ONLINE: JAPANESE ANIMATED FILM CLASSICS
Early Japanese Anime for Free
Venue: OnlineOfficial website: animation.filmarchives.jp/en/index.html
Tariff: Free
Title: 日本アニメーション映画クラシックス (Nippon Animation Eiga Classics)
It's been over a year since we posted this link to the National Film Archive of Japan's website streaming 64 early Japanese animated films online, for free, including some with English subtitles. The site includes a nice FAQ with info on the history of animation, and the three main sections — categories, list of authors, list of works — allow you to explore the vast selection. A fourth section highlights the NFC’s Noburo Ofuji collection of materials and production documents related to the animator’s work.
Noburo Ofuji
The year 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Japanese animation. In celebration, the NFAJ uploaded a rich assortment of films, from the oldest animation available (Junichi Kouchi's The Dull Sword, 1917) up through work from 1941, and made them available online in collaboration with the National Institute of Informatics. Fewer than 10 of the films are streaming without English subs, but they’re the ones that do not require literal translations to understand the narrative.
The Dull Sword (なまくら刀 Namakura Gatana)
[the longest, digitally restored version], 1917, Junichi Kouchi
A part of original elements from Natsuki Matsumoto
Courtesy of National Film Center, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
The films are divided into a range of genres: from moral tales to war propaganda; from musical films to jidaigeki (period pieces). About half of them are based on folk tales and allegories of both Japanese and Western origin, such as the story of Urashima Taro (Urashima Taro [digitally restored version] under 1918) and Aesop’s Fables (The Hare and the Tortoise under 1924). Like old Disney animations, such films as A Wolf is a Wolf (1931) and Spring Comes to Ponsuke (1934) are highly enjoyable and creative even from a contemporary standpoint. Especially impressive are abstract works by Shigeji Ogino, who investigates ontological concerns in the sci-fi animation/live-action montage A Day After a Hundred Years (1933), which impressively forecasts the start of a new world war in 1942, and flashes forward to 2032.
Spring Comes to Ponsuke (ポン助の春 Ponsuke no Haru), 1934, Ikuo Oishi
Original elements from Planet Film Archive
Courtesy of National Film Center, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
At the Border Checkpoint (お関所 Osekisho), 1930, Noburo Ofuji
Courtesy of National Film Center, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
These NFAJ treasures were originally expected to be taken down within a year, but since they're still online, you should visit soon — and often! And be sure to fill out the questionnaire, since they’re soliciting suggestions.
— KK
Japanese Title: 日本アニメーション映画クラシックス
(Nippon Animation Eiga Classics)
Venue: animation.filmarchives.jp/en/index.html
Please be sure to check with the theater before going.