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Sumie Tanaka
was a Japanese screenwriter and playwright with a feminist agenda. She was a long-time collaborator of film director Mikio Naruse and wrote screenplays for Japan's first major female director Kinuyo Tanaka. A member of the Bungakuza theatre company, she was married to dramatist Chikao Tanaka. Awards she received for her work include the Blue Ribbon Award, the Ministry of Education Award for Arts and the Yomiuri Prize for Literature. Life and career Sumie Tanaka was born in Tokyo and graduated from Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School in 1932. During her student years, she had published her works in Kidō Okamoto's magazine ''Butai'' (舞台, engl. "Stage") and ''Iteki'' (夷狄, engl. "Barbarians"), and participated in the playwright workshops run by Kunio Kishida and Kan Kikuchi. After her graduation, she first worked as a teacher. In 1934, she married her fellow playwright Chikao Tanaka, with whom she wrote plays for the Bungakuza theatre company. In her one-act plays l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright). The words combine to indicate a person who has "wrought" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form—a play. (The homophone with "write" is coincidental.) The first recorded use of the term "playwright" is from 1605, 73 years before the first written record of the term "dramatist". It appears to have been first used in a pejorative sense by Ben Jonson to suggest a mere tradesman fashioning works for the theatre. Jonson uses the word in his Epigram 49, which is thought to refer to John Marston: :''Epigram XLIX — On Playwright'' :PLAYWRIGHT me reads, and still my verses damns, :He says I want the tongue of epigrams ; :I have no salt, no bawdry he doth mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kido Okamoto
was a Japanese author. His real name was . His best known work is the Shin Kabuki play Bancho Sarayashiki. Kido was born in the district of Shiba Takanawa, a neighbourhood in Minato Ward, Tōkyō Family Kido’s father, Okamoto Keinosuke (岡本佳之助) (later Kiyoshi - 清), was a samurai who, after the Meiji Restoration left the service of the Tokugawa Shōgunate and went to work for the British Legation as an interpreter. He was good friends with Ichikawa Danjūrō IX (九代目市川團十 - Kudaime Ichikawa Danjūrō), Konakamura Kiyonori (小中村清矩), Kawanobe Mitate (川辺御楯) anKurokawa Mayori (黒川真頼)who together formed the Antiquarian Society (Kyūko Kai - 求古会) to promote the modernisation of Kabuki based on the doctrine of the Theatre Reform Movement (Engeki Kairyō Kai - 演劇改良運動). He was also friends witMorita Kan’ya XII (十二代目守田勘弥)the owner-manager (zamoto -座元) of the Shintomiza Theatre, an employee of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night River
, also titled Undercurrent and River of Night, is a 1956 Japanese drama film directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura. It was Yoshimura's first film photographed in colour. The screenplay by Sumie Tanaka is based on a novel by Hisao Sawano. Plot Kiwa Funaki is a young successful kimono designer working at her family's Kyoto-based business. While she fends off both the admiration of young painter Goro and the obtrusive advances of business partner Omiya, she eventually falls in love with scientist Takemura, who is writing a paper on the Shojobae fly. After she has started an affair with him, Kiwa learns that Takemura has a wife terminally ill with tuberculosis. When Takemura's wife finally dies, he proposes to her, but Kiwa, criticising him for his egotism, chooses her independence over the prospect of becoming his wife. Cast * Fujiko Yamamoto as Kiwa Funaki * Ken Uehara as Takemura * Eitarō Ozawa as Omiya * Michiko Ai as Setsuko * Eijirō Tōno as Yūjirō, Kiwa's father * Kazuko Ichik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōzaburō Yoshimura
was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director in 1934, but continued working as an assistant director for such filmmakers as Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu after that. It was the 1939 film ''Warm Current'' that established his status as a director. During the Sino-Japanese war he directed a number of military dramas such as '' The Legend of Tank Commander Nishizumi'' (1940), for which he toured the actual battlefields in China. His 1947 work '' The Ball at the Anjo House'', starring Setsuko Hara, was named the best picture of the year by ''Kinema Junpo''. This film marked the start of a long relationship with the screenwriter and film director Kaneto Shindō. In 1950, the two of them started the independent production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai. Yoshimura is credited with furthering the careers of such actresses as Fujiko Yamamoto, Machiko Kyō and Ayako Wakao. He directed over 60 films du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinosuke Gosho
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shomin-geki (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his most noted works are ''Where Chimneys Are Seen'', '' An Inn at Osaka'', ''Takekurabe'' and ''Yellow Crow''. Life Gosho was born on January 24, 1902, in Kanda, Tokyo, to merchant Heisuke Gosho and his father's geisha mistress. At the age of five, after Heisuke's eldest son died, Gosho left his mother to be the successor to his father's wholesale business. He studied business at Keio University, graduating in 1923. Through his father's close relation to film director Yasujirō Shimazu, Gosho was able to join the Shochiku film studios and worked as assistant director to Shimazu. In 1925, Gosho debuted as a director with the film ''Nantō no haru''. His films of the 1920s are nowadays regarded as lost. Gosho's first notable success, and Japan's first feat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boyhood (1951 Film)
, also known as ''A Record of Youth'', is a 1951 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It is based on a collection of letters by writer Isoko Hatano. Plot When a family of Tokyo war evacuees arrives at the outskirts of Suwa, they are met with hostility by most villagers. The father, an English professor who had to quit lecturing due to his liberal views, opposes his son Ichirō's wish to enlist at a military school. Ichirō, who previously had to suffer mockery at school for alleged cowardness, is now confronted with his new schoolmates' reluctance and bullied by the son of the local military commander. He is also at odds with his father because of his father's staying at home and reading, while the mother works for the family's income. After Japan's defeat, the commander's son tries to kill Ichirō before committing suicide himself for the inflicted "shame", but Ichirō can fend him off. The ending hints at more peaceful times lying ahead for the family. Cast * Ak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keisuke Kinoshita
