The Dull Sword

The Dull Sword
なまくら刀; (Namakura Gatana)
Genre	Jidaigeki
Created by	Jun'ichi Kōuchi
Anime film
Studio	Kobayashi Shokai Ltd.
Released	June 30, 1917
Runtime	4 minutes

Namakura Gatana

The Dull Sword (Japanese: なまくら刀, Hepburn: Namakura Gatana) is a Japanese animated short film produced by Jun'ichi Kōuchi in 1917. It was rediscovered by an antique shop employee in Osaka in March 2008.^[2]^[3] This film is a 4-minute silent short that tells a story about a foolish rōnin's purchase of a dull-edged sword and subsequent attempts at tsujigiri. It was released on June 30, 1917, and is among the very earliest examples of anime.

Plot

Namakura Gatana (lit. 'dull-edged sword'; gatana is rendaku of katana) is a short comedic jidaigeki about a dim-witted self-appointed samurai. He gets fooled and buys a dull sword from a merchant. The samurai, trying to figure out why his new sword cannot cut anyone he strikes, tries desperately to attack random townspeople who defend themselves and knock him out.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "The Dull Sword [the longest, digitally restored version]". National Film Archive of Japan. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
^ "Japan finds films by early "anime" pioneers". Reuters. March 26, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
^ Loo, Egan (March 27, 2008). "Two Nine-Decade-Old Anime Films Discovered (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 15, 2022.

External links

The Dull Sword (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
The Dull Sword at IMDb

This anime film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[NFAJ-1] "The Dull Sword [the longest, digitally restored version]". National Film Archive of Japan. Retrieved December 15, 2022.

[2] "Japan finds films by early "anime" pioneers". Reuters. March 26, 2008. Retrieved December 15, 2022.

[3] Loo, Egan (March 27, 2008). "Two Nine-Decade-Old Anime Films Discovered (Updated)". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 15, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]