Projection speed of Japanese Silent Film

[Richard Suchenski rsuchens@Princeton.EDU]

Preparation work for a screening of Mizoguchi's "Taki no Shiraito" has raised several questions about the proper projection of Japanese silent films that I'm hoping somebody here has a clear answer to:  What, if any, frame speed was standard for the projection of Japanese silent films?  16 fps?  18?  24?  Something else entirely?  Was this fixed early on or did it change over time?  

I attended screenings of several German and American silent films in Kyoto last year, and they all seemed to be projected at visually correct speeds of approximately 18 fps.  This suggests that many Japanese museums still use variable-speed projectors and I'm wondering if this also suggests that Japanese silent films were designed to be shown at "silent" speed.  Has anyone done any research on this?  

Thanks,
Richard Suchenski
Princeton University