This 1929 movie, produced by Gavin studios (possibly later a division of Paramount pictures) shows the major sightseeing spots of Japan, starting with the usual point of landing at Kobe, where the travelers would be brought by the newest President ships of the Dollar Line, continuing on to Kyoto and a festival at Kyoto’s Yasaka Shrine (one of the Twenty-Two Major Shrine circuit), to the Biwa lake, and the scenic boat drive down the Hozû river to Kyoto, on to Nara and its Japanese deer at the Nara park shrine ensemble grounds, followed by a short glimpse upon the Seto inland sea, capturing a hybrid ainoko boat, popular in Japane as of the late-19 early-20th century, and ending with a shot of Mount Fuji.
0:14 Card: Stormy seas as we approach Japan. Rickshas on Dock at Kobe. Celebrating a Village Festival outside Kyoto
0:24 Onboard a President 535-type liner of the former Dollar Line (American Presidents Line) sailing along the San Francisco – Kobe – Shanghai – Manila route. Choppy seas.
1:24 Walking deck.
1:46 Merchant marine officer
2:02 At the port of Kobe, a line of rickshaws, waiting for clients.
2:07 Longshoreman with his horse cart, ladden with goods drives by a warehouse, showing a NO SMOKING/たばこをせな sign.
2:18 Girls in kimono, male university students and schoolboys in summer yukatas and student caps, a woman blows bubbles. Taiko drummers performing for the shrine festival possibly either on June 15th which is the Shrine festival, or during the month-long Gion (July).
2:35 Mikoshi-carriers, it looks like the Kyoto, Yasaka Shrine’s mikoshi, one of Lower Eight of the 22 main shrines .
2:51 Shrine’s Shinto priest by the side torii of the Yasaka shrine.
2:57 A man makes cotton candy
3:00 Card: Visitors ascending steps to Temple. Peasants in the Fields by Lake Biwa »
3:19 Komainu with the usual inscription of outside of a temple.
3:25 Statue of a shogun ( ?) enshrined as a god (随神像) similar to Tokugawas statues at the Nikko Toshô-Gu
3:34 A man plows a field. Women walk carrying their lunch, sitting mats and hats.
4:18 Card : Spending a Holiday at Arashiyama Rapids. Steep Banks on either side of the River
4:27-8:00 Men row a boat down the Hozû (保津川) river rapids at Arashiyama. A former merchant way to the city of Kyoto, the picturesque 16-kilometer descent down the river became a major tourist destination in 1895 – both internationally and locally, when the railroad took over the entirety of the merchant freight. At the gates of Kyoto the river changes the name to become Katsura river.
5:03 and 7:32 The abovementioned modern railway line which took over the traffic of goods.
7:51 A boat full of local holidaymakers
8:01 Card: Characteristic scenes at Nara. Feeding the Sacred Deer
8:05 Shaky footage of locals and holidaymakers in Nara.
9:09 Mochi (sweet dumplings) salespeople
9:23 The famous Nara deer at the Nara park temple grounds and a mochi saleswoman.
9:42 Card: Railway Travel in Japan. Fields under Cultivation. Tea Plants covered with Matting
9:51 People in a train station, very possibly Nara train station.
10:10-10:41 Train passing by fields under cultivation, villages, and forests.
10:42 Card: Picturesque Views of the Inland Sea. Taking on Tea at Shimidzu 10:50 A Japanese hybrid ainoko ship (half-Japanese, half-shooner rigging, Japanese hull) on the Seto Inland sea.
To 11:30 Seascapes and ships
11:37 Longhshoremen transferring goods from a barge to the steamship the cameraman is on.
12:12 Card: Fujiyama, the Sacred Mountain of Japan towering above the clouds 12000 feet high the peak brought close by the telephoto lens
12:40-13:42 zoomed-in footage of Mount Fuji’s peak, taken from the south – Shimizu city, Shizuoka prefecture.
13:42 seascape with fishing boats and a shot of a steamship
The Dollar Steamship Line fleet at this time included SS President Van Buren, SS President Monroe, SS President Harrison, SS President Adams, SS President Garfield, SS President Hayes and SS President Polk
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
