King Kong Appeared in Edo

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King Kong Appeared in Edo
Japanese poster for King Kong Appeared in Edo
Directed by Soya Kumagai
Written by Daijo Aoyama
Distributor Zensho Cinema
Rating Not Rated
Running time Five reels for each part
Aspect ratio 1.37:1

King Kong Appeared in Edo (江戸に現れたキングコング,   Edo ni Arawareta Kingu Kongu) is a lost 1938 kaiju film produced by Zenshō Cinema, based on RKO Pictures' King Kong. It was released to Japanese theaters on March 18, 1938.

Plot

Part 1

In the first part, titled King Kong Appeared in Edo: Volume of Transformation (江戸に現れたキングコング:変化の巻,   Edo ni Arawareta Kingu Kongu: Henge no Maki), Chinami, a daughter of Hyoue Toba, is mysteriously kidnapped one night. Toba offers a 3,000 Ryō reward for his daughter. (Note: Ryō is one of currency units used by Tokugawa shogunate, roughly equivalent to 330 US dollars.) Yuzuru Kawasaki and other spongers set about searching for Chinami. But Magonojyō Gō, one of Toba’s spongers, sneers at his fellows’ efforts. In fact, Gō is the very man who kidnapped Chinami. He made his father Senbei’s pet ape abduct her.

Part 2

The second part, titled King Kong Appeared in Edo: Volume of Gold (江戸に現れたキングコング:黄金の巻,   Edo ni Arawareta Kingu Kongu: Ōgon no Maki) has complex circumstances behind it. Toba influences Senbei to counterfeit coins, but he refuses. Toba imprisons Senbei somewhere. To get a clue of his father’s whereabouts, Gō disguises himself as one of Toba’s spongers. Gō menaces Toba with the ape covertly. He offers Toba Chinami's location in exchange for the prize money. He takes Toba to his secret cellar to shut him up. The vengeful ape kills Toba but he, too, is fatally wounded. Gō then leaves Edo with 3,000 Ryō. What happened to Chinami after that is unknown, but it is assumed she was freed when Magonojyō received his money from Hyoue.

History

King Kong Appeared in Edo was one of Japan's first kaiju films, predating Godzilla by sixteen years. Although inaccurate to its historical setting, some Caligari-esque expressionistic buildings were added for Kong to climb. Like most of Japan's prewar cinematic output, the film is now completely lost.

Fuminori Ohashi, who would later create the suit for Godzilla in the original 1954 film, created the ape suit and special effects for this film. He explained, "The first model making to be counted as 'special art direction' in Japanese cinema was a giant gorilla which I did for the movie King Kong Appeared in Edo fifty years ago. It was also the first movie to feature certain kinds of special effects." However, the film's synopsis, as published in the March 1938 issue of Kinepa Junpo, does not seem to indicate that the movie's "Kong" is a giant at all.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Sôya Kumagai
  • Written by   Daijô Aoyama
  • Cinematography by   Yozo Okuda
  • Special Effects by   Fuminori Ôhashi

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Eizaburo Matsumoto   as   Misato Magonojo
  • Fuminori Ôhashi   as   Anthropoid
  • Reizaburo Ichikawa   as   Toba Hyoei
  • Reiko Mishima   as   Chinami
  • Shojiro Ogata   as   Kuroami the Hunchback
  • Yasutarô Yagi   as   Inoue Ginbei
  • Noboru Takashima   as   Kawasaki Yuzuru
  • Keinosuke Yashiro   as   Segawa Kinnosuke
  • Shotaro Shiba   as   Azuma Tetsusaburo
  • Shin Taga   as   Nakazawa Shinjûro
  • Ryutaro Hibiki   as   Matsudaira Izunokami
  • Keisuke Matsudaira   as   Clerk at Charcoal Shop
  • Kikutaro Yoshii   as   Clerk at Soy Sauce Shop
  • Do Jitsukawa   as   Rice Shop Apprentice

Appearances

Monsters

Gallery

Main article: King Kong Appeared in Edo/Gallery.

Alternate Titles

  • King Kong (キングコング,   Kingu Kongu, Japan)

Trivia

  • King Kong Appeared in Edo has often been mistranslated as King Kong Appears in Edo.[1]

References

This is a list of references for The King Kong that Appeared in Edo. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

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