VII. The Town That Supported Films (Part 1) Destination: Kyobashi in the Late Meiji Period

2024.10.30

The Sanctuary of Films with more than 100 years of history

The National Film Archive of Japan is located on the Kajibashi-dori Street not far from Kyobashi Intersection.

 

Its history begins in 1952 when the National Museum of Modern Art with the film library section opened in that place. When this museum moved to Takebashi in 1969, the film library section remained in the place, and opened as National Film Center of The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo next year. In 2018, it was established again as National Film Archive of Japan, the only national art museum specialized in films in Japan.

 

If you don’t know the history of this place, you may wonder why such a facility that is called the sanctuary of films is situated in the area surrounded by office buildings. In fact, this area has developed along with the history of Japanese cinema for more than 100 years.

 

Since the foundation of the shogunate government of Edo when Nihonbashi was designated as the starting point of five main roads, this area ranging from Nihonbashi to Kyobashi had been the center of Edo where products from all over the country were collected. It did not change even after the transition of times through the Meiji Restoration. And for the acceptance of films, that is, new media called “motion pictures” imported from overseas, the network of this area played an important role.

 

The urban area supported the cinema from its early days to the prosperous period—when I look back on the history, the unknown aspect of the area comes to light.

  • Today’s Kyobashi Main Building of National Film Archive of Japan (center) was rebuilt in 1995, designed by Yoshinobu Ashihara. The seven-story building with an impressive triangle window is equipped with two large and small theaters, galleries, and a library.

How the neophyte film company Fukuhodo was established

The connection between this area where National Film Archive of Japan is located and the cinema dates back to 1910. When films were still called motion pictures, a motion picture theater opened in this area which was called Gusoku-cho at that time. It was Dai-ichi Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No.1) opened by a motion picture company Fukuhodo established in the same year.

 

On this occasion, Fukuhodo opened eight theaters in total one after another within Tokyo City, including the said Dai-ichi Fukuhokan in Kyobashi, starting with Dai-yon Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No. 4) in Yotsuya. The eight theaters are as follows; Dai-ichi Fukuhokan (Gusoku-cho, Kyobashi-ku), Dai-ni Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No. 2) (Sakurada-Hongo-cho, Shiba-ku), Dai-san Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No. 3)(Shin-ami-cho, Azabu-ku), Dai-yon Fukuhokan (Araki-cho, Yotsuya-ku), Dai-go Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No. 5) (Haruki-cho, Hongo-ku), Dai-roku Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No.6) (Take-cho, Shitaya-ku), Dai-nana Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No.7) (Yoshikawa-cho, Nihonbashi-ku), and Dai-hachi Fukuhokan (Fukuhokan No. 8) (Wakamiya-cho, Honjo-ku).

 

In the Meiji 40s (between 1907 and 1917) when Fukuhodo started the business management of motion picture theaters as soon as it was established, permanent motion picture theaters were built one after another in various locations. So, let me look back on the history of films roughly. It was between 1896 and 1897 that motion pictures from overseas released one after another. This novel entertainment was enthusiastically embraced in many places in Meiji 30s (between 1897 and 1906), but at first, it was just one of foreign shows performed by showmen called misemono-shi who toured Yose (storyteller theaters) and Engeijo (comedy houses) in many places.

 

Japan’s first permanent motion picture theater was Denkikan opened in the Asakusa-Koen-Rokku District in 1903. Originally, an entertainment hall called Denyukan was located there, presenting shows featuring electricity, such as an X-ray experiment. Denkikan was a humble theater made simply by removing the tatami mat of Denyukan and replacing it with an earthen floor. However, triggered by Denkikan, the Asakusa-Koen-Rokku District became popular as the district of motion pictures because many motion picture theaters were built around Denkikan in Meiji 40s.

 

It was during that period that Fukuhodo was established and Dai-ichi Fukuhokan in Kyobashi was built. At that time, three promoters—Yoshizawa Shoten and M. Pathe in Tokyo and Yokota Shokai in Kyoto had been already competing keenly for the import and production of motion pictures. Fukuhodo entered into the competition later.

 

With regard to the establishment of Fukuhodo, there is a famous episode. Referring to Nihon Eiga Hattatsu-shi I [The History of Japanese Films I] written by a film historian Tanaka Junichiro, I would like to introduce you to the episode.

 

Tabata Kenzo (1874 – his date of death unknown), who established Fukuhodo, originally had nothing to do with films. One day, when he was Director of Nihon Hikaku(currently Nippi, Incorporated), he heard from his friend Kawamura Jun, a representative, that a law no longer allowing more than one permanent motion picture theater per ward would likely to go into effect. Since there was concern that public morals may be corrupted as motion pictures increasingly become popular, motion picture theaters were subject to control.

 

So, Tabata immediately took action. He asked Takiguchi Otosaburo, who were running a motion picture theater affiliated with M Pathe called Dai-ichi Pokan in Honjo, to search a vacant lot at a favorable location in each of 15 wards (Ku). And he strongly persuaded the landowners and succeeded in putting a stake in the lots indicating a Fukuhokan construction site.

