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The has a history that spans more than 100 years.
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
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 is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogniti ...
'' (1953) ranked number three in ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
'' 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 ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...
'', while
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's ''
Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'' (1954) was voted the greatest foreign-language film of all time in
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's 2018 poll of 209 critics in 43 countries. Japan has won the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for the Best International Feature Film four times, more than any other Asian country. Japan's Big Four film studios are
Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...
, Toei,
Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
and
Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...
, which are the only members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ). The annual
Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...
hosted by the Nippon Academy-shō Association is considered to be the Japanese equivalent of the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.


History


Early silent era

The
kinetoscope The Kinetoscope is an precursors of film, early motion picture exhibition device, designed for films to be viewed by one person at a time through a peephole viewer window. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but it introduced the basic ...
, first shown commercially by
Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...
in the United States in 1894, was first shown in Japan in November 1896. The
Vitascope Vitascope was an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. They had made modifications to Jenkins' patented Phantoscope, which cast images via film and electric light onto a wall or screen. The ...
and the
Lumière Brothers Lumière is French for 'light'. Lumiere, Lumière or Lumieres may refer to: * Lumières, the philosophical movement in the Age of Enlightenment People *Auguste and Louis Lumière, French pioneers in film-making Film and TV * Institut Lumière, ...
'
Cinematograph Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...
were first presented in Japan in early 1897, by businessmen such as
Inabata Katsutaro was a Japanese industrialist and film pioneer. Career Born to a Kyoto family that ran a long-standing wagashi store, Inabata attended the Kyoto-fu Shihan Gakkō (now the Kyoto University of Education) and in 1877 earned a scholarship to attend ...
. Lumière cameramen were the first to shoot films in Japan. Moving pictures, however, were not an entirely new experience for the Japanese because of their rich tradition of pre-cinematic devices such as ''gentō'' (''utsushi-e'') or the
magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lenses, and a light source. Because a si ...
. The first successful Japanese film in late 1897 showed sights in Tokyo. In 1898 some ghost films were made, the Shirō Asano shorts ''
Bake Jizo Bake is the verb form of baking, a method of preparing food. It may also refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Bake (surname) * Bake McBride (born 1949), American baseball player * Bake Turner (born 1940), American Football League and National Football Lea ...
'' (Jizo the Spook / 化け地蔵) and '' Shinin no sosei'' (Resurrection of a Corpse). The first documentary, the short '' Geisha no teodori'' (芸者の手踊り), was made in June 1899. Tsunekichi Shibata made a number of early films, including '' Momijigari'', an 1899 record of two famous actors performing a scene from a well-known
kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...
play. Early films were influenced by traditional theater – for example, kabuki and
bunraku (also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...
.


