1920s Japanese Movies

A man takes a job at an asylum with hopes of freeing his imprisoned wife.

Directed by Kensaku Suzuki.

A small town boy dreams of being a famous fiddler; Meanwhile, two convicts escape from prison and hide in the woods.

One of Mizoguchi's first films, considered lost.

A Yasuji Murata version of the classic Japanese story Saru Kani Gassen.

An adaptation of Anna Christie, considered lost.

Directed by Minoru Murata.

Mizoguchi’s 30th film is the earliest surviving example of his work, and his only film of the 1920s to survive complete. Song of Home finds the director already concerning himself with the collision of traditional and modern values. The film is structured around the contrast of two country-bred boys: a coach driver who has never left his home, and a student who returns from Tokyo with city-slicker affectations and Western jazz records. Produced by the Ministry of Education, the film has a simplistic lesson-plan at its heart, but what lingers in the mind after viewing are its more ineffable qualities: The dulcet, lyric, evocation of a disappeared rural past.

Toshie, a young, conservative secretary-typist has fallen in love with Shozo Narita, a young man she has met through her work.

The Morning Sun Shines is a fiction-documentary film by Kenji Mizoguchi and Seiichi Ina. The film is a combination of a drama about a reporter, and documentary footage about newspaper production. Only 25 minutes of footage has survived.

University friends Ben and Shūichi unknowingly vie for the attention of the beautiful Chieko while on a skiing trip.

This is the story of a samurai who falls on hard times due to misunderstandings and follows the plots of his enemies.

Tetsuo Nomoto, a young college graduate tries to find a decent job by himself. Later on, he will marry his girlfriend, Machiko, whom he hides the fact that he has no job. Hardships come quickly, which forces Machiko to find a job in a bar.

1926 silent film directed by Heinosuke Gosho.

A young couple flee their disapproving parents, get lost of Mt. Akagi and find a cache of gold protected by the ghost of a gangster.

Two criminal brothers try to go straight but face opposition from one of their criminal cohorts. Considered to be a lost film.

A twice-remade ironic comedy about a writer's encounter with a female thief.

Directed by Kisaburo Kurihara.

An old potter despairs of having only two daughters and no son, hoping his apprentice will one day bring him an heir. The apprentice meets the eldest daughter but is disgusted by her. He decides to marry the younger daughter, who is in love with another man. Considered a lost film.

Lost silent film

Japanese silent film from 1929.

When a woman unfairly suspects her husband of flirting with a shop assistant, she decides to flirt with their landlord to get revenge. Considered to be a lost film.

Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa.

Jiraiya is some sort of super-ninja with superpowers. He can fly, he can avoid detection by turning himself into a toad, and he has some sort of ability to vanish.

A young man falls for one of the geisha working in the house where he lives. However, the romance doesn't find favour with his father or current girlfriend. Considered to be a lost film.

Sweat (1929) is a slapstick riff on tendency-film themes, as a bored young millionaire has his clothes stolen by a tramp; dressed in the tramp’s clothes, he has to accept work as a labourer. As the hero ends up building the mausoleum he had himself commissioned.

An Expressionist film about masses downtrodden by authoritarian capitalism. (Now lost.)

Date Mosui, a young samurai, one day gets a scolding from a nameless ronin that sets him thinking about what life is all about and his ways of living. His frined, Ando Kichinosuke, is alarmed at Mosui's despondency and invites him to his house as his little sister Tsuyu and he try to cheer him up.

No overview available

No overview available

Kurama Tengu is a 1928 black and white Japanese silent film with benshi accompaniment directed by Teppei Yamaguchi. It is a film which is a part of the series depicting the bold and daring hero Kurama Tengu. The popular series comprises numerous films based on the original novel written by Jiro Osaragi, but those featuring Kanjuro Arashi are considered to be the most valuable. Of note is the last scene in which the main character takes on numerous foes with a sword in each hand.

When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

A melodrama about an orphan and her mother who are separated and lose contact, but are later reunited.

Directed by Kisaburo Kurihara.

No overview available

A married man falls for a dancer and his wife's uncle hires a private detective to spy on him. Considered to be a lost film.

Comedy about a young man juggling several girlfriends. Considered to be a lost film.

A hen-pecked man works as his artist wife's model and a house-husband. When her patron flirts with her and humiliates him, he decides to get revenge by trying his own hand as a painter. Considered to be a lost film.

A train conductor goes about his duty. All the characters are animals in human form. Hippo ladies in dresses try to jam into cars and other passengers pull jokes and cause havoc.

The story is based on the traditional, Japanese myth of Urashima Taro; in which a fisherman is transported from the seashore into a fantastic underwater world on the back of a giant turtle.