 

Thus, Tabata acquired the 15 construction sites for motion picture theaters and licenses, however, he himself had no intention to enter the theater business as a businessman. In fact, he had intended to sell the licenses with land for 15,000 yen or so to earn a profit margin, but his attempt failed and there was no buyer. So, he asked his uncle Kada Kinzaburo (1857–1922) for financial contribution and established a limited partnership company Fukuhodo in 1910. Selecting valuable lots from the acquired ones, he built the said eight motion picture theaters.

Concrete theaters built by a company specialized in storehouses with earthen-walls

According to the advertising that announced the establishment of Fukuhodo on the newspaper Tokyo Asahi Shimbun Morning Edition dated July 14, 1910, the address of the headquarters was 1-banchi, Tori 2-chome, Nihonbashi-ku, which was the block at the southwest corner of the current Nihonbashi Intersection. And according to the newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun Morning Edition dated May 31, 1912, two years after the establishment, it was announced that the headquarters was relocated to the place in Tori 1-chome, Nihonbashi-ku, diagonally across from the place of establishment. This place is a prime location at the corner across the Chuo-dori Street from Shirokiya kimono store (currently Coredo Nihonbashi). According to Mizu no Nagare [Stream of Water], the memoir written by Kuwano Toka, who was a performing art reporter of the Tokyo Nichi Shimbun, the headquarters was housed in a building remodeled from the two-story storehouse with earthen walls used for a sugar business that was purchased and bankrupted.

  • The map of Nihonbashi-ku appearing on Tokyo-shi oyobi Setuzoku Gunbu Chiseki Chizu Jokan [The Cadastral Map of Tokyo City and Neighboring Districts Vol.1] published in 1912 (Source: National Diet Library Digital Collection). The small letters saying “Motion picture company/Fukuhodo” can be seen at 13-banchi, Tori 1-chome at the northwest corner of Nihonbashi Intersection.

When the Meiji period started, while the Ginza side from Kyobashi dramatically changed to the urban area with brick-made buildings, storehouses with earthen walls still stood on the Nihonbashi side from Kyobashi as mentioned in the Episode 2, Part 1, of this series. The headquarters of Fukuhodo was one of those storehouses. So, what kind of buildings were the newly built theaters?

 

Kobayashi Kisaburo (1880–1961), who was sales manager when Fukuhodo was established, answered the interview questions of Tanaka in 1943, saying the situation at the time of building the motion picture theaters as follows. Kobayashi Kisaburo had been beginning to make his mark as a showman when he was recruited by Fukuhodo for his skills.

 

〈My first job when I entered the company was the construction of theaters. As there was no one who would purchase the licenses, the company had no choice but to build theaters by itself. However, because Mr. Kada was an audacious man known in the rice price market, he lent heavily to our company and thus eight magnificent theaters were built soon even at that time. We built up to Fukuhokan No. 8 (Dai-hachi Fukuhokan), and we had intended to acquire Kinkikan for No. 9, but the acquisition was terminated then because it was not agreed on. All of Fukuhokan’s theaters have the seating capacity of around 350.  〉

 

Kada Kinzaburo is known to have earned money in the rice price market and have succeeded in sugar business in Taiwan during the colonial days. Based on his sufficient funds, around 30,000 yen was costed per theater in average to complete a magnificent concrete building. As 1 yen in the Meiji 30s (between 1896 and 1906) is equivalent to around 20,000 yen at today’s price, the cost per theater is 600 million yen, if simply calculated.Fukuhodo built eight such theaters at a stretch, so it is no doubt that the industry could not help but give due respect to Fukuhodo even if it was a neophyte company. In fact, in 1912, two years after the established, Fukuhodo merged with three competitors into Nippon Katsudo Shashin—abbreviated as Nikkatsu, when Fukuhodo was the most robust company.

Dai-ichi Fukuhokan and a juvenile film buff

Now, how did people in the urban area feel about these new theaters?

 

Hazumi Tsuneo (1908–1958 )is a film critic born in 1908 and a cineast who grew in Kyobashi. His mother’s family was a long-established old paper merchant called Tachi-Iseya dating back to the Edo Period. The trade mark was a navy noren (short split curtain) on which a pattern of a bearing sword (Tachi) was dyed in red, and according to Meiji Shobai Orai [Guide to Commerce in the Meiji Period] written by Nakada Sadanosuke, the store was located at the southwest corner of Minami-Denma-cho 4-chome (later merged into 3-chome). According to the map of the Taisho period, it is probably at current 3-1, Kyobashi, near the corner of Tokyo Square Garden facing the Kyobashi Intersection. With regard to this corner, the store Senjoko that sold face powder a long time ago and umbrellas after the Meiji Restoration is famous, and if Tachi-Iseya was located along side it,  it would be a less than three minutes’ walk to Dai-ichi Fukuhokan.

