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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have been a member of KineJapan for the last ten years. I joined
originally out of a need to obtain translations of the intertitles of Japanese
silents on VHS in my collection. I am very grateful to those members on
KineJapan who aided me and made it possible for me to, among other things, write
an article on Hiroshi Shimizu that is published on Midnight Eye.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Since then, I have regularly received almost daily the messages that have
been posted here. In all honesty, a large number--perhaps the majority, in
fact--have been of limited interest to me inasmuch as they tend to deal with
contemporary Japanese films. Consistent with my enthusiasm for films in other
countries, including my own, produced in earlier decades, it is my interest
in the Japanese cinema of the past, especially the films of the 1920s and 1930s,
that has been of consuming interest to me. Nevertheless, from time to time
issues involving those golden years do come up here.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>However, whether or not the topic has been of particular interest to me, I
have always valued the fact that KineJapan has always been there, an
extremely valuable resource to be consulted when needed. Never before since
I've been here did this group shut down. Certainly, it was very active right
through the events of 9/11 as were other film discussion groups in which I
participated.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Since the tragic events that began a week ago, though, this place has
suddenly turned into a ghost town. Aside from a very limited amount of posts
specifically on the topic of the tsunami, there has been absolutely nothing
here. No one has even bothered to post how things are going on in Tokyo, while
all sorts of wild, apocalyptic rumors circulate unchecked in the US that Tokyo
is about to become irradiated, that it may be doomed. I believe a few
welcome posts here from knowledgeable people in the Japanese capital might help
to clarify the situation and perhaps alleviate some of these fears. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I have had a consuming obsession with early Japanese cinema for the last 36
years. In trying to interest people in the West in this topic and to recognize
the value of Japanese films from those years, I have long had to confront an
enormous amount of indifference and insensitivity to these achievements by too
many in America and elsewhere in the outside world. It has taken so long to
bring attention to these films here. Indeed, it was only this January that the
premier venue for classic cinema in the United States, Turner Classic Movies,
after being on the air for 17 years, finally presented three Japanese
silents--Ozu's famous masterpieces, "Tokyo Chorus," "I Was Born, But. . .," and
"Passing Fancy." So it is only very recently that this neglected period of
Japanese film is just starting to receive some recognition here.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Given this obession of mine, I would very much like to know how the
archives and other collections of Japanese cinema are coping with the current
crisis in Tokyo. Are they able to function normally in their work of
preservation considering the power blackouts etc.? If there really should be an
evacuation of the capital, has there been discussion of removing films and other
cultural treasures from Tokyo to Kyoto, a much safer city and which I personally
feel should be restored to the position of Japan's capital? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As to whether now is the proper time to discuss the preservation of culture
in view of the terrible loss of life and the continuing threat, I believe that,
far from being at odds or incompatible, the preservation of human life and
humanity's cultural heritage are inseparable. The heroic people of Egypt have
shown all of us the way recently in this area. During a time of turmoil in which
a corrupt, discredited dictatorship was attempting to hang on to power by
employing ruthless methods against the protestors, demonstrators courageously
appeared to form human chains around the Library in Alexandria and the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo to protect these treasures of our history. I would hope that,
should it ever become necessary, a similar sense of cultural responsibility
will be demonstrated in other countries, including Japan. The heritage of Japan,
including its film history, is the common property not just of one country but
indeed, the legacy of all the people of the earth.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In all those non-Western countries that the West chose to lump together as
"Oriental," for much of the 20th century the four most significant in terms of
creating outstanding cinemas in the first half of the last century were Japan,
China, India, and Egypt. This preeminence in the new art of film was emblematic
of these nations' continuing cultural leadership in the modern world. In terms
of documenting and preserving the national film heritage, however, Egypt under
the Mubarak regime was scandalous. The Egyptian film archive was by far the
worst run in the entire world, mismanaged by members of Mubarak's family. So
neglected was the state of the archive that it was a common sight to see rats
crawling out of cans of film in the vaults. The situation with the Egyptian
archive was thus symptomatic of the larger ills afflicting the society under the
corrupt regime that ruled Egypt for thirty years. Needless to say, with the
present rebirth of Egypt through revolution there is a far greater hope that the
glories of Egyptian cinema from its bright beginnings in the silent era to
the achievements of later decades will be at last properly preserved.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>While the infrastructure of Japan including its archives can hardly compare
to its counterparts in Egypt in the Mubarak years, there has nevertheless
been a steady decline in Japan in the two decades since the economic bubble
burst in the early 1990s. Egypt is now trying to recover from a social
disaster, Japan from a natural one exacerbated, it seems, by a variant of the
same corruption and cronyism that long afflicted Egypt. I think Japan, like
Egypt, will need to transform itself anew, but as with Egypt, that
transformation must be solidly based on the preservation and dissemination of
past achievements including a glorious legacy of early cinema.
Consequently, in addition to my general concern at the eerie silence that
has suddenly taken over KineJapan, as though all its members have been struck
dumb, I would in particular like to know how the film archives and other
institutions consecrated to cinema history in Japan are faring during the
present crisis.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>William M. Drew </DIV>
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