese Animation
2.1 Origins of Japanese Animation
2.2 Oten Shimokawa
2.3 Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki
2.4 Seitaro Kitayama
2.5 Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo
2.6 Jun-Ichi Kouchi and the First Political Movie
2.7 Death and Rebirth of Japanese Animation
2.8 Hakusan Kimura
2.9 Sanae Yamamoto
2.10 Yasuji Murata
2.11 Noburo Ofugi
2.12 Beginning of Japanese Animation
3. Filmography & Important Directors + links to watchable movies
3.1 Filmography
3.2 Directors
4. Bibliography & Webgraphy
4.1 Bibliography
4.2 Webgraphy
[Introduction]
Essays about Japanese Animation are common. But one thing I frequently see is that most of them focus on the second phase of Japanese Animation, giving less and less importance to movies made in the 10s and 20s. Even though they were created for full entertainment and has a hobby, I think it’s interesting to start talking about Japanese Animation from these same movies. And this small essay will focus on that.
[Early Japanese Animation]
1. Origins of Japanese Animation
In 2005 a small group of animation movies was found at a house in Kyoto, Japan. One of them had 50 frames (something near 3 seconds) with a boy dressed in a navy uniform, drawing characters for a movie in a small board. This movie appears to be from 1907, which means it can probably be one of the first animation movies ever made in the all World: 10 years before the first official Japanese animation movie and 7 before the first made by America.
Unfortunately it was impossible to date this small movie with accuracy as it was impossible to find its creator, invalidating it. Nonetheless, for many animation lovers this will always be the first animated movie ever made, ‘til the moment someone finds a movie made before 1907.
2. Oten Shimokawa
After the Lumière brothers (Auguste
and Louis) created the Cinematograph many people started to show up and do
they own movies has a hobby, experimenting the features of this new device.
Oten Shimokawa (1892 - 1973) was one of them.
Shimokawa was an editorial assistant in the Tokyo Puck magazine. After some experiments on trying to animate using a chalk board he decides to try and use that technique on celluloid, painting it.
Unfortunately due to health
problems Shimokawa turns away from his career as animator and he will rarely be
spoken of after that.
Hired by the Tenkatsu Production Company, he creates Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki in 1917, considered the first professional Japanese Animation Movie.
With 5 minutes of duration, it was the story of Imokawa Mukuzo, created for Shimokawa’s manga.
It’s said that it was a disappointment even for its director. Nevertheless that didn't stop him from creating four more short movies (unfortunately none of them survived).
4. Seitato Kitayama
Working has a translator for
Nikkatsu, Kitayama is equally one of the pioneers of Japanese Animation. His first popular work
was Sarukani-Gassen (image
below) based on a Japanese legend.
In the following year he creates Urashima Taro, an adaptation of the popular story of Momotaro “The Peach Boy”, a sailor patrolling the ocean on his toy submarine, becoming the most popular movie of its time (premiering in Europe in 1921) and well known even today.
5. Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo
In 1921, Kitayama builds his first animation studio, focusing on producing educational and instructive movies for the Government such as Kiatsu to Mizuage Pompu and Akyma-Barai. Sadly the studio ends up closing its doors, like so many other companies, after Kanto’s earthquake in 1923.
6. Jun-Ichi Kouchi and his First Political Movie
Also beginning is career in Tokyo Puck magazine, Kouchi turns many Japanese legends into movies and makes the first political animated movie: Ninki no Shouten ni Tateru Gotou Shinpei in 1924, about the Minister Goto Shinpei, the one in charge of rebuilding Tokyo after the earthquake.
Another one of the director’s movies is Hanawa Hekonai Kappa Matsuri (1917).
Besides all this, Kouchi is today known has a possible tutor of Noburo Ofugi.
In the following year he creates Urashima Taro, an adaptation of the popular story of Momotaro “The Peach Boy”, a sailor patrolling the ocean on his toy submarine, becoming the most popular movie of its time (premiering in Europe in 1921) and well known even today.
5. Kitayama Eiga Seisakujo
In 1921, Kitayama builds his first animation studio, focusing on producing educational and instructive movies for the Government such as Kiatsu to Mizuage Pompu and Akyma-Barai. Sadly the studio ends up closing its doors, like so many other companies, after Kanto’s earthquake in 1923.
6. Jun-Ichi Kouchi and his First Political Movie
Also beginning is career in Tokyo Puck magazine, Kouchi turns many Japanese legends into movies and makes the first political animated movie: Ninki no Shouten ni Tateru Gotou Shinpei in 1924, about the Minister Goto Shinpei, the one in charge of rebuilding Tokyo after the earthquake.
Another one of the director’s movies is Hanawa Hekonai Kappa Matsuri (1917).
Besides all this, Kouchi is today known has a possible tutor of Noburo Ofugi.
7. Death and Rebirth of Japanese Animation
September 1st, 1923. An earthquake hits Tokyo, destroying all or most of all animation movies done ‘till that moment. Kitayama and Kouchi stop doing animations and with them, the first era of Japanese Animation dies.