  • The map of Kyobashi-ku appearing on Tokyo-shi oyobi Setuzoku Gunbu Chiseki Chizu Jokan [The Cadastral Map of Tokyo City and Neighboring Districts Vol.1] published in 1912 (Source: National Diet Library Digital Collection). The Seishoko Temple was behind Dai-ichi Fukuhokan, and Hazumi wrote in his Eiga Zuihitsu [Essays about Films] that he was looking forward to Ennichi (festival days) held at the temple when he was a child.

When I read Hazumi’s memoir, I can find that this urban area at that time was filled with many amusements which made the boy’s heart skip a beat, including Kabuki, Ennichi (festival days at temples or shrines), and the broadcast of pro baseball games, pro wrestling and grand sumo matches, and a motion picture was one of such amusements. Hazumi wrote the impression when he watched a motion picture at Dai-ichi Fukuhokan in Eiga Gojunen-shi [50 Years of Film History] published in 1947, saying as follows:

 

〈Dai-ichi Fukuhokan was near the Kyobashi Intersection, where the headquarters of Nikkatsu and Daiei Film are currently located. It was just a stone’s throw from my house. Maybe my initial interest in films was sparked by the pictorial billboard showing Matsunosuke with his eyes wide open, posted on the front of the theater. When I watched a movie here for the first time, I cried because of the darkness of the theater. I was 5 years old or so.〉

 

Just after the World War II when this book was written, the place where Dai-ichi Fukuhokan had been located was changed to the headquarters of Nikkatsu and Daiei Film. In Part 2, I would like to talk about the transition in detail. For your information, Matsunosuke mentioned above refers to a Kabuki actor Onoe Matsunosuke, who was said to be Japan’s first movie star.

 

The boy, who had been scared at the darkness of the theater, developed his own taste with increasing age. In his another writing Eiga Zuihitsu [Essays about Films], he described Dai-ichi Fukkuhokan as a theater that made a poor impression on him, saying, “When I began to understand things, the theater had already screened serial movies or those of Shinpa (new schools) while featuring Matsunosuke’s movies as the major attraction every week.”

 

Serial movies are similar to today’s serial TV dramas, serially releasing each of short films made by dividing a single story on a week basis. Shinpa refers to modern plays contrasted with the more traditional Kabuki style (Kyuha, literally old schools in Japanese), emerged in the Meiji period. Actors were finding their way to the new world of films. For Hazumi as an insolent boy, Japanese films screened at Dai-ichi Fukuhokan may have been seen as rather stereotypical ones. When he was an elementary school student, he went all the way to Kinshunkan specializing in featuring foreign films in Kaga-cho (currently 7-4-17, Ginza).

 

In the 1910s when Hazumi often visited Dai-ichi Fukuhokan, motion pictures moved away from realism to acquire the unique world of stories. At that time, as a matter of course, silent films were screened to which narration by a silent-film narrator (Benshi) and the performance of an orchestra were added, so those films contained live and theatrical elements quite a lot. Thus, motion picture theaters were integrated into people’s daily lives as a theatrical space offering what was positioned just between rather formal Kabuki and bizarre shows.

References
Mizu no Nagare Geien Hiroku [Stream of Water: The Secret Memoir on the Society of Arts] (1934) Toka Kuwano, Sogo Engei Tsushinsha
Eiga Gojunen-shi [50 Years of Film History] (1947) Tsuneo Hazumi, Masu Shobo
Eiga Zuihitsu [Essays about Films] (1956) Tsuneo Hazumi, Heibon Shuppan
Nihon Eiga Hattatsu-shi I [The History of Japanese Films I] (1980) Junichiro Tanaka, Chuokoron-sha
Koza Nihon Eiga 1 Nihon Eiga no Tanjo [Lectures on Japanese Films 1: The Birth of Japanese Films] (1985) edited by Shohei Imamura, et al., Iwanami Shoten, Publishers
Senryu Edo Meibutus Zue [Encyclopedia of Specialties in Edo with Satirical Haiku] (1994) Kazuo Hanasaki, Miki Shobo
Meiji Shobai Orai [Guide to Commerce in the Meiji Period] (2003) Sadanosuke Nakada, Chikuma Gakugei Bunko (The first edition was published by Seia Sensho in 1969)
Hiroku・Nihon no Katsudo Shashin [The Secret Memoir: Motion Pictures in Japan] (2004) Junichiro Tanaka, supervised by Haruhiko Honchi, Wides Publishing

Yuko Shibukawa
Writer/Editor

Editor and writer mainly on food and crafts. Author of The Secret of Rice Omelets and the Mystery of Melon Bread – The Story of the Birth of Popular Menu Items (Shincho Bunko). Editor and compiler of Hand-crafting Your Life – The Earthenware and Life in Iwai Kiln in Tottori by Noriyuki Yamamoto (Stand! Books), Nichiniimashi – Ryukyuan Cuisine and Okinawan Words that Will Create a Better Tomorrow by Ayaka Yamamoto (Bungeishunju) and more.

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