"JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA," a special streaming project organized by the Japan Foundation, focuses on "artisanal theaters" that have long supported Japan's film culture, and will stream Japanese films recommended by artisanal theater managers free of charge to overseas audiences.

Michioto Ueno, general manager of the Takada Sekaikan movie theater in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, recommended two films: "Ripples of the Wind" (2016) directed by Shigeru Kobayashi and "Frighten Me" (2021) directed by Toshiaki Toyoda. Although they are completely contrasting films, both capture the beautiful climate of Niigata.

This time, we visited Takada Sekaikan, where Manager Michioto Ueno works, and spoke to him about the history of the cinema and the current state of Japanese films.

Interview and text: Tsukinaga Rie Photography: Nishimura Masahiro Editing: The Japan Foundation

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In the town of Takada, Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, where retro streetscapes remain, there is Takada Sekaikan, known as one of the oldest movie theaters in Japan. Opened in 1911 and celebrating its 111th anniversary in 2022, Takada Sekaikan is a cultural heritage site registered as a national tangible cultural property and a modern industrial heritage site. It is still in operation as a movie theater on Takada Gangi-dori, a street lined with townhouses from the Edo period, and as a valuable building where you can experience Meiji-era pseudo-Western architecture, it is attracting attention not only from movie fans but also from tourists and architecture fans. At the time of our interview, young women tourists and local students accompanied by their teachers came to see the theater, and the manager, Michioto Ueno, was busy talking to the high school students about the history of movie theaters like a tour guide, and in between, he was preparing for the next screening.

Ueno:During breaks in screenings, you can tour the entire building, including the first and second floors and the projection room, and there's a constant stream of visitors. Recently, some tourist tours from other prefectures have been including tours here in their itineraries. In those cases, we reduce the number of screenings to accommodate. As the cinema's income is low, we make up for it to some extent with admission fees. This could be because the building was originally restored as part of efforts to preserve this historic building, but there's no other cinema like it.

Ueno, who is originally from Takada, lives in a family home just a short walk from Takada Sekaikan. However, she says she didn't go there as a child.

Ueno:When I was a child, I often hung out around here, but at the time, Sekaikan was an adult movie theater, so of course I never went inside and didn't even know it was such a place. In the first place, Sekaikan is a place that has changed its name and management body over the years.

It was founded in 1911 as a playhouse called "Takadaza," and was reborn as the "Sekaikan" movie theater in 1916. It later became a theater that screened films by Toho, Shochiku, and Daiei, and in 1975 changed its sign to "Takada Nikkatsu" and became an adult movie theater. However, after 2000, although the name "Takada Nikkatsu" remained, video rental stores had already started to appear in the town, and it must have been in a very tough financial situation.

It was in 2009 that the theater was reborn as "Takada Sekai-kan" from an adult movie theater. The management body changed to the NPO "Machinaka Cinema Revitalization Committee", and a movement was started to operate the theater as a community activity while repairing and preserving this historic theater. At first, it was used as a place to rent out the space for occasional independent screenings and to hold events, but in 2014, when I became the manager, we decided to steer it towards becoming a permanent theater with regular screenings.

Ueno studied film criticism at a university in Yokohama and enjoyed the life of a cinephile, including researching Edward Yang at graduate school. What led him to return to his hometown and become the manager of a historic movie theater?

Ueno:I've always liked movies like the average person, but it wasn't until I entered university that I started going to see them in large numbers. Inspired by my film professor, I frequented various arthouse theaters in Tokyo. When I entered graduate school, I had the opportunity to learn a little about architecture and urban development while still focusing on film, and I became interested in doing some kind of activity related to urban development in my hometown.

It was around that time that I found out that Takada Sekaikan was being used as a rental venue. I thought this looked interesting, so I started returning to my hometown from time to time to hold screenings, and I became close with the people at the NPO. Then, in 2014, when I was graduating from graduate school, I found out that they were looking for a manager, so I decided to work there. I wasn't planning on returning to my hometown from the beginning, but rather I just thought I could do something interesting.

Currently, Ueno is the only full-time staff member, and together with a few part-time staff, he handles everything from reception to screenings and dealing with tourists.

Ueno:At first, there were so many things I didn't know. I had studied film criticism at university, but I had no experience working in a movie theater, and only occasionally screened movies. I became the manager, but I didn't have any movie clients, and I hadn't even decided how to run the theater. At first, I screened only one movie a day, or screened a series of movies consecutively as a special screening, and it was a process of trial and error. But as I continued, more and more distribution companies were willing to lend me their films, and after a year, I somehow managed to organize regular screenings. Around this time, regular customers started to say, "Recently, it's finally starting to look like a movie theater."

Currently, the theater is closed every Tuesday, and on other days it shows 3-5 films per day on one screen. Recent screenings have included a few independent foreign films, and it is impressive to see that more than half of the films on show are Japanese documentaries.

Ueno:Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of documentaries has increased considerably. Previously, we could roughly see the faces of our regular customers depending on the film. For example, if we were to show "Madras" (2014), which is currently being screened, Indian film fans would come, and if we were to show "The Face of Women" (2019), people who like good quality Western films would come. We were able to judge the customer base to some extent. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a drop in overall attendance, and it became difficult to run the business with just regulars. So as we thought about how we needed to bring in fresh air from outside and attract new customers, I feel that the number of documentaries has inevitably increased.

With documentaries, it's not just film fans who come - people who are interested in the subject matter will come, so we can expand to new audiences. If it's a film about food, people who are interested in food will come. If it's a film about life in a rural area, people who are interested in town revitalization and regional life will come. In particular, people raising children have been coming to see films a lot recently. Young people who are interested in environmental issues or new lifestyles are very proactive, and if there's a film they're interested in screening, they'll check the information and come to see it.