1924 and 1925 saw the making of the last movies of this era. Kyoiku Otogi Manga: Usagi to Kame and Kyoiku Senga: Ubasute Yama by Sanae Yamamoto (also known as Sanae Toda). Kiken Chochiku Shiobara Tasuke and Nonkina Tosan Ryugu Mairi by Hakusan Kimura.
Both Kimura and Yamamoto ended up becoming the pioneers of the second era of Japanese Animation in the later ‘20s. It was time to find new themes and techniques, creating a serious production and leaving behind the “hobby” production.
8. Hakusan Kimura
Pioneer in the erotic animated movies, Kimura had some troubles with his movies, eventually getting him arrested.
His first erotic movies was Suzumi Fune (1932) and tells the story of a courtesan on a pleasure boat, based on a 1878 painting.
9. Sanae Yamamoto
Starting his career at Kitayama’s Studio, he’s the author of Kyoiku Senga: Ubasute Yama and Nihon-Ichi Momotaro (1928) with an image below and a watchable link in the Filmography part.
10. Yasuji Murata
Being a Yamamoto’s childhood friend, he dedicates his study on animation techniques used in Western countries, later bringing them to Japan where he becomes a pioneer in Cel Animation (which uses celluloid).
His movies were pretty funny and based on legends or in the American animations which used animals and sports as themes. Inspired by legends we have Tako no Home (1927), Bunbuku-Chagama (1928) and Kaeru wa Kaeru (1929). Based on the American style we can find Dobutsu Olympic Taikai (1928) and Oira no Yakyu (1930).
11. Noburo Ofugi
Different from the rest of this era’s animators, Ofugi was searching for a more artistic and unusual animation. He worked with paper and painted black silhouettes in his movies. Moreover he experimented with sound and color.
12. Beginning of Japanese Animation
After the 30s Japanese Animation productions began to be more often. A new phase starts. For that reason I’ll stop my essay here for now and conclude the early years of what will later be known as “anime”. With time I’ll make other essays to talk about Japanese Animation after the 30s to our days.
I hope you liked the information presented here and I hope it was helpful in some way. In the next points you can see the Filmography and Directors named in the essay (including some links to some of the movies) as the Biography and Webgraphy used to do it.
[Filmography & Important Directors]
1. Filmography (links to see the movies)
Akuma-Barai (1923) Unknown
Bunbuku-Chagama (1928) Yasuji Murata
Dobutsu Olympic Taikai (1928) Yasuji Murata
Hanawa Hekonai Kappa Matsuri (1917) Jun-Ichi Kouchi
Imokawa Mukuzo Genkanban no Maki (Janeiro 1917) Oten Shimokawa
Kaeru wa Kaeru (1929) Yasuji Murata
Kiatsu to Mizuage Pompu (1921) Unknown
Kiken Chochiku Shiobara Tasuke (1925) Hakusan Kimura
Kirigami Zaiku Saiyuki: Songoku Monogatari (1926) Noburo Ofugi
Kujira (1927) Noburo Ofugi
Kujira (1952) Noburo Ofugi
Kuronyago (1931) Noburo Ofugi
Kyoiku Otogi Manga: Usagi to Kame (1924) Sanae Yamamoto/Toda
Kuronyago (1931) Noburo Ofugi
Kyoiku Otogi Manga: Usagi to Kame (1924) Sanae Yamamoto/Toda
Kyoiku Senga: Ubasute Yama (1925) Sanae Yamamoto/Toda
Nihon-Ichi Momotaro (1928) Sanae Yamamoto
Ninki no Shouten ni Tateru Gotou Shinpei (1924) Jun-Ichi Kouchi
Nihon-Ichi Momotaro (1928) Sanae Yamamoto
Ninki no Shouten ni Tateru Gotou Shinpei (1924) Jun-Ichi Kouchi
Nonkina Tosan Ryugu Mairi (1925) Hakusan Kimura
Oira no Yakyu (1930) Yasuji Murata
Sarukani-Gassen (20 Maio 1917) Seitaro Kitayama
Oira no Yakyu (1930) Yasuji Murata
Sarukani-Gassen (20 Maio 1917) Seitaro Kitayama
Suzumi Fune (1932) Hakusan Kimura
Tako no Home (1927) Yasuji Murata
Tako no Home (1927) Yasuji Murata
Urashima Taro (1 Fevereiro 1918) Seitaro Kitayama
2. Directors
Hakusan Kimura (n/a - n/a)
Jun-Ichi Kouchi (1886 - 1970)
Noburo Ofugi (1900 - 1961)
Oten Shimokawa (1892 - 1973)
Sanae Yamamoto/Toda (1898 - 1981)
Seitaro Kitayama (1888 - 1945)
Yasuji Murata (1896 - 1966)
[Bibliography & Webgraphy]
1. Bibliography
BECK, Jerry. Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel,
the Illustrated History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI. Reino Unido: Flame
Tree Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 1-84451-140-5
CLEMENTS, Jonathan & MCCARTHY, Helen. The
Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation since 1917. EUA: Stone
Bridge Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-193-3330-10-5
2. Webgraphy
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1672181/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0959977/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1802346/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0945477/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1802202/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1672033/
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