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Chronology of Japanese Cinema
1896

1896

November 11

Edison's Kinescope is brought to Japan by Shinji Takahashi, owner of a gunpowder shop in Kobe. In this city on November 17 he presents the device and gives a private showing to Prince Komatsu Akihito.

Source:
Jeffrey A. Dym Benshi and the Introduction of Motion Pictures to Japan, Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 55, No. 4. (Winter, 2000), pp. 509-536.

November 25

First Kinescope's public showing in Japan held at Kobe's Shinkou Club. Cinema is thought to be a viewing experience shared simultaneously by a group of people in contrast with Kinescope's private entertainment quality in which an individual views a moving picture through a peephole. In spite of this some consider this date as the beginning of Japanese cinema. Proving this fact, though the dates are slightly different, the authors Akihiro Toki and Kaoru Mizuguchi argue that Kobe's designation in 1963 of December 1 as "Cinema Day" commemorates this event.

Source:
Akihiro Toki and Kaoru Mizuguchi A History of Early Cinema in Kyoto, Japan (1896-1912) - Cinematographe and Inabata Katsutaro .

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Last update: 18/9/2013