A fascinating outlier in Takahata’s filmography, The Story of Yanagawa Waterway is a poetic documentary about the ways nature and humanity impact one another. In Japan’s southern Fukuoka Prefecture, the city of Yanagawa has nearly 300 miles of waterways snaking through it. Takahata elegantly traces how these canals have been both boon and burden to locals. Employing a range of cinematic techniques including stop-motion, aerial photography, and animation, Takahata’s rarely screened film is a classic Ghibli tale of traditions challenged by technology. 

Director: Isao Takahata. 1987. 165 min. Japan. Color. Japanese. DCP.

All film screenings of Everyday Life: The Films of Isao Takahata are available here.