Katsudō Shashin

Common card · No. 436242

Katsudō Shashin (活動写真; 'motion picture'), sometimes called the Matsumoto fragment, is a Japanese animated filmstrip from the Meiji era that is the oldest known work of animation from Japan. Its creator is unknown. Evidence suggests it was made somewhere between 1905 and 1912, so it may predate the earliest displays of Western animated films in Japan. It was discovered in a collection of films and projectors in Kyoto in 2005. The three-second filmstrip depicts a boy who writes "活動写真", removes his hat, and bows. The frames were stencilled in red and black using a device for making magic lantern slides, and the filmstrip was fastened in a loop for continuous play.

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