The film daily year book of motion pictures (1938)

No. of Length of I'eatures Meters Japanese ... 239 505,644 American 137 301,460 German 11 24,050 French 10 23,596 English 1 2,314 Italian 1 2,660 Total .^9V 859,724 It is impossible to give corresponding data for the first nine months of 1936 due to the fact that the censor's office advises that it is seriously understaffed and not in a position to make the necessary compilations. Films imported into Japan are inspected by the customs authorities and, if approved, by the censor's office. Some films are not permitted entry intu the countrj' by the customs or else the customs "advise" the distributors not to have them reviewed b} the censor because they will be banned anyway, presumably upon instructions of the customs. Relatively few films are rejected by the customs or banned by the censors due largely to the fact that the distributors exercise great care in selecting films for this market. The fewAmerican films rejected by the customs or censor in 1937 involved alleged lack of respect for royalty and established law and order. One American war film was banned by the censoi after being shown in this country during the past three years and upon being re-censored m accordance with existing regulations. This action was taken following protests made by the German Embassy at Tokyo. It was pointed out that the film showed German troops being defeated during the World War. Censorship in Japan has been heretofore considered to be reasonable and followed regulations peculiar to the social and political economy and ideology of the country. American distributors generally have not complained about the censorship and this condition existed during 1937. Since Japan is operating on a wartime basis of economy with the Government admittedly dominated by the armed branches, it is obvious that nothing unfavorable to Japan and its military or naval forces will be tolerated. This now holds true of German, and more recently, also ot Italian interests. At the same time, however, it will be noted that the Censor's office has been scrupulously careful in censoring the domestically made war films and the news reels of the fighting in China in order not to allow a wave of hatred for China and the Chinese people to sweep the country. Many of the news reels of the hostilities in China look more like maneuvers than actual fighting since in the great majority of them no Chinese troops are ever shown. As far as the theater-going public in Japan is concerned, the news reels from China give the impression of supreme invincibility of Japanese arms with all the stage effects of modem warfare displayed but with the enemy completely obliterated from view and from consideration. Effective April 24, 1937, the censorship fees on foreign films only were increased by 50 percent. It is of interest to point out that the definition of a foreign film, as now specified by the Department of Home Affairs, includes films made with foreign capital in Japan, even though all the actors are Japanese and the language is Japanese. For reference sake, it may be added that the censorship fees prior to April 24, 1937. were one sen per meter of the first print of any subject and V2 sen per meter for subsequent prints, provided they were offered for censoring within three months following the inspection of the first print. A film that has been censored may be shown up to a period not exceeding three years. After three years, the film is treated as a new subject and must be recensored, the charges being the same as for the original print and copies. The regulations now in force are exactly the same, save that the rates on all foreign films, including American and European, are now l|i sen per meter for the first print and Y\ sen per meter for additional prints of the same subject, if offered for censoring within three months after the first print was censored. In announcing the increased rate applicable only to foreign films, the Department of^ Home .\tfairs state that it was necessitated by the greater amount of work required to censor foreign films, due largely to language difficulties. Competition — The greatest competitors of American films in Japan are the Japanese films, the competition from European films being of secondary importance. The data covering films censored in 1936 and during the first nine months of 1937 which averages 34 percent, gives the relative position of American films in the Japanese market. Opposed to the fact that the average American film probably brings in more cash than the average Japanese film is the fact that the Japanese theater outlets are largely controlled or dominated by the domestic producers, who show American films mainly to round out their own programs. American films generally are well received in the Japanese market and, insofar as the educated classes are concerned, are probably preferred to the domestic films. The masses, however, prefer Japanese films as a general rule due to the fact that admission charges are lower and because they can understand the dialog and the themes of the films. Copyright Relations— The laws of Japan theoretically protect foreign producers from piracy. Equally important a deterrent to piracy is the fact that it has been proved to be an unprofitable undertaking. It is possible that the last named is the more important factor which causes piracy to be practically unknown in this market. A few cases are known but they usually involve very old films and settlement is usually reached outside the courts. It may be noted that it is impossible to copyright any particular film in Japan. The trade mark of the producing or distributing company may be registered, however, and that action apparently serves to reduce piracy somewhat. American film distributors generally opine that It IS exceedingly difficult to secure satisfactiou from the Japanese courts, litigation being featured by innumerable and costly delays. Production — Data covering the number of domestic films produced during 1937 are not yet available. An indication is afforded, however, bv the fact that during the first nine months of 1937 a total of 239 features with an aggregate length of 505.644 meters were passed by the censors. During 1936, according to the "Cinema Year Book of Japan, 1936-37," the total number of feature films produced reached 558, including 300 all-talkie, 39 part-talkie, 82 sound and 137 silent films. Japan has the reputation of being the largest producer of motion pictures for home consumption in the world. This reputation is based largely upon quantity of production with the average quality definitely inferior to American and European productions. It is generally accepted that Japanese producers cannot make sufficient quality feature films to supply the domestic market. During the present wartime economv. however, the domestic producers have gained ground by making so-called patriotic films and at the same time the production of news reels of the fighting in China has showed phenomenal advance. The prohibition of imports of foreign films during the last quarter of 1937 and possiblv dunng the first quarter of 1938 is based ui>on the theory that distributors of American and European films can show films held in stocks within the country, these stocks being reported to be adequate until about March or April. 1938. Accordingly, it may be added that this prohibition does not imply that domestic producers can supply the full market demand. Rather, it represents action taken to prevent the outgo of funds in order to maintain the value of the yen on foreign money markets. Whether or not the restriction on foreign film showings will prove ad\-antageous in the long run to the domestic producers remains to be seen. According to the "Cinema Year Book of Japan. 1936-37," the aggregated authorized capital of major i>roducing companies in Japan approximates 1233