A Century on Film

Japan through Foreign Eyes: Part 1 (2x13)

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In this and the next episode, we explore Japan as seen from abroad, from the late Meiji era to postwar reconstruction. One of the oldest moving images shot in Tokyo shows a bustling road and the two-wheeled carriage called a rickshaw. It was shot in 1897, just 2 years after the Lumière's premiered their first movie. In the same year, cameras cover a lively area in Kyoto and star of the Kabuki theater, Sadanji Ichikawa. We also look at modern Japan's turning points; Japan's victory over Russia at Port Arthur, the assassination of Japanese statesman Hirobumi Ito, and the enthronement of Emperor Showa.