A Japanese Tragedy! URGENT! 1000s of rare film tapes about to disappear!

[Faith Bach]

>
>
> To all Kinejapanners enjoying your Xmas, in the spirit of same,  
> please give a few minutes to this cause, so dear to the hearts of  
> us all.
>
> For the last six years Mr Omori, who embodies all that is fine and  
> noble about the word "geek," has been spending 12 hours a day,  
> every day,  hunched over his ancient computer in a tiny walk-up  
> deep in the backstreets of Kyoto, under constant threat of  
> engulfment by the teetering floor-to-ceiling stacks of literally  
> several thousands of VTRs of rare old films, both Japanese and  
> Western.  There is no heat in winter and no AC in summer, for he  
> can't afford it.  He presides singlehandedly and at great cost to  
> his health and sanity over his realm of treasures solely so they  
> can be viewed by all and sundry who have the time and few hundred  
> yen he charges for his rentals.  These are not ratty old copyright- 
> protected products either, but all pristine private copies in their  
> original covers suitable for dubbing off on home machines.  At last  
> count he had upwards of 7 thousand tapes, roughly half of them  
> Japanese, which, if you think about it, would account for a very  
> great hunk, if not close to all, of the old films still extant.   
> Silents, subtitled versions, practically all of the late lamented  
> Nihon Eiga Kessaku Zenshu titles in their catalog, including some  
> "B" gems that nobody has ever heard of, trust me.
>
> Today, I was shocked to find that most of those films are packed up  
> in cardboard boxes, for Mr Omori has thrown in the towel.  He just  
> can't make ends meet anymore, and he is about to take his treasures  
> away from us all.  For six years he has been unsung and starving,  
> and he has had enough.
>
> Please, PLEASE, everybody out there, spare the time to send Mr  
> Omori a message telling him he is loved and honored and his work is  
> appreciated, and the whole world will suffer if his treasures  
> disappear from view!!!  He is bitter about the cavalier disregard  
> of the Japanese for their artistic heritage, certainly with reason,  
> and the snotty attitudes of those Japanese institutions which  
> allegedly exist to make old films available to the masses but in  
> fact do not.  Please let us show him that this is NOT the attitude  
> of the entire planet, that it fact it is swarming with geeks like  
> himself with different-colored passports but with the same  
> passionate love of Japanese filmdom as his own.  With enough  
> encouragement he may be convinced that perseverance would be worth  
> the candle, and think seriously about continuing to make his films  
> available in some way less costly to himself.  All ideas are  
> appreciated!  Could his wonderful work be subsidized from abroad by  
> us all chipping in small contributions??[in return for obtaining  
> copies of certain films privately from people like myself...?]   
> Anything at all from you out there will help, for he has little  
> idea of the extent of the foreign Japanese films scene, nor of the  
> big names at heavy-hitting universities out there who  love and  
> support it.
>
> You can reach Mr Omori [Big Forest] by e-mail either thru' his site  
> (where a peek at his archives will convince anybody of the tragedy  
> approaching who needs convincing):
>
> http://dejan.dyndns.tv/f_eigatown/
>
> or by personal email to:
>
> f_eigatown at excite.co.jp
>
> The address is:  Eigatown, #2 Fuyacho Biru 2F, Fuyachodori Nijo  
> Sagaru, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-0934
>
> Japanese is best but simple English is better than nothing and  
> every message he gets will be appreciated, I know.  It just may  
> save his treasures for those of us who care.  In either language,  
> please say that "Bahha-san" has told you of his plight.
>
> In Tokyo, at the end of next year the wrecking ball will knock down  
> the beautiful, historic Kabuki-za in the Ginza because the craven  
> thugs who own it want to build an office building;  soon, too, the  
> delightful Koma Gekijo arena, which has been delighting fans of  
> enka/taishu engeki since 1956, will be a dust-heap.  Do not let  
> good Mr Omori go under, too.  Please tell him you care.  Maybe it  
> will make a difference.
>
> Faith Bach
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20081226/8e83d89f/attachment.html