Review of The Story of Yanagawa’s Canals (1987)
Takahata Isao (writer-director).
Canals in the city of Yanagawa and dams in the surrounding area of Fukuoka on Kyūshū.
2 hours and 3 quarters worth of documentary with some animated sequences. The Japanese DVD I saw it on claims it’s another Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), which it is not. Repetitive, and I could have done without the generic festival footage, but the central theme of sustainability through local solutions growing over hundreds of years is effectively communicated.
References here: “The Fujimi Highland Is Fascinating” (2002/2004).