Asano Shiro

...It is clear that there was a longing for Western culture and a curiosity about new entertainment, and in other words, movies gained popularity as a spectacle created by advanced science. In 1697, Japanese filmmakers began making movies, with Asano Shiro of Konishi Shoten (a photographic equipment importer) and Shibata Tsunekichi of Mitsukoshi's photography department taking pictures of scenes from Nihonbashi and Asakusa, and the dancing of geisha, who were popular stars at the time, and the films were released one after another. In 1699, Hiromeya (an advertising agency) held the Japan Initiative Photo Show at the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo, which was a full-scale production of these films, and Komada Yoshihiro, the founder of film tours and the first popular narrator, gave a talk (see the entry on Katsuben)....

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Asano Shiro" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…明らかにそこには欧米文物への憧憬と新しい娯楽への好奇心がうかがえ，つまり映画は先進科学による見世物として人気を博したといえる。97年には日本人による映画製作が始められ，小西商店(写真器材輸入商)の浅野四郎と三越写真部の柴田常吉が，日本橋や浅草の風景，当時の人気スターといえる芸者の踊りなどを撮影し，作品は次々公開された。99年に広目屋(広告代理店)が東京の歌舞伎座で催した〈日本率先活動大写真〉はそれらの本格的興行で，映画巡業の創始者であり最初の人気弁士である駒田好洋が説明を行った(〈活弁〉の項目を参照)。…

※「浅野四郎」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報