A History of Japanese Cinema
T
he cinema history of Japan is one of the world’s largest and most revered. The rich output in the 15 years after 1945 contains some of the most beautiful and spellbinding moments in the history of all cinema. The rise of television in the 1960s, however, saw the industry spiral into decline. It wasn’t until the 1990s that a new wave of talent fuelled its revival.
ADMIT O NE
In a new series, Ku sM Allman g ives you a ark n indepth loo k at Japa nese cinematic history.
it’s an era that is often overlooked. But what did survive, and its unique history, is too interesting to be forgotten.
But what about before 1945? The tragedy that 90 percent of all films made in Japan before this time were lost in the war means
It began in Osaka in 1897. The Cinématographe Lumière made its debut to an enchanted audience. Almost immediately Japanese motion pictures were in production. Japanese cinema began with street scenes and geishas dancing; next came scenes from plays, and after some resistance, kabuki. As was the case in other early cinemas, a live narrator, in Japan called a benshi, explained the unrelated domestic
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September/October 2013 | nagazasshi