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu, he was a household figure in his home country, beloved by both critics and audiences from the 1940s to the 1960s. Among his best known films are '' Carmen Comes Home'' (1951), Japan's first colour feature, '' Tragedy of Japan'' (1953), ''Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954), '' You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum'' (1955), ''Times of Joy and Sorrow'' (1957), '' The Ballad of Narayama'' (1958), and ''The River Fuefuki'' (1960). Biography Early years Keisuke Kinoshita was born Masakichi Kinoshita on 5 December 1912, in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, as the fourth of eight children of merchant Shūkichi Kinoshita and his wife Tama. His family manufactured pickles and owned a grocery store. A film fan already in early years, he vowed to become ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Noboru Nakamura
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Biography After graduating from Tokyo Imperial University in 1936, Nakamura joined the Shochiku film studios, working as an assistant director for Torajirō Saitō and Yasujirō Shimazu. He debuted as director in 1941 with ''Life and Rhythm'', and finally received recognition with his 1951 film ''Home Sweet Home''. His most noted works include the Yasunari Kawabata adaptation ''Twin Sisters of Kyoto'' (1963), ''The Kii River'' (1966) and ''Portrait of Chieko'' (1968). Both ''Twin Sisters of Kyoto'' and ''Portrait of Chieko'' were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film His 1967 film ''Lost Spring'' was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival. Legacy To celebrate Nakamura's 100th birthday, three of his films, ''Home Sweet Home'' (1951), '' When It Rains, It Pours'' (1957) and ''The Shape of Night'' (1964), were screened at the Tokyo Filmex in 2013. Filmography (selected) * ''Life and Rhythm' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toshirō Ide
was a Japanese screenwriter for both film and television. Career Born in the village of Kitahata in Saga Prefecture, Ide graduated from the Tokyo Higher School of Arts (now the Faculty of Engineering of Chiba University). He initially worked as a magazine illustrator and advertising designer, but through an introduction from the producer Sanezumi Fujimoto, he joined the Toho Studios, first working as a theater manager. After serving during World War II, he rejoined Toho and debuted as a screenwriter in 1949 with ''Aoi sanmyaku'', which was a major hit. He turned freelance in 1951, and penned scripts for directors such as Mikio Naruse, Yuzo Kawashima, and Kihachi Okamoto. He was known for his adaptations of literary works. He also wrote scripts for television. Selected filmography *''Aoi sanmyaku'' (1949) *'' Repast'' (1951) *''Mōjū Tsukai no Shōjo'' (1952) *'' Adolescence Part II'' (1953) *''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) *''Wife'' (1953) *'' Husband and Wife'' (1953) *''On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aya Kōda
was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories and essays. She was the daughter of writer Kōda Rohan, Rohan Kōda. Among her most noted works is the 1955 novel ''Nagareru''. Biography Kōda was born in Terajima, Minami Katsushika-gun, Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1943), Tokyo, as the second child of Rohan Kōda and his wife Kimiko. At the age of five, she lost her mother, the following year her older sister and still later her younger brother. The relationship with her stepmother Yayoko, a well-read woman, poet, and a devout Christian, but suffering from rheumatism and unable to run a household, proved to be difficult. After failing the entrance exams for the Tokyo Women’s Higher Normal School, she entered the Joshigakuin, a Christian high school for girls, and graduated in 1922. She married the son of a sake wholesaler at age 24, but divorced after 10 years and returned with her daughter, Tama, to live with her father. The following years, overshadowed by World War II, she ran t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fumiko Hayashi (author)
was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories and poetry, who is included in the feminist literature canon. Among her best-known works are ''Diary of a Vagabond'', '' Late Chrysanthemum'' and ''Floating Clouds''. Biography Hayashi was born in Moji-ku, Kitakyūshū, Japan, and raised in abject poverty. In 1910, her mother Kiku Hayashi divorced her merchant husband Mayaro Miyata (who was not Fumiko's biological father) and married Kisaburo Sawai. The family then worked as itinerant merchants in Kyūshū. After graduating from high school in 1922, Hayashi moved to Tokyo and lived with several men, supporting herself with a variety of jobs, before settling into marriage with painting student Rokubin Tezuka in 1926. During this time, she also helped launch the poetry magazine ''Futari''. Her autobiographical novel ''Diary of a Vagabond'' (''Hōrōki''), published in 1930, became a bestseller and gained her high popularity. Many of her subsequent works also showed an autobiographi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinema Of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that earned 54.9% of a box office total of US$2.338 billion. Films have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived. ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) ranked number three in ''Sight & Sound'' critics' list of the 100 greatest films of all time. ''Tokyo Story'' also topped the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' directors' poll of The Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time, dethroning '' Citizen Kane'', while Akira Kurosawa's '' Seven Samurai'' (1954) was voted the greatest foreign-language film of all time in BBC's 2018 poll of 209 critics in 43 countries. Japan has won the Academy Award for the Best International Feature Film four times, more than any other Asian country. Japan's Big Four film studios are Toho, Toei, Shochiku and Kadoka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
