Photo/Illutration People’s expressions can be seen in a film likely from what is now the Iriya district in Tokyo’s Taito Ward at 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 1, 1923, the day of the Great Kanto Earthquake. (Provided by the Documentary Film Preservation Center)

A recently discovered film reel showing the immediate aftermath of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake is in such good condition that the expressions of survivors can clearly be discerned.

The reel surfaced after an 81-minute documentary titled “Camera o Motta Otokotachi: Kanto Daishinsai o Toru” (Men with cameras: Capture the Great Kanto Earthquake) hit cinemas last year.

Combining more than 20 film clips kept at the National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward, the documentary retraces the footsteps of three photographers who recorded areas heavily damaged by the quake.

It was produced by Hideyo Murayama, secretary-general of the Documentary Film Preservation Center in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward.

Last September, shortly after the start of the screening, Kawasaki resident Mineko Higuchi, 89, informed Murayama that another film of the earthquake was at her home.

Higuchi said her late husband, Sadao, had obtained the reel 60 years ago. It was likely produced by Tatsumi Iwaoka, one of the three lensmen featured in the documentary.

The quake on Sept. 1, 1923, destroyed wide parts of the Tokyo area and killed more than 105,000 people.

The NFAJ examined the 12 minutes and 44 seconds of the new footage. It showed the capital’s townscape engulfed in flames in the quake’s aftermath as well as hordes of people trying to flee to safety.

The image resolution proved particularly high, while the same scenes were revealed in other reels stored at the NFAJ.

Masaru Tanaka, a Tokoha University professor of urban history and past disasters who has studied visual records of the Great Kanto Earthquake, stressed the significance of the discovery.

“The reel retains its original shading and brightness, compared with formerly found ones, so details, including signboards’ letters, can be read without correction,” he said.

“The looks on people’s faces are also vividly shown.”

Murayama agreed, saying, “Passengers of a streetcar can be seen through a window.”

He replaced 8 minutes and 30 seconds of footage in his documentary with scenes from the newly uncovered reel.

“Old precious films may still exist somewhere unnoticed,” Murayama said of future possibilities.

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