Interest Stacks

A young boy dressed in sailor attire and a bright red cap is shown to write the Japanese kanji characters translating to the phrase "moving picture." As he completes writing the phrase, he faces toward the viewer and bows. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Namakura Gatana, meaning "dull-edged sword," is a four-minute comedy about a samurai who, thanks to his dull instrument, loses every time he attacks a weak opponent. In order to examine the sword, he tries to attack passers-by, but lower-class townspeople fight back and knock him down. (Source: AniDB)

Urashima Tarou is based on a well-known Japanese folk tale about an honest fisherman who is invited to an underwater castle after saving a sea turtle on a beach from bullies. (Source: forum.bcdb.com) Note: The latest research has revealed that the film identified on this website as Urashima Tarou (supposed title), which was so named on the basis that it was believed to be a work by Seitaro Kitayama that was originally released in 1918, is actually a different film. Read more... (Source: Japanese Animated Film Classics) Note: Urashima Tarou (supposed title) is tinted in pink film. Not to be mistaken with Urashima Tarou (1931) which is a black and white film.

A retelling of the classic Aesop Fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. (Source: AniDB)

Once upon a time, there was a lord in Shinano Province who hated old men. In accordance with the rules of the province, a person was exiled to an island when they turned 60 years old. On the night of August 15th, there was one such farmer woman, but her son loved her, and took her to a mountain to leave her there instead of turning her over to the cruel officers. However, he felt sorry about what he was doing and hid her under the earthen floor of a barn. One day, a messenger of the lord of the neighboring province was sent to the lord of Shinano Province making an unreasonable demand that a silk thread be threaded through a winding hole in a crystal ball and threatened that force would be used unless the task was done. The devoted son consulted with his mother, and she taught him a method in which you put honey around the end of one hole and let an ant tied with a thread go through it from the other end. The lord rewarded the son. However, a messenger was sent from the neighboring province again demanding that they identify which of two identical mares is the parent and which is the child. The son asked his mother again and then told the solution to the lord. When told by the lord that he would grant the son’s wish, he pleaded for his mother’s life. Since then, old men and women have been treated with respect and are no longer exiled. (Source: Japanese Animated Film Classics)

Classical animation directed by Yamamoto Sanae.

A short film based on the classic novel Journey to the West.

The oldest recovered film by Noburou Oofuji that combines paper cutout animation with live action shots. In front of a girl with the traditional Japanese hairstyle, a small man on a desk says, "women descended from tobacco." The girl laughs at him and traps him under a glass. The angry man puffs on a cigarette in a pipe and blows smoke at the girl. The girl takes the cigarette from the man and puts it under her book. When the man threatens her with a gun, the girl throws the cigarette into the yard. The man becomes really angry and tries to shoot her, but the gun does not fire. In the end, the man starts telling her about the beginning of tobacco. (Source: animation.filmarchives.jp)

Eating a fish of frying, making flies in food due to improper circumstances, doing washing in the river, etc, the terrible venom spreads unexpectedly. In order to prevent it, it is essential to disinfect with salad water. When going out, it is important to mask the fungus and prevent fungal invasion and disinfect futon etc in the sunlight. Since one person's carelessness will lead to the family and, in the end, the disease spread will spread out in Japan, urge the attention so that hygiene ideals will spread. (Source: Japanese Animated Film Classics)

Animals gather to compete in Olympic games. This animation was inspired by the 1928 Olympic Games held in Amsterdam.

An adaptation of Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper but with a slight change. We have a diligent family ants versus a drunken lazy frog, a bourgeois butterfly and grasshopper couple. As winter comes, the frog, butterfly, and grasshopper are ill and starving.

A few minutes long black and white anime which shows the traditional Japanese harvest festival, featuring a song by Eiko Hirai.

A short movie from 1931 about a mouse stealing a butterfly's wings and her journey to get them back.

A short movie from 1929 about four children who dream of having a pet cat. Their wishes are answered when they encounter a black cat who proceeds to sing them a song about how he and his tabby brother are descended from tigers.

Looking for Hanako's stolen shoes, black cat detective Felix starts to move.

Four short vignettes in this early animated film. In the first, shadows pull away to reveal a puddle, and automobile and bicycle tires pass through it. In the second, cutout shadows of a variety of shoes of people walking are seen. The third is a flurry of geometric forms. In the fourth, the playing card spade courts the heart and pushes away the club, but eventually the club returns, beats up the spade, and wins the heart. (Source: AniDB)

Mr. Ogino should have died during the war but his spirit was brought back to life by the power of science. He sees the world 100 years later during the year 2032 lead by one of his descendants. They decide to take a trip to Mars too and the ship malfunctions, because a spirit of the past was on the ship, it went out of control trying to reach Buddha's paradise instead.

Frogs fight crime in a bizarre world.

The Company and Regimental Commanders engage in an idle chit-chat, blithely ignorant of the troops forging ahead under the previous "Forward March" command. Norakuro and his fellow recruits march gamely forward, regardless of the obstacles that may lie in their way. However, a horse stable looms up ahead. (Source: AniDB)

Movie from 1933. Fox spirit turns into a samurai and picks on a racoon spirit. The racoon spirit gets his father and they team up against the fox spirit.

Black-and-white propaganda film. Japanese folklore characters vs. evil Mickey Mouse-like creatures.

