Film Name: 爷爷的煤油灯 / Ojiisan no Ranpu / おぢいさんのランプ
This animated film tells the story of a young man named Kinosuke during the Russo-Japanese War era. He brought light to his village by introducing kerosene lamps from the town, yet fearing the advent of the electrical age would threaten his livelihood, he fiercely resisted the introduction of electric lights into his small village. Set against the backdrop of Japan’s Meiji Restoration and the era of civilization and enlightenment, the film captures a historical tide where new things replaced old, and new ideas supplanted old ones. Though the title “Ojiisan no Ranpu” (Grandpa’s Rampage) sounds anything but grand, the historical context it reflects is truly monumental.
Thus, this small story centered on a minor character intertwines with the sweeping backdrop of civilization’s relentless advance. When Kinosuke rode this wave by introducing kerosene lamps to his village, he achieved success. Yet, once he tasted this success, he began resisting further technological progress, clinging to the hope that his kerosene lamps would maintain a strong market presence. Ultimately, he could not withstand the historical tide of the electrical age. In under 30 minutes, the film vividly captures this mindset common among Japanese merchants.
The film portrays Kinosuke as a complex individual. Ambitious and tireless in his work, he possesses a keen sense of the times and the boldness to gamble everything on his ideas like a great entrepreneur. Yet he also clings stubbornly to tradition—even contemplating arson at the village chief’s cattle shed when the chief approved electrification. He is far from perfect, but undeniably authentic. Through his thoughts and actions, we find echoes of ourselves and many people and events around us today. This sense of shared experience is something Japanese literary and artistic works particularly strive for.
Of course, Kinosuke is not someone easily defeated by the times. He ultimately recognizes the truth that progress marches on, and that new things inevitably replace the old. Yet the film’s most brilliant moment, in my view, lies in its depiction of Kinosuke’s breathtakingly moving “ritual” bidding farewell to his kerosene lamp era. Witnessing that ritual stirred a whirlwind of emotions within me, much like seeing cherry blossoms fall at their most exquisite moment. After all, they had once been so beautiful, yet their decline was inevitable. Yet simultaneously, I admired the cherry tree’s resolve to accept the fall of its own exquisite petals, leaving not a trace behind.
The film unfolds through flashbacks as Yoshisuke’s grandson, Toichi, listens to his grandfather’s stories. Toichi accidentally discovers the last remaining kerosene lamp in the house, old yet retaining its dignity. It serves both as Yoshisuke’s farewell to the old ways and as the finest gift he could pass to Tōichi—a reminder to never forget the past. What he bids farewell to are the outdated relics discarded by the times and the nation, but what must never be forgotten is the spirit of daring to leave behind one’s glorious past and start anew.
Grandfather’s kerosene lamp becomes not only Tōichi’s companion but surely also a guiding light in the hearts of all who witness this tale.
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