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Episode 581 – The Men of Chivalry, Part 1
This week, we’re starting a history of the most famous genre in the history of Japanese film: the jidaigeki, and its related genre of the ninkyo eiga. This week: what do we know about early jidaigeki, and how do they fit into the wider history of early Japanese film?
Sources
Spalding, Lisa and David Desser. “Period Films of the Prewar Era,” in Reframing Japanese Cinema: Authorship, Genre, History, ed. Arthur Nolletti, Jr and David Desser.
Anderson, Joseph L and Donald Ritchie. The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (Expanded Edition).
A great article on the benshi from the Japan Society
Images
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9514" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Onoe-Matsunosuke-186x300.jpg" alt="" width="186" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Onoe-Matsunosuke-186x300.jpg 186w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Onoe-Matsunosuke.jpg 420w" sizes="(max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px" />Onoe Matsunosuke, a.k.a. “crazy-eyes Matsu”, one of Japan’s first film stars. This is from his 1910 film Chushingura, where he plays lead.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9889" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Shozo_Makino-213x300.jpg" alt="" width="213" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Shozo_Makino-213x300.jpg 213w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Shozo_Makino.jpg 308w" sizes="(max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px" />Makino Shozo, the father of the jidaigeki, in the 1920s
<img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-9890" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Roningai_film1.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="164" />Roningai, a film by Makino Shozo’s son, from 1928. You can see how even here the aesthetic will have a big influence on postwar film.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9891" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-224x300.jpg 224w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-764x1024.jpg 764w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-768x1029.jpg 768w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px" />Poster for the 1938 Jidaigeki Humanity and Paper Balloons (Ninjo Kami Fusen)
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9892" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250px-Kokushimuso-3_1932-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250px-Kokushimuso-3_1932-225x300.jpg 225w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250px-Kokushimuso-3_1932.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Still from Itami Mansaku’s 1932 Kokushi Muso. The actor Kataoka Chiezo plays Ise no Kami (the lead), with his daughter being played by Yamada Isuzu.
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By This week, we’re starting a history of the most famous genre in the history of Japanese film: the jidaigeki, and its related genre of the ninkyo eiga. This week: what do we know about early jidaigeki, and how do they fit into the wider history of early Japanese film?
Sources
Spalding, Lisa and David Desser. “Period Films of the Prewar Era,” in Reframing Japanese Cinema: Authorship, Genre, History, ed. Arthur Nolletti, Jr and David Desser.
Anderson, Joseph L and Donald Ritchie. The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (Expanded Edition).
A great article on the benshi from the Japan Society
Images
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9514" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Onoe-Matsunosuke-186x300.jpg" alt="" width="186" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Onoe-Matsunosuke-186x300.jpg 186w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Onoe-Matsunosuke.jpg 420w" sizes="(max-width: 186px) 100vw, 186px" />Onoe Matsunosuke, a.k.a. “crazy-eyes Matsu”, one of Japan’s first film stars. This is from his 1910 film Chushingura, where he plays lead.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9889" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Shozo_Makino-213x300.jpg" alt="" width="213" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Shozo_Makino-213x300.jpg 213w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Shozo_Makino.jpg 308w" sizes="(max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px" />Makino Shozo, the father of the jidaigeki, in the 1920s
<img decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-9890" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Roningai_film1.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="164" />Roningai, a film by Makino Shozo’s son, from 1928. You can see how even here the aesthetic will have a big influence on postwar film.
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9891" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-224x300.jpg" alt="" width="224" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-224x300.jpg 224w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-764x1024.jpg 764w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster-768x1029.jpg 768w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Humanity_and_Paper_Balloons_poster.jpg 800w" sizes="(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px" />Poster for the 1938 Jidaigeki Humanity and Paper Balloons (Ninjo Kami Fusen)
<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-9892" data-tf-not-load src="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250px-Kokushimuso-3_1932-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250px-Kokushimuso-3_1932-225x300.jpg 225w, https://isaacmeyer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250px-Kokushimuso-3_1932.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Still from Itami Mansaku’s 1932 Kokushi Muso. The actor Kataoka Chiezo plays Ise no Kami (the lead), with his daughter being played by Yamada Isuzu.