Program 5
The New Japanese Geography Film Series: Tone River
(Shin nihon chiri eiga taikei: Tonegawa)- 1955 / B&W / 35mm / 20 min
Director: Noda Shinkichi
Photography: Hashimoto Tadashi
Sound: Suda Koji
Music Selection: Takeda Shun’ichi
Narrative Structure: Kano Ryuichi
Production Companies: Nippon Eiga Shinsha, The Asahi Shimbun Company
Source: National Film Archive of Japan
One of a number of films in a geography film series produced for use in social studies curricula and general social education. The Tone River flows from the Mikuni Mountains through the Kanto Plain. The film follows its path from its source to Choshi and into the Pacific Ocean, documenting the lifestyles and industries along its banks and the history of its management.
The New Japanese Geography Film Series: The Roofs of Honshu
(Shin nihon chiri eiga taikei: Honshu no yane)- 1957 / B&W / 35mm / 21 min
Director, Script: Noda Shinkichi
Photography: Hirokawa Asajiro
Sound: Kunishima Masao
Music Selection: Takeda Shunichi
Narrator: Shindo Takeo
Production Companies: Nippon Eiga Shinsha, The Asahi Shimbun Company
Source: National Film Archive of Japan
In the mountains of the Chubu region, farmers grow legumes, buckwheat, and millet. Silk cultivation and forestry are also important sources of income. Paper production has flourished since the Meiji Period, and precision-instrument factories have been built for assembling lenses and timepieces. The natural environment is harsh but beautiful, and a local tourist industry has also developed.
The New Japanese Geography Film Series: Tokaido, Yesterday and Today
(Shin nihon chiri eiga taikei: Tokaido no ima to mukashi)- 1958 / B&W / 35mm / 21 min
Director, Script: Noda Shinkichi
Photography: Hiraki Yasushi
Sound: Suda Koji
Production Companies: Nippon Eiga Shinsha, The Asahi Shimbun Company
Source: National Film Archive of Japan
This film presents a contemporary Tokaido completely transformed from the scenery famously portrayed by Utagawa Hiroshige in the Edo Period: a landscape traversed by rail tracks and busy with cars coming and going. Heading west from Tokyo, we encounter the traditional industries that developed in the cities and localities along the highway, as well as the mechanical industries that arrived with modernization. The journey continues to Kyoto and Osaka.
The New Japanese Geography Film Series: Villages of the Northeast
(Shin nihon chiri eiga taikei: Tohoku no noson)- 1959 / B&W / 35mm / 20 min
Director, Script: Noda Shinkichi
Photography: Sakazaki Takehiko
Production Companies: Nippon Eiga Shinsha, The Asahi Shimbun Company
Source: National Film Archive of Japan
The farming villages that exist throughout Tohoku are known for their rice production but struggle with cold-weather crop damage. Many who rely on the single crop this land produces end up leaving their villages to earn money. At the same time, innovative work has progressed with improved adaptation of rice beds to the environment. The film also features people who have cleared land for dairy farming and regions where large-scale land reclamation projects have been undertaken.