<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">There's a nice compendium-type 2-volume set called "Utaeba tengoku: NIppon kayō eiga deluxe." It hasn't been translated, but came out in 1999, and the two volumes are called "heaven"/天 and "earth"/地--nice touch. It has plot summaries, credits, images, many references to musical movements (e.g. GS). Intriguing focus on the corporate musical, which is a bit later than the 30s~40s stuff you mention...<div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%94%84%E3%81%88%E3%81%B0%E5%A4%A9%E5%9B%BD%E2%80%95%E3%83%8B%E3%83%83%E3%83%9D%E3%83%B3%E6%AD%8C%E8%AC%A1%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E3%83%87%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-%E5%A4%A9%E3%81%AE%E5%B7%BB/dp/4889917004">http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E5%94%84%E3%81%88%E3%81%B0%E5%A4%A9%E5%9B%BD%E2%80%95%E3%83%8B%E3%83%83%E3%83%9D%E3%83%B3%E6%AD%8C%E8%AC%A1%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB%E3%83%87%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-%E5%A4%A9%E3%81%AE%E5%B7%BB/dp/4889917004</a><div><br><div><div>On Feb 3, 2012, at 8:24 AM, Jasper Sharp wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div class="hmmessage" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; "><div dir="ltr"><br>One musical I know about was one of the one of the first ever sound films in Japan, and t<span style="font-size: 10pt; ">he first feature film produced by P.C.L..</span><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><i>Musical Comedy: Intoxicated </i></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><i>Life</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(<i>Ongaku kigeki: Horoyoi jinsei</i>) was directed by Kimura Sotoji and released in 1933.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">It was sponsored </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">by Dai-Nippon Beer, and features a lot of singing, dancing, and somewhat inevitably - drinking!</span><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; ">My n</span>ew book,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b><i>The </i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt; "><b><i>Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema</i></b>,</span><span style="font-size: 10pt; "> is out now from<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780810857957" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Scarecrow Press.</a></span></div><br>Jasper Sharp: Writer & Film Curator Homepage<br><a href="http://jaspersharp.com/">http://jaspersharp.com/</a><br><br>Midnight Eye: The Latest and Best in Japanese Cinema<br><a href="http://www.midnighteye.com">http://www.midnighteye.com</a><br><br>Zipangu Fest: Japanarchy in the UK<br><a href="http://zipangufest.com/">http://zipangufest.com/</a><br><br><br><div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div><hr id="stopSpelling">Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2012 13:15:48 +0000<br>From:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:macyroger@yahoo.co.uk">macyroger@yahoo.co.uk</a><br>To:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</a><br>Subject: Re: Japanese musicals in the 30s and 40s<br><br><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit; "><div>Small world / narrow world,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span lang="EN-US">Jérémie</span> !</div><div> </div><div>'Oshidori utagassen' is credited as the Japanese movie being projected in Parker's 'Come See the Paradise', 1990. Within the story, it's being shown in 'Little Tokyo', Los Angeles in, I think, 1938, so it's slightly out but basically credible.</div><div> </div><div>I would also be interested in hearing, and seeing more.</div><div>Roger</div><div><br><br>--- On<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><b>Fri, 3/2/12, =%ISO-8859-1?Q?J=E9r=E9mie_de_Albuquerque?=<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i><<a href="mailto:j.dealbuquerque@gmail.com">j.dealbuquerque@gmail.com</a>></i></b><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>wrote:<br></div><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgb(16, 16, 255); border-left-width: 2px; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; "><br>From: =%ISO-8859-1?Q?J=E9r=E9mie_de_Albuquerque?= <<a href="mailto:j.dealbuquerque@gmail.com">j.dealbuquerque@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: Japanese musicals in the 30s and 40s<br>To:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="mailto:kinejapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">kinejapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</a><br>Date: Friday, 3 February, 2012, 11:32<br><br><div id="ecxyiv2005977224"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US">Dear All,</span></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US"><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US">I saw recently the movie<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Oshidori Utagassen</i><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>by Masahiro Makino (1939) at the French Cinematheque in Paris. The movie amazed me: I was unaware of the existence of Japanese musicals in the 30s. I've searched for information about the subject but I've found practically nothing, only an article in French by Michael Baskett in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Diasporas<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i>n°4: “Empire et cinéma… : que le spectacle commence !” and a reference in this article to the book<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Reframing Japanese Cinema: Authorship, Genre, History</i>, edited by Arthur Nolletti & David Desser (I've bought the book but I don't received it yet).<br></span></div><p class="ecxyiv2005977224MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US">Do you know any books or articles about Japanese musicals in the 30s and 40s? I can read English, French and, if necessary, Spanish and Portuguese, but not Japanese (my level isn’t good enough).</span></div><p class="ecxyiv2005977224MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US">Regards,</span></div><p class="ecxyiv2005977224MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US">Jérémie de Albuquerque</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://hicsuntninjas.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://hicsuntninjas.blogspot.com</a></span></div></blockquote></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></span></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>