We are currently screening a documentary film called "Children's Conference" (2022), which was filmed over the course of a year at a nursery school. This film will reach parents and also interest those in the education sector. We are hopeful that screening documentary films on a variety of themes will help us attract new audiences.

The spread of COVID-19 since 2020 has dealt a major blow to movie theaters across the country, including temporary closures and a sharp decline in the number of elderly moviegoers. However, some of the ideas that emerged during the pandemic have become established as new screening styles.

Ueno:Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, directors have had fewer opportunities to visit movie theaters, and instead, online remote talk shows using Zoom and other services have become more popular. I see new value in movie theaters there. In the past, inviting directors to local movie theaters was a big burden for both parties. But with remote talk shows, we can easily ask them to come.

We are currently holding remote talk shows in conjunction with screenings as much as possible, especially for documentary films, on average about once a month, and sometimes every other week. Sometimes we ask the director to talk about his or her own work, and sometimes we invite experts who are related to the theme of the work. We would like to continue to plan more ingenious events in the future. In addition to screening films, we would like to create opportunities such as cultural schools where people can learn more about society through films.

The two films that Ueno recommended to "JFF+INDEPENDENT CINEMA" this time, "Ripples in the Wind" and "Let There Be Fear," are also documentaries.

Ueno:Both of these films were previously shown at our facility and received very positive reactions. As both were filmed in Niigata, people directly involved in the productions came to see them, making it easy to track their reactions.

"Ripples of the Wind" was a film that people of all ages came to see. People who have lived in this town for a long time and newcomers all seemed to enjoy it. That kind of reaction is what makes me happiest. I don't want to make this a place that older generations shy away from because they think, "They only show movies I don't really understand," and I always want to show films that my mother and grandmother would enjoy.

What kinds of movies are usually popular at Takada Sekaikan?

Ueno:Recently, director Ryusuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car (2021) was very popular. It was only shown for two weeks at our theater, but I was surprised that about 90 people came to see it even on a weekday. Other long-running hits include Fruits of Life (2016) and In This Corner of the World (2016). I also remember that Dreams Are Like a Cow Doctor (2014) had a long run.

Takada Sekaikan often screens major films that have been shown at multiplexes as a second run cinema. What does Ueno think is the ideal mini-theater?

Ueno:I don't really think of myself as running a mini-theater. Mini-theaters are a culture created in a certain era, and are urban culture after all. If you think about it that way, Takada Sekaikan might be closer to being a community cinema than a mini-theater. For me, too, rather than wanting to make it a certain kind of movie theater, I feel more strongly that I want to enrich the community of the town of Takada through the movie theater.

The first priority of the NPO is to preserve this historical building, and I think the most important thing for the cinema is to continue screening films. Just because you like it, you can't show only highly artistic films and end up losing the ability to sustain your cinema, but conversely, if you show popular films and gain a reputation, eventually there will be opportunities to show art films.

Speaking of which, when Tatsushi Omori's "Every Day is a Good Day" (2015) was running for a long time, we tried playing a movie of a completely different genre in the evening screenings, William Friedkin's "The Wages of Fear" (1977). Well, it's a bit of a playful idea. We can play around like that because the movie theater is continuing smoothly. First of all, we want to maintain this movie theater and show as much diversity as possible within it. I think that's what it means to protect the screen.

Listening to Ueno-san's story, it is easy to see how the talk about the movie theater naturally turns to talk about the state of the town. For Ueno-san, running Takada Sekaikan and promoting the local town may be synonymous activities.

Ueno:Ideally, I would like to do both movie theater management and town development activities. I think it would be best if Takada Sekaikan became one of the centers of the town's community. For people who have just moved here, it can be difficult to join the existing community in the town, but if it's a movie theater, they might feel free to come with the feeling of "I guess I'll just go see a movie." It would be nice if people who come to our place like that could gradually blend into the town.

Recently I've been concentrating on screenings at movie theaters, but in the past I used to plan various events in places other than the World Hall. For example, I held a screening of an 8mm film showing the scenery of Takada in a vacant house on the street where the morning market is held. I would like to continue trying to enliven the town with movies.

Finally, what do you think is the appeal of the town of Takada?

Ueno:In spring, the cherry blossoms blooming in Takada Castle Park are a tourist attraction, and Joetsu City, where the Takada district is located, is also famous as a place associated with the Sengoku period warlord Uesugi Kenshin. But what I like most about Takada is the laid-back atmosphere that is different from those tourist attractions. When you walk around town, you can see the accumulated activities of people here and there. There are also remains of townhouses from the Edo period in this area, but there are also Meiji period Western-style buildings such as the Takada Sekaikan, so it would be nice if people could enjoy the layers of the Edo and Meiji periods. It's not too touristy, and you can feel the history just right. In winter, the snow scenery is magnificent, and I think it's the perfect town for a relaxing stay.

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"JFF+ INDEPENDENT CINEMA"

https://www.jff.jpf.go.jp/watch/independent-cinema/

Organized by: The Japan Foundation (JF)
Cooperation: Community Cinema Center
Implementation period: December 15, 2022 - June 15, 2023 (6 months)
Distribution area: Worldwide except Japan (some titles are not available in certain regions)
Viewing fee: Free (user registration required to watch)
Subtitles: English, Spanish (some films have Japanese subtitles)

Recommended work by Takada Sekaikan (Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture) Director Shigeru Kobayashi's "Ripples of the Wind" (2016) [Streaming period: December 15, 2022 - March 15, 2023]
"Terrify" (2021) directed by Toyoda Toshiaki [Streaming period: March 15th - June 15th, 2023]