[KineJapan] "Jinzo Ningen" as a film circa 1925?

[Anne McKnight]

HI Steve, and all~

I’m not sure about a film titled Jinzō ningen, but I thought I might mention that the first “robot story” in fiction with that name was written by HIRABAYASHI Hatsunosuke and published in 1928 in the magazine Shin seinen, which is known for a lot of translations of genre fiction, including SciFi and ero-guro-nonsense. I actually translated the story into English a few years ago. I didn’t write a critical introduction, but Hirabayashi is a major film critic/writer/women’s rights advocate you can read about (and whom I think some other members of this list might be in the process of translating?). It is worth noting that the “artificial human” in question in the story turns out to be a chemical solution, not what we would call a robot with obvious links to Rossum-style robots; the story is a rip-roaring melodrama not really recognizable from the plot of RUR. It truly is, literally, an artificial human. 

The National Diet Library shows <https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/en/books/R100000002-I000000590799> a translation of Capek in Taisho 12, or 1923. So, the info was out there…and linked to Capek. Though the translation was from English, and kind of wild. I can send you a kind of potted history of the “Ginzo ningen” term I wrote in an essay called "Future-Oriented Blackness in Shoˉwa Robot Culture—1924 to 1963,” if you like. In 1925, I am not sure if it’s possible to say anything definitive about RUR’s relation to that film, due to the wildness of translation and the expansive understanding of what it is to be “artificial,” at least by Hirabayashi> it might be a literal transposition, or something else entirely. I would be really interested in any further puzzle pieces you turn up, regarding the status of all the words--“artificial,” “human” and “artificial human”...

If you’re interested, you can read Hirabayashi’s story in Japanese here <https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000221/files/2411_22551.html>, and English here <https://eeeditorial.gumroad.com/l/manmadebaby?_gl=1*1av3a4g*_ga*Nzk1NDg0NDc0LjE3NDM5OTMxMzY.*_ga_6LJN6D94N6*MTc0Mzk5MzEzNS4xLjEuMTc0Mzk5MzE4Ni4wLjAuMA> or here <https://www.amazon.com/Man-made-Baby-Vintage-Japanese-SF-ebook/dp/B00GWNS3N0>. 

Hope that helps, or at least is an interesting rabbit-hole, with some useful rabbit-work…

Anne

> On Apr 6, 2025, at 8:53 AM, Steven A Joyce via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Does anyone know more about plans to make a film with the title Jinzo Ningen?
> From what little I can gather on the internet, the plans were aborted.
> 
> I'm especially interested to know if it was going to be a direct interpretation of Karel Čapek's R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). (I can't help but imagine that it would have been indirectly influenced by Čapek).
> 
> Any details whatsoever would be appreciated. Full disclosure: I'm writing a book on the worldwide performances of R.U.R. I will gladly give acknowledgement for assistance.
> 
> Best,
> Steve Joyce
> 
> 
> 
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