Lost Japanese Films

[Michael Raine]

Thank you Roland. Very interesting! I think Yamamoto in the book I mentioned in my previous email says that the "influence" (he uses many words for this, including imitation and parody) disappeared after about 1937 but from what Roland says it seems that was not necessarily the case. I wish more of these films were available. Roland, do you (or anyone) know of any existing writing that focuses on this genre of films? 

Michael

Michael Raine
Assistant Professor in Japanese Cinema
The University of Chicago
mjraine at uchicago.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: Roland Domenig [mailto:roland.domenig at univie.ac.at] 
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 9:19 AM
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: AW: Lost Japanese Films

Hi Jasper,

actually there were two Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu films made: Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu Henka no maki (released March 18, 1939) and Edo ni arawareta Kingu Kongu Ogon no maki (released April 5, 1938). Both were directed by Kumagai Soya at Zensho Kinema's Ayameike Studio in Nara. The studio was established by Ichikawa Utaemon, one of the jidaigeki stars of the prewar era, who in 1927 left Makino Production and founded his own production company Ichikawa Utaemon Production aka Uta Puro. He rented a parcel of land of the Awameike Amusement Park and build a film studio there. Uta Puro continued to make films until 1936 when Utaemon joint Shochiku. Uta Puro was absorbed by Shochiku; their last film was Akutaro shishi by Nakagawa Nobuo who had made his directorial debut with Uta Puro in 1934. A few month after the closing of the studio Utaemon's elder brother, Yamaguchi Tenryu, founded the production company Zensho Kinema and reopened the Ayameike Studio. Zensho Kinema lasted until 1941. In 1940 it had come under the control of Shochiku which eventually absorbed Zensho Kinema. In January 1941 the Ayameike Studio closed its doors and fell into oblivion. The last of the about 170 films produced by Zensho Kinema (and almost all lost) was directed by Kumagai Soya, the director of the King Kong films. 
As Alex Jacoby already mentioned, Saito Torajiro made a Japanese King Kong version (Wasei Kingu Kongu) for the Shochiku Kamata Studios as early as 1933, only a few months after the release of the original King Kong film. 

Roland Domenig
Vienna University

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