<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Fascinating question.</font></span></div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Can you read Japanese,Peter?</font></span></div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">The sadly departed and Kyoto-based Ainu scholar,Chupuchisekor -I apologise if the romanised version is not correct,for I have never seen it- did a very interesting series on "Images of Ainu in Japan" for Kyoto Shimbun.</font></span></div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span>You can find it here</span><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; ">:</span></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><font class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www6.plala.or.jp/fynet/2scrap411nihonnoainu.html">http://www6.plala.or.jp/fynet/2scrap411nihonnoainu.html</a></font><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Available online,you will also find a summary for a seminar titled "Ainu Culture and Media",where he discusses </font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Ainu in films.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><a href="http://www.frpac.or.jp/rst/sem/sem1109.pdf"><font class="Apple-style-span">http://www.frpac.or.jp/rst/sem/sem1109.pdf</font></a><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><font class="Apple-style-span"><font class="Apple-style-span">The first Ainu moving images date from 1898 courtesy of the very own </font><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 21px; font-family: sans-serif; "><span>Lumière</span> </span> Brothers so they predate Japanese cinema!</font>Accounted next are documentary films regarding the Russo-Japanese war,which geographically makes a lot of sense .After these,the emphasis is on landscape/nature documentaries and next he discusses some studio films.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Since so much has been lost,it is impossible to say for sure how much Ainu appeared in <i>Yamato </i>productions but Chupinsenkor talks about three Shochiku films from 1921 and 1922,mentioning there were others he did not watch and where the Ainu were often depicted as bad characters.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">I have not watched the Naruse you cite but was this the case?</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Already at war,北の同胞-Northern Brothers ?-from 1941 is a
Kokusaku Eiga where both Ainu and Yamato people fight for their country...<br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">I am not that familiar with Ainu culture but will confess to finding this information after watching Kimi no Na,which Chupu-san also discusses.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">There is not much available in English and it is a pity.Just a study of name places and Japanese words that actually come from Ainu would be an excellent read.</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4">Maria-Jose Gonzalez</font></div><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><br></font></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times,
serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Maybe not
strictly relevant, but have you seen the footage from </font><font size="3">Benjamin Brodsky</font><font size="2" face="sans-serif">'s A TRIP THROUGH JAPAN WITH THE YWCA which includes 1919 shots of the Ainu community? The NFSA recently restored it in collaboration with the National Film Preservation Foundation in the US. See http://www.filmpreservation.org/preserved-films/screening-room/a-trip-through-japan-with-the-ywca-ca-1919</font> <br><br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">I mention this as we are curious to know if there is any earlier surviving material which shows Ainu community, whether drama or actuality?</font> <br><br><font size="2" face="sans-serif">Quentin Turnour, Programmer, <br>Access, Research and Development<br>National Film and Sound Archive, Australia<br>McCoy Circuit, Acton, <br>ACT, 2601 AUSTRALIA<br>phone: +61 2 6248 2054 | fax: + 61 2 6249 8159<br>www.nfsa.gov.au<br>[Please note that I am
often absent Mondays]<br><br>Film prints shipped to:<br>NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE OF AUSTRALIA<br>att: Cinema Programming<br>Loading Dock<br>McCoy Circuit Acton Canberra <br>ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA<br>+61 2 6248 2289 / cynthia.piromalli@nfsa.gov.au (Please email all invoices to this address)<br><br>The National Film and Sound Archive collects, preserves and provides access to Australia's historic and contemporary moving image and recorded sound culture. <br><br><br></font></span></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(69, 69, 69); font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; ">Hello all,<br><br>This will be an odd question, but does anyone know if there were any<br>Ainu actors in prewar Japanese film? I have seen a couple of silents<br>recently which featured actors that look like they might, in fact, be<br>of
Ainu decent, though I could just be seeing things. The western<br>looking man in Naruse's "No Blood Relation" (1932) comes to mindPardon<br>me if this is an odd question.<br><br>Pete</span><br></span></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><br></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><font size="2" face="Arial"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Aaron Gerow <aaron.gerow@yale.edu><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, September 7, 2011 2:59 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: Ainu actors in prewar Japanese film<br></font><br>I have not heard of any actors from that era who then
or later termed themselves Ainu. Perhaps there were some but because of factors such as discrimination, which lead zainichi actors for instance to hide their backgrounds, did not admit it publicly.<br><br>A good paper could be written about the representations of Ainu in Japanese cinema, which incidentally could include Naruse's Kotan no kuchibue, as well as other works like Kimi no na wa or Daisogen no wataridori.<br><br><br>Aaron Gerow<br>Professor<br>Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures<br>Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program<br>Yale University<br>320 York Street, Room 311<br>PO Box 208236<br>New Haven, CT 06520-8236<br>USA<br>Phone: 1-203-432-7082<br>Fax: 1-203-432-6729<br>e-mail: <a ymailto="mailto:aaron.gerow@yale.edu" href="mailto:aaron.gerow@yale.edu">aaron.gerow@yale.edu</a><br>site: www.aarongerow.com<br><br><br><br><br><br><br></div></div></div></body></html>