Saturday, September 28, 2024

exploring the arcade in 丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺 (1935) / Tange Sazen yowa: Hyakuman ryo no tsubo aka Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth One Million Ryo

In these next 3 posts we will be looking at movies featuring shooting galleries (previously: 私刑(リンチ)/ Rinchi,) an important predecessor to all coinop arcades and a thread that continues to this day.  In Japan, arcade shooting galleries go back to at least the 18th century.

丹下左膳余話 百萬両の壺

We got a glimpse of an Edo arcade as imagined in the 1928 by Crossroads.  Similarly, this 1935 movie gives us their depiction of Yaba.  

Yaba has a number of meanings and nuances, but in general it is arcade-style archery, featuring various styles of targets and targets that are seemingly spring-loaded.  Sometimes this would involve a hostess, such as in this movie.  And sometimes it was directly connected with sex work.

It is wonderful to see their imagining of a Yaba parlor, and get a sense of where arcades came from.


targets of various size are hung by string


tiny little bows

the small target is hit by the arrow

these characters fall from above


we can see the gallery from a distance


full size archery target, and quiver of arrows
Can anyone transcribe the signs?

Can anyone transcribe the sign?



camera is panning left across these 4 images





A different shooting gallery




tiny bow!

heck yeah shamisen!


I'm sharing these 2 images in the hopes that someone can transcribe the sign



I love the painted lantern marquee!


outdoor archery range

full-size bow




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