Hollywood Kyoto: Preserving the Lost Studio Park
Project Synopsis
The Hollywood Kyoto project is a collaborative effort between the University of Alberta and Ritsumeikan University using digital humanities methods to document the demolished area of Toei Uzumasa Eigamura (Studio Park). The Toei Studios and Park has been an essential part of the history of Japanese film ever since 1926 when the Uzumasa Studio was built on the site. Now they have torn down the Edo-era street sets that have been used for decades for period dramas and other media. Collaborators at Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto) received emergency access and took over 7000+ photographs before demolition that were used to document the site and reconstruct a 3D model.
On April 20, 2026, the team hosted their online conference Hollywood Kyoto: Preserving the Lost Studio Park, and in November 2026 the official 3D reconstruction website was launched.
Research Team
Principal Investigator:
- Geoffrey Rockwell, Canada CIFAR AI Chair, Amii Fellow and Professor, Media and Technology Studies Program and Department of Philosophy, University of Alberta
International Collaborators:
- Akinori Nakamura, Ritsumeikan University
- Keiji Amano, Ritsumeikan University
- Norihiro Yamaguchi, Ritsumeikan University
- Koichi Hosoi, Ritsumeikan University
Other U of A Collaborators:
- Eric Kaltman, Department of History, Classics, and Religion and Media and Technology Studies Program, University of Alberta
- Eleni Stroulia, Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta