Maple Leaf Viewing 1899

Maple Leaf Viewing (1899) is an Action and Fantasy film from Japan in the lookmovie catalog, running 6m. Directed by Tsunekichi Shibata, it features Danjuro Ichikawa and Kikugoro Onoe V. Viewers rate it 5.9/10 from 18 votes. A reel of the Noh drama Momiji-gari, in which Danjuro Ichikawa played opposite Onoe Kikugoro V as an ogress who has disguised herself as the Princess Sarashina. Filmed by Shibata Tsunekichi in the open air on a windy day in November 1899, Danjuro would allow only the one take, so that when his fan blew away in mid-performance the scene had to stay. The film re-emerged at the Kikikan theatre in 1907 where it was a great success and inspired a wave of fiction filmmaking based on traditional Japanese narratives.