Synopsis
Shimokawa Hekoten used chalk on a blackboard, with assistance from Tenkatsu (Color Motion Picture Co., Ltd.), to craft both the backdrop and the characters. Overlapping sections were removed using white paint, and Japan's first animation was finished after multiple rounds of filming. This piece is regarded as Asia's earliest recorded professional animation, and it also features the first narrative structure where a main character bears a humorous name. There is considerable debate over whether this film was ever actually released. It was shown several times at a movie company, but it is said that even the creator, Shimokawa, was unhappy with the work due to its jerky motion. However, there is no proof that it ever played in theaters. The title does not appear in the list of theater screenings in the magazines "Kinema Record" or "Movie Review" for January 1917. Additionally, because so few materials mention this film and no copy has ever been located, the story's contents remain entirely unknown. Some even speculate that it was released later in 1917 under a different name.