What "counts" as anime may still be a favorite topic of debate among anime fans, but animation in Japan in general has a history that stretches long before the appearance of Osamu Tezuka on the scene. In fact, 2017 marks 100 years of Japanese-produced animation. And to celebrate this momentous occasion, a new website has been launched allowing you to peer back into the pre-Astro Boy days of Japanese cartoons.

The contents of the website can be viewed anywhere in the world, and have optional English subtitles included.

Of special note is the inclusion of Junichi Kouchi's The Dull Sword, the oldest surviving piece of Japanese animation (circa 1917). The four-minute silent short depicts a foolish samurai buying -- and having issues with -- the eponymous item.

The archive contains some 64 animated films dated from 1917-1941, as well as profiles of various creators.

Sadly missing from the archive is 1933's Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka (The World of Power and Women), the first Japanese-produced animation to feature voice acting.

The Japanese Animated Film Classics website is maintained by the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

Source: Ota-Suke

-----

Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, blogs and runs interviews for (Re)Generation Who and PotterVerse, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos.