The Birth Of Japan
is a 1959 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. The film is based on the legends ''Kojiki'' and '' Nihon Shoki'' and the origins of ''Shinto''. The film was the highest-grossing film of 1959 for Toho and the second highest grossing domestic production in Japan for the year. The film was shown in Japan in 1959 as ''Nippon Tanjo'' (''The Birth of Japan'') with a running time of 182 minutes, but it was released in the United States in December, 1960 as ''The Three Treasures'', edited down to only 112 minutes. It was also shown internationally under the title ''Age of the Gods''. Plot ''The Three Treasures'' retells the story of the Yamato Takeru legend, and features a recounting of the great battle between Susanoo and the legendary dragon Orochi. Cast * Toshiro Mifune as Prince Yamato Takeru and Susanoo * Takashi Shimura as Elder Kumaso * Kōji Tsuruta as Younger Kumaso * Nakamura Ganjirō II as Emperor Keikō * Akira Takarada as Prince Wakatarashi * Kinuyo Tanaka as Pri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hiroshi Inagaki
was a Japanese filmmaker best remembered for the Academy Award-winning '' Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto'', which was released in 1954. Career Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1922. Wishing to become a director, he joined Chiezō Kataoka's Chiezō Productions and made his directorial debut with ''Tenka taiheiki'' (1928). Returning to Nikkatsu, he continued making jidaigeki and participated in the Naritaki Group of young filmmakers such as Sadao Yamanaka and Fuji Yahiro who collaboratively wrote screenplays under the made up name "Kinpachi Kajiwara". Like others in the group, Inagaki was known for his cheerful and intelligent samurai films. Inagaki later moved to Daiei and then Toho, where he made big budget color spectacles as well as delicate works depicting the feelings of children. He also produced many films and wrote the scripts for dozens of others. Recognition His film ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Susanoo
__FORCETOC__ Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory characteristics (both good and bad), being portrayed in various stories either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as a heroic figure who killed a monstrous serpent, or as a local deity linked with the harvest and agriculture. Syncretic beliefs that arose after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan also saw Susanoo becoming conflated with deities of pestilence and disease. Susanoo, alongside Amaterasu and the earthly Ōkuninushi (also Ōnamuchi) – depicted as either Susanoo's son or scion depending on the source – is one of the central deities of the imperial Japanese mythological cycle recorded in the ( CE) and the (720 CE). One of the gazetteer reports () commissioned by the imperial court during the same per ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amaterasu
Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojiki'' (c. 712 CE) and the '' Nihon Shoki'' (720 CE), as the ruler (or one of the rulers) of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with her siblings, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the impetuous storm god Susanoo, she is considered to be one of the "Three Precious Children" (, ), the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi. Amaterasu's chief place of worship, the Grand Shrine of Ise in Ise, Mie Prefecture, is one of Shinto's holiest sites and a major pilgrimage center and tourist spot. As with other Shinto ''kami'', she is also enshrined in a number of Shinto shrines throughout Japan. Name The goddess is referred to as 'Amaterasu Ōmikami' ( ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Setsuko Hara
Setsuko (written: or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, later of Japan *, actress *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese actress and model *Setsuko Klossowska de Rola (born 1942), Japanese painter *Setsuko Kobori Japanese table tennis player *Setsuko Matsunaga Nishi (1921–2012), Japanese pioneering community activist and researcher *, Japanese yōga painter *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese novelist *, Japanese–Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner *, Japanese novelist *, Japanese volleyball player Fictional characters *Setsuko, a character in the film ''Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film based on a 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars , , and . Set in the city o ...'' References {{given name Japanese feminine given names ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kyōko Kagawa
is a Japanese actress. During her 70 years spanning career, she has worked with directors like Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu and Mikio Naruse, appearing in films such as ''Tokyo Story'', '' Sansho the Bailiff'', ''The Bad Sleep Well'', ''Mothra'' and '' High and Low''. Biography Kagawa was born in Asō (currently Namegata), Ibaraki Prefecture, and graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan Tenth High School for Girls in 1949. She was discovered in the "New Face Nomination" contest run by the ''Tokyo Shimbun'' in 1949 and gave her film debut the following year in ''Mado kara tobidase''. She regularly appeared in films by Akira Kusosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, Shirō Toyoda, Hiroshi Shimizu and others. Kagawa married in 1963 and followed her husband, a newspaper reporter, to New York City. After her return from the US, she acted in television dramas until she appeared again on the big screen in Satsuo Yamamoto's ''Karei-naru ichizoku'' (1974). In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yamatohime-no-mikoto
