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1. Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 23-Mar-2025 06:53:55 UTC Andrew (Television Executive)

   I've fallen down a rabbit hole of works in the Japanese public domain.

   this is a real weird rabbit hole because it's a Big lot of works by a bunch of people with whom I am mostly not familiar (and a couple who's works I know pretty well), mostly untranslated (because the translations would still be under copyright), and almost all from pre-1954.

   Which, of course, means that I'm also contending with the history of imperial Japan in the lead up to, during, and in the aftermath of the second world war.

   • Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 23-Mar-2025 06:53:54 UTC Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     One of the pieces I'm looking at is a 1941 film (part one was released about a week before the attack on Pearl Harbor) called The 47 Ronin. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_47_Ronin_(1941_film) )

     It was directed by Mizoguchi Kenji at the direction of the government, who wanted something patriotic to raise morale, and instead got something weirder and more challenging, and it's ultimately a a flawed but compelling film.

     But it's also a product commissioned by the government of Japan during WWII.

   • Andrew (Television Executive) (ajroach42@retro.social)'s status on Sunday, 23-Mar-2025 06:54:22 UTC Andrew (Television Executive)

     in reply to

     Anyway, if you have any pieces of media you love from the Japanese public domain, let me know.

   • Mistah Darcy (mistahdarcy@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 23-Mar-2025 06:54:22 UTC Mistah Darcy

     in reply to

     @ajroach42 My favorite depiction of Pittsburgh is a public domain woodblock print ピッツバーグ (Pittsubāgu) by Japanese artist, Hiroshi Yoshida (1928)