The National Film Archive of Japan (NFAJ) is Japan’s only national institution specializing in collecting, saving, studying, and showing movies. It was first established in 1952 as the film library section of what is now the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT). In 2018, NFAJ gained independence from MOMAT and became its own organization. As of 2017, NFAJ holds about 80,000 films and numerous non-film materials such as posters, scripts, and film-related books in its collection.
Two theaters, located on the second floor and basement floor, seat 310 and 151 people respectively. The programs at NFAJ focus on specific topics such as certain film directors, countries, or genres. NFAJ also co-hosts the annual Pia Film Festival that is held in September.
The library can be found on the fourth floor and is accessible to the general public. On the seventh floor, visitors may find a permanent exhibition dedicated to more than one hundred years of Japanese film, with an eclectic collection of posters, photographs, cameras, rare surviving prints, and other film paraphernalia. Among the exhibition’s film materials are those from some of Japan’s oldest films, including The Dull Sword, an animated film released in 1917, and select scenes of Momijigari, a Japanese film shot in 1899 which has been designated by the government as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Temporary exhibitions are also held on this floor two or three times a year.
