November 2016 Interview 15

H: For example, K.K. (translator of Drawing The Line) makes some very harsh statements, but I think that only people with strong personalities like him can directly address the essence of the problems in things.
Many researchers tend to keep quiet (about Japanese taboos).

"唯物論" In English, it's called materialism, but if you don't take into account all the things that actually happened and think about them, your research will be shallow.

- First of all, I also think that without a database (basic research), it would be impossible to make various judgments or evaluations.

H: That's why, by looking at the history of animation chronologically, you can see why things have turned out the way they have.

-At first, I was more interested in management, company administration, and sales than I was in labor unions, so labor unions were secondary.
Professor T.K. was researching Toei Doga, and he used documents from the labor union, so I realized that Toei Doga's company documents may have been scattered due to reconstruction, and that it would be easier to research management by focusing on labor unions and labor movements.

H: That's true. Labor unions have offices, hold all the documents, and keep all the documents, so it's effective for research.
I think the Toei labor union can continue for a while longer, but I think Eienkyoto and Eienkyoto will end with this generation, so I'm worried about the documents being scattered.
If researchers don't take over the documents properly, there will be nothing left.

-There were a lot of unpublished documents in the papers in K.K.'s book.

H: I was one of the people who taught him those documents. He also carefully researched the documents and newspapers from the union office.

--Can I research the Toei Doga labor union as well?

H: Yes, I can. I'm sure Eisanro will let you see the materials if you ask.

-Where is Eisanro?

H: Well, we're currently renting an office jointly with the Animation Museum Association.
However, since a labor union is not a service organization, they may not respond immediately with a smile. You need to confirm mutual trust.

-I was going to contact O-san of Eienkyoto, but even after looking into it, I couldn't find out his background. I don't know how to talk to him... Where did O-san come from originally?

H: He currently the representative of an organization called Eienkyoto.
It's an organization of old labor unions that have existed since the postwar period, and it was decided that they should work together because it would be bad if they were to fall apart. O-san is deeply involved in anime, and he was involved in various things such as the strikes of anime workers at the time, so he knows the details.
The only people who knew the situation at the time and could talk about it properly are the labor union representatives A-san and O-san.

-Was Mr. O originally the union's representative officer?

H: Yes. I've taken a researcher there before. When we do that, we usually end up talking about movies.

-Mr. O, you come from the live-action film industry.

H: He's someone who can talk about things like how movie labor unions have changed since the war, and how anime people appeared in them.
He has enough experience and knowledge to fill a book with what he has to say. I hope that researchers will not only publish papers but also books like Kasuga's.