Judith F. Rosenberg on Piano

These shorts offer rare glimpses of Japanese life and culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, from the streets to the kabuki stage. Five brief documentaries shot by Tsunekichi Shibata in Tokyo in 1898, that city's thirtieth year as the Japanese capital, show rickshaws and pedestrians in Ginza and other bustling quarters. The films, made for the Lumière company, are Une rue à Tokyo I and II, Une avenue à Tokyo, Une place publique à Tokyo II, and Station du chemin de fer de Tokyo II.

(Each film 57 seconds, Courtesy Association Frères Lumière and Archives du Film et du Dépôt Légal du Centre National de la Cinématographie (Bois d'Arcy)) Scenes from kabuki theater, including performances by legendary actors Danjuro Ichikawa IX and Kikugoro Onoe V, are documented in Maple Viewing (Momijigari, 1899, 6 mins, 16mm, Courtesy Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum of Waseda University), The Tenth Act of Taikoki (Taikoki judanme, 1908, 17 mins), and Sendaihagi (1916, 5 mins). Japanese Expedition to Antarctica (Nippon nankyoku tanken, 1911-1912, 20 mins, Japanese intertitles with English subtitles) follows the expedition party on their remarkable journey. Rare fragments from Peerless Patriot (Kokushi Muso, Mansaku Itami, 1932, 21 min, Japanese intertitles with English subtitles), the story of a master swordsman and his impostor, showcase the wit of director Itami.