Symbolized an urban man with a triangle figure, a country woman with a circle, and represented the encounter between the two by movement. Director Shigenji Ogino tried to naturally color the movie via the kinema color technique. Due to being an early work, the technique isn't smooth. Because of this the film has a photosensitive epileptic seizure warning as there are high frequency flashes of red and green frames for the duration of the entire film. Please be careful while viewing.

A country of peaceful frogs is attacked by a country of devils. The film is meant for crisis awareness as Japan was on the brink of war with China at the time. Unfortunately, both countries did end up going to war the following year; it was the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Short film about a princess being kidnapped.

Butterfly, a faithful Japanese wife, waits patiently in Nagasaki for the return of her American husband, Pinkerton. She sees the Stars and Stripes fluttering atop an approaching ship and rightly surmises that Pinkerton is onboard. However, the feckless foreigner is arriving in the company of his "real" Caucasian wife, causing the heartbroken Butterfly to commit suicide. This masterpiece of Japanese silhouette animation makes the best of its source material. (Source: The Anime Encyclopedia)

Tang Sanzang and his three protectors—Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing—are journeying far to the west when they encounter "Fire Mountain." The flames of Fire Mountain are so ferocious that no man dares to brave its scorching flames; unfortunately, there is no other path to their destination. A local villager informs Tang Sanzang that Princess Iron Fan owns a magical fan that can quench the mountain's fire. However, she is also unlikely to give it to them, as Sun Wukong previously angered her husband, the Bull Demon King. Unwilling to give up their journey, the three protectors must use their shape-shifting powers and formulate a plan to steal the magical fan from the grasp of the princess. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Momotaro sends a sneak aircraft attack to sink the ships of Demon Island, using his animal companions as crew members and pilots.

A monkey, a dog, a pheasant, and a bear travel southward after resting in their villages at the foot of Mt. Fuji. A squadron flies to Onigashima under the command of Momotarou. Parachutes blossom in the sky. Momotarou and company will take over the island after a swift and successful mission. The village children pretend parachuting with glee as they run towards Mt. Fuji. (Source: Imagica)

A western occupation propaganda film in which a boy repairs a western style doll that comes to life and uses a magic pen to rebuild his bleak and war torn world into a happy place resembling western civilization. (Source: AniDB)

A family of cats find a homeless kitten and take him in to their home. But one of the siblings becomes jealous about the attention the new cat gets from her mother and runs away from home. The new member of the family goes looking for her. Can he bring her back home safely and get her to accept him as part of the family?

(No synopsis yet.)

A fox steal the world's most valuable diamond and buries it under a tree, believing it to be well-hidden. The next day, a circus arrives and sets up its tent next to the tree, its animals unwittingly digging up the diamond they believe to be just a worthless rock. They soon lose the diamond inside the circus and the desperate fox attempts to retrieve the stolen diamond before the other animals realise what they have. (Source: AniDB)

An early color animation which uses the color to help tell the story. Three butterflies save a bird that falls out of it's nest during a rainstorm. The butterflies decide to ask the flowers for cover, but the red rose will only help the red butterfly since they are the same color. (Source: AniDB)

Film about a ghost ship. There is no dialogue, just music and a choir.

A young cat is enjoying drawing pictures on a wall. However, when his pencil is stolen, he has no choice but to enter the world of his drawings in order to get it back. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

A short movie by Ryouichi Yokoyama.

A humorous story of a mole named Kuro-chan who embarks on a space voyage in his dreams. (Source: ANN)

As a young boy, Xu-Xian is forced to free his pet, a small snake. Unbeknownst to him, the snake is actually a young snake goddess named Bai-Niang and she is in love with him. Many years later, when they are both adults, the princess is magically transformed into a human and sets out to find her love. But the local wizard believes her to be a vampire, and banishes Xu-Xian from the village in order to save him. Xu-Xian's pet pandas Panda and Mimi set out to save him and bring him, in the process becoming leaders of an animal gang. (Source: ANN)

The kitten from Yasuji Mori's earlier Koneko no Rakugaki returns, this time putting his talents toward directing a samurai film starring his mouse friends.

Upon a mountain, a monkey is born from stone—nameless, parentless, and friendless. That is, until one day, he encounters a young female monkey named RinRin, who offers to be his friend. Through RinRin's encouragement, he becomes king after a test of bravery; however, his personality sours. When RinRin tells him that humans are the most intelligent creatures on Earth, the monkey vows to become smarter than them. He leaves RinRin behind and trains with a mountain hermit who gives him the name Son-Goku. Following Goku's imprisonment for using his newfound powers to steal a celestial fruit from heaven, he is rescued by a monk. In exchange, he is asked to accompany the monk on a journey to India. This journey will prove to be yet another challenge for the monkey to overcome. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

A short movie by Otogi Production.

A story about a human zoo.

A cat just wants some alone time with his girl, but is interrupted by his stressed owner. Can't those stupid humans just keep things like relationships simple?

On a certain street corner, there live a girl and her bear doll; a mischievous mouse named Kanku-bouya; a sycamore tree; an old street lamp; a moth; and posters containing a bar girl, a violinist, and a pianist. They all strive for life, but the world may not allow them to flourish. In Aru Machi Kado no Monogatari, will the inhabitants of the street corner be able to maintain their peaceful existences, or will war and tyranny plunge them into chaos? [Written by MAL Rewrite]