In years between 1955-1985, 8mm film became first widely used video format in media history. Since 2015, digital archive project “An-archive” engaged in collecting, releasing, saving and utilizing 8mm film from Setagaya district, reevaluating them as important record of culture and everyday life.

This website is an archive of eighty-four films donated to the project. Life during war, reconstructed townscapes, and life in times of economic growth – fifteen hours of silent home movies take us to the journey beyond the frame.

Find a loophole in present by exploring our archive. By taking a route to present via past we discover unseen parts of the modern world and making familiar places unfamiliar once again.

Even though 8mm world is silent we can fill it with our stories and memories, bringing them together at the begging of new era. Goodbye, Heisei. Hello, Showa.

2019 March 10
An-archive members