PPT Slide
- Early Japanese filmmaking heavily influenced by tradition of kabuki theater.
- onnagata or oyama men who played women’s roles. Phased out after industry had to be rebuilt in wake of earthquake in 1923
- benshi - narrators. Continued to be used into 1930s. Organized benshi violently fought change to sound on film. The tradition of benshi made the transition to sound less dramatic for Japanese filmmakers.