Films
Every entry has a short description, what we know about the source, and the files we have. Web copies are small H.264 files that play in the page; full transfers are large because we keep them close to the capture (minimal compression, original frame rate, no cropping).
Dates are release years as far as we can establish them; where sources disagree we say so.
12 of 12 titles
19174 minNamakura Gatana (The Dull Sword)
A samurai buys a dull sword and tries it on passers-by, with predictable results. One of the oldest surviving Japanese animated films.
192915 minTarō-san no Kisha (Taro's Toy Train)
A boy's toy train comes alive and carries an unruly cast of animal passengers. Cut-out animation at its most fluid.
192910 minKobutori (The Old Man with the Lump)
The folktale of the two old men and the mountain spirits who take one man's lump away and give it to the other.
19309 minOira no Yakyū (Our Baseball Game)
Two teams of animals play a baseball game that gets out of hand. Fast, funny, and full of gags that still land.
193311 minUgokie Kori no Tatehiki (The Fox and the Tanuki)
A travelling fox shelters in a temple haunted by shape-shifting tanuki, and a duel of transformations begins.
193511 minNorakuro Nitōhei (Private Norakuro)
The stray dog Norakuro joins the army and makes a mess of drill practice. Based on the hugely popular manga.
193615 minChinkoroheibei Tamatebako
A small dog's version of the Urashima Tarō legend, with a treasure box that should not be opened.
193913 minBenkei tai Ushiwaka
The legend of the warrior monk Benkei and the young Ushiwaka meeting on Gojō bridge, told with a light touch.
194315 minKumo to Chūrippu (The Spider and the Tulip)
A ladybug hides from a spider inside a tulip while a storm passes. Widely considered the finest Japanese animated short of its decade.
194337 minMomotarō no Umiwashi (Momotaro's Sea Eagles)
The folk hero Momotaro leads animal pilots on a raid. A wartime propaganda film, kept here as a historical document.
194574 minMomotarō: Umi no Shinpei (Momotaro, Sacred Sailors)
The first feature-length Japanese animated film, released weeks before the end of the war.
194816 minTora-chan to Hanayome (Tora-chan and the Bride)
A post-war short about a kitten and a wedding, from Masaoka's Tora-chan series. Gentle, musical, and rarely seen.
Nothing matches that. Try a director's name or a decade.