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the European example, theatrical and dull, for pattern and inspiration, now came to hail the American film as its novel and worthy ideal. The Japanese movie-theatre that had featured only European movies before the War was now completely monopolized by the American. The American screen of that time had already produced such great artists as Griffith and Chaplin, and it knew the secret of telling speedy and lively stories and love romances with a purely cinematographic technique. It was only natural that the constant importation of such American films afforded a great stimulus to the Japa¬ nese cinema circles. Japanese producers were taught for the first time what a true motion picture must be like, and the new conception was fully illustrated by the Ameri¬ can examples. The majority of pioneers in the Japanese film industry were either technicians who had been to Hollywood or else their pupils. The fact that the Japanese screen, in its formative years, thrived on copying the American prototype is very signif¬ icant. For American imitation has been to this very day one of the essential peculiarities of Japanese movies. They have never been able to free themselves entirely from Ameri¬ can influences.
Thus the Great War marked a veritable turning-point in the development of Japanese films: a new vista opened up. The abnormal “canned” plays were now able to break out of their cans, and the presentation of a new drama, handled by cinematic technique, or photoplay as it was newly named, now became the ambitious aim of producers.
The Nikkatsu trust, whose organization was described in the foregoing, began making its first but rather lame attempt at the new photoplay at its Mukojima Studio in Tokyo. Eizo Tanaka, who deserves to be remembered as Japan’s first film director, produced “Ikeru Shikabane” (Adapted from Tolstoy’s “Living Corpse”, 1918), “Konjiki-Yasha” (Golden Demon, 1918), “Kyoya Eriten” (Kyoya Neck-Band Shop, 1922), “Dokuro no Mai” (The Dance of A Skull, 1923), etc. These are the first attempts at the new drama. Another extremely important event was the establishment of a production con¬ cern called Eiga Geijutsu Kyokai or Association for Motion Picture Art by Norimasa Kayeriyama and its works. Kayeriyama conceived this idea not so much as a business proposition as an artistic movement. By gaining freedom from the stage and by employ¬ ing the then most advanced techniques, he succeeded in creating a new type of photo¬ play in Japan, which was truly fit for the screen. But his works, such as “Sei no Kagayaki” (Life’s Splendour, 1918), “Miyama no Otome” (The Maiden Hidden in the Moun¬ tain, 1919), etc., could boast only of their technical refinement after the American fashion, and artistic flavour was completely missing. Thus failing to find popular favour, the As¬ sociation soon saw the finis of its regrettably short existence.
In connection with these enterprises a point worthy of our special note is the fact that young intellectuals began to take very keen interests in the art of the screen.
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