is a Japanese figure who is said to have established Ise Shrine, where the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami is enshrined. Yamatohime-no-mikoto is recorded as being the daughter of Emperor Suinin, Japan's 11th Emperor. Traditional historical view Legend says that about 2,000 years ago, Emperor Suinin ordered his daughter, Princess Yamatohime-no-mikoto, to set out and find a suitable permanent location from which to hold ceremonies for Amaterasu Ōmikami. Prior to this, Amaterasu Ōmikami had been worshiped within the Imperial Palace at Yamato, before a temporary location was created in the eastern Nara Basin. Yamatohime-no-mikoto is said to have set out from Mt. Miwa and wandered for 20 years through the regions of Ōmi and Mino in search of a suitable location. When she arrived at Ise, she is said to have heard the voice of Amaterasu Ōmikami saying that she wanted to live forever in the richly abundant area of Ise, near the mountains and the sea, and it was here that Yamatohime-no- ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kinuyo Tanaka
was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). With her 1953 directorial debut, ''Love Letter'', Tanaka became the second Japanese woman to direct a film, after Tazuko Sakane. Biography Early life and career Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the youngest of nine children of Kumekichi and Yasu Tanaka. Her family were ''kimono'' merchants. Although her family was originally wealthy, after her father Kumekichi died in 1912, the family began having financial troubles. She learned playing the biwa at an early age and moved to Osaka in 1920, where she joined the Biwa Girls' Operetta Troupe. Tanaka's first credited film appearance was in ''Genroku Onna'' (lit. "A Woman of the Genroku era") in 1924, which also marked the start of her affiliation with the Shochiku Studios. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Emperor Seimu
, also known as , was the 13th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the ''Kojiki'', and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Seimu's alleged lifetime. This legendary Emperor is best known for organizing his local governments by making the first appointments of their kind to provinces under his rule. Seimu had only one recorded wife who bore him a single child; he also had a concubine but she had no children. This is in stark contrast to his father, who is said to have had at least 80 children with multiple wives. Seimu's reign is conventionally considered to have been from 131 to 190 AD. An issue ultimately occurred when his only son allegedly died at a young age. Seimu appointed one of his nephews to be crown prince before his death in 190 AD, marking the first of later generations which would cede the throne to a non-direct successor. While the location of Seimu's grave (if a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Akira Takarada
was a Japanese film actor best known for his roles in the ''Godzilla'' film series. Life and career Akira Takarada was born in Korea under Japanese rule, and lived for a time in Manchuria, China. His father worked as an engineer on the South Manchuria Railway. After the war, he remained in Harbin, and he was able to speak Mandarin Chinese and English. Takarada moved to Allied-occupied Japan with his family in 1948. He joined Toho as part of their "New Face" program in April 1953. In his film debut, he had a small role in ''And Then the Liberty Bell Rang'', a biography of the educator Fukuzawa Yukichi. His big break came when he was cast as navy diver Hideto Ogata in the original ''Godzilla'' (1954). He became a popular actor at Toho for his good looks and charismatic, sophisticated character. He continued his association with the Godzilla series in '' Mothra vs. Godzilla'' (1964), ''Invasion of Astro-Monster'' (1965), and ''Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster'' (1966). He returne ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Emperor Keikō
, also known as and , was the 12th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the ''Kojiki'', and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Keikō's alleged lifetime. Keikō was recorded as being an exceptionally tall emperor who had a very large family. During his reign he sought to expand territorial control through conquest of local tribes. He had a very important son named "Prince Ōsu" (Yamato Takeru), who was in possession of the Kusanagi when he died. This treasure was later moved to Atsuta Shrine, and is now a part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. There is a possibility that Keikō actually lived or reigned in the 4th century AD rather than the 1st, but more information is needed to confirm this view. Keikō's reign is conventionally considered to have been from 71 to 130 AD. During his alleged lifetime, he fathered at least 80 children with two chief wives (empress) and nine con ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nakamura Ganjirō II
was a Japanese kabuki and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa, and Mikio Naruse. Filmography Film Television Honors * 1967 – Living National Treasure * 1968 – Medal with Purple Ribbon * 1974 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon * 1980 – Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ... * 1983 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class, Gold and Silver Star (posthumous) * 1983 – Senior fourth rank (posthumous) Notes References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Ganjiro 1902 births 1983 deaths Japanese male film actors Kabuki actors Male actors f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |