[KineJapan] Stills from Tōhō

Wed May 8 20:43:41 EDT 2024

Hi Markus, Earl, Daisuke, Jasper and everyone~

Thanks for all your insights, and sorry to hear about this uniform terrible-ness! It’s funny, I just translated Kurosawa watching his own series on TV, and loving it because it could interest a whole new—baffling, to him—generation to his stuff! 

I have not been able to find a contact on line for Tōhō…so I’ll see if Kurosawa Pro can help me out, and if not, go with the screenshots, and not for lack of trying…
Kawakita is a good suggestion…a note to add is that the rights-holder is probably still going to be Kurosawa Pro. Sorry to be dense, Jasper, but are you suggesting I ask Kawakita to intermediate? Or rather that they might have an image I can swap out? (I have been trying to duplicate the originals as much as possible, which are apparently lost in the mists of Bungei shunjū history…). 

Anne

> On May 8, 2024, at 4:26 PM, Markus Nornes via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> J-Flicks on NHK World has told me something akin to what Jasper wrote. They are starting a classics bit for each episode now, and I'll be doing the first batch. They are keen on big, famous directors (Ozu again), and 1953 is their cut-off date. I find their willingness to take the public domain rule refreshing. 
> 
> But when I suggested doing pre-1953 Kurosawa they immediately said no. The family was aggressive and problematic. It isn't worth the predictable fight. 
> 
> Markus
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- 
> 
> Markus Nornes
> Professor of Asian Cinema
> Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design
>  
> Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/
> Department of Film, Television and Media
> 6348 North Quad
> 105 S. State Street
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 9, 2024 at 6:16 AM Jasper Sharp via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>> wrote:
>> In defense of Toho, I believe they are more circumspect with publicity materials like stills for the films of Kurosawa and Honda due to issues with the estates of these directors. That aside, as with any of the major studios, if you ask for image production permissions or access, they'll quote some outlandish fee, just because of inhouse bureaucracy and the fact they've got bigger fish to fry. I've no contact myself at Toho, but I suspect if you did try, they'd probably ignore or dismiss your request and you are probably better off asking Kawakita instead- who in my experience have more stills for most films than the studios do themselves.
>> 
>> 
>> From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Miyao, Daisuke via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>>
>> Sent: 08 May 2024 18:32
>> To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>>
>> Cc: Miyao, Daisuke <dmiyao at ucsd.edu <mailto:dmiyao at ucsd.edu>>
>> Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Stills from Tōhō
>>  
>> Dear Ann,
>> 
>> I had a similar experience. I decided not to include stills from Neko to Shozo in Cinema Is a Cat. Too bad because they do have wonderful images!  (And the film is not available on DVD, either!) I hope the things will change for the better!
>> 
>> Best,
>> Daisuke
>> 
>> Daisuke Miyao
>> Professor and Hajime Mori Chair in Japanese Language and Literature
>> Director of Film Studies
>> University of California, San Diego
>> 
>> 
>> From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Earl Jackson via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>>
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 7, 2024 11:51 PM
>> To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>>
>> Cc: Earl Jackson <earljac at gmail.com <mailto:earljac at gmail.com>>
>> Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Stills from Tōhō
>>  
>> Hi Ann,
>> When Victor Fan and I coedited Nang, we even had a special agent mediate contract with Toho and it was a nightmare of irrationality and
>> bizarre indifference. I hope you fare better.
>> best
>> ej
>> Earl Jackson
>> Chair Professor
>> Foreign Languages and Literatures
>> Asia University
>> Professor Emeritus
>> National Chiao Tung University
>> Associate Professor Emeritus
>> University of California, Santa Cruz
>> 
>> 
>> On Wed, May 8, 2024 at 12:52 PM Anne McKnight via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu <mailto:kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>> wrote:
>> Hi all~
>> 
>> Would anyone have a contact at Tōhō for stills permissions/purchase? I’m nearing the end of a book, a long translation and essay on Kurosawa Akira, and need to get permissions for 2 stills that Kurosawa Pro does not have; they told me to inquire at Tōhō. Stills are from 「まあだだよ」and from 「一番美しく」.  It’s possible Kurosawa Pro might introduce me to the right person, but in the interest of wrapping this up, if anyone has worked with someone lately and would be comfortable with relaying the contact, either here or via personal email, I would be super appreciative.
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> 
>> Anne
>> 
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> Associate Professor, Dept of Comparative Literature and Languages/Japanese
>> Mail: 2401 HMNSS Building
>> UC Riverside, Riverside CA, 92521  USA
>> 
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