20th century

At the dawn of the 20th century theaters in Japan hired
benshi were Japanese performers who provided live narration for silent films (both Japanese films and Western films). ''Benshi'' are sometimes called or . Role The earliest films available for public display were produced by Western studios, portraying ...
, storytellers who sat next to the screen and narrated silent movies. They were descendants of
kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...
jōruri,
kōdan is a style of traditional oral Japanese storytelling. The form evolved out of lectures on historical or literary topics given to high-ranking nobles of the Heian period, changing over the centuries to be adopted by the general samurai class and e ...
storytellers, theater barkers and other forms of oral storytelling. Benshi could be accompanied by music like silent films from cinema of the West. With the advent of sound in the early 1930s, the benshi gradually declined. In 1908, Shōzō Makino, considered the pioneering director of Japanese film, began his influential career with ''Honnōji gassen'' (本能寺合戦), produced for
Yokota Shōkai was a Japanese film studio active in the early years of cinema in Japan. Its origins can be traced back to when Einosuke Yokota received one of the first Lumiere cinematograph machines in Japan from Inabata Katsutarō to conduct traveling ex ...
. Shōzō recruited
Matsunosuke Onoe , sometimes known as Medama no Matchan (''"Eyeballs" Matsu''), was a Japanese actor. His birth name is Tsuruzo Nakamura. He is sometimes credited as Yukio Koki, Tamijaku Onoe, or Tsunusaburo Onoe, and as a kabuki artist he went by the name Tsuru ...
, a former
kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...
actor, to star in his productions. Onoe became Japan's first
film star A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and w ...
, appearing in over 1,000 films, mostly shorts, between 1909 and 1926. The pair pioneered the ''
jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—''Portrait of Hel ...
'' genre.
Tokihiko Okada (February 18, 1903 – January 16, 1934) was a silent film star in Japan during the 1920s and early 1930s. A native of Tokyo, he first started at the Taikatsu studio and later he was a leading player for Japanese directors such as Yasujirō ...
was a popular romantic lead of the same era. The first Japanese film production studio was built in 1909 by the
Yoshizawa Shōten was a film studio and importer active in the early years of cinema in Japan. Originally involved in the magic lantern business, Yoshizawa bought a cinématographe camera off a visiting Italian and began exhibiting motion pictures in 1897. Run by ...
company in
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. The first female Japanese performer to appear in a film professionally was the dancer/actress Tokuko Nagai Takagi, who appeared in four shorts for the American-based
Thanhouser Company The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser, his wife Gertrude and his brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan. It operated in New York City until 1920, ...
between 1911 and 1914. Among intellectuals, critiques of Japanese cinema grew in the 1910s and eventually developed into a movement that transformed Japanese film. Film criticism began with early film magazines such as ''Katsudō shashinkai'' (begun in 1909) and a full-length book written by
Yasunosuke Gonda (17 May 1887 – 5 January 1951) was a Japanese sociologist and film theorist who played an important role in the study of popular entertainment and helped pioneer statistical studies of everyday life in Japan. Career Born in the Kanda area of ...
in 1914, but many early
film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...
often focused on chastising the work of studios like
Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
and Tenkatsu for being too theatrical (using, for instance, elements from
kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...
and
shinpa (also rendered ''shimpa'') is a form of theater in Japan, usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional ''kabuki'' style. It later spread to cinema. Art form The roots of ''Shinpa'' can be traced to a form of agi ...
such as
onnagata (also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the g ...
) and for not utilizing what were considered more
cinematic techniques This article contains a list of cinematic techniques that are divided into categories and briefly described. Basic definitions of terms ;180-degree rule :A continuity editorial technique in which sequential shots of two or more actors within ...
to tell stories, instead relying on benshi. In what was later named the
Pure Film Movement The was a trend in film criticism and filmmaking in 1910s and early 1920s Japan that advocated what were considered more modern and cinematic modes of filmmaking. Critics in such magazines as '' Kinema Record'' and '' Kinema Junpo'' complained th ...
, writers in magazines such as ''
Kinema Record was a Japanese film magazine published during the 1910s that played an important role in the Pure Film Movement. In 1914, with no serious film magazines being published in Japan at the time, Norimasa Kaeriyama, Yoshiyuki Shigeno and other stud ...
'' called for a broader use of such cinematic techniques. Some of these critics, such as
Norimasa Kaeriyama (1 March 1893 – 6 November 1964) was a pioneering Japanese film director and film theorist. Biography Beginning with articles he submitted to Yoshizawa Shōten's magazine ''Katsudō shashinkai'' while still a student, Kaeriyama developed ...
, went on to put their ideas into practice by directing such films as ''
The Glow of Life is a Japanese film directed by Norimasa Kaeriyama made in 1918 and released in 1919 by Tenkatsu. It is considered the first in a series of films aimed at reforming and modernizing Japanese cinema. Plot A country girl Teruko falls in love with ...
'' (1918), which was one of the first films to use actresses (in this case,
Harumi Hanayagi was a pioneering Japanese film and stage actress. Career In 1915, Hanayagi became a student at the Geijutsuza, the modern theater troupe led by Hōgetsu Shimamura and Sumako Matsui, and made her stage debut. She moved to the Tōjisha troupe in 1 ...
). There were parallel efforts elsewhere in the film industry. In his 1917 film ''The Captain's Daughter'', Masao Inoue started using techniques new to the silent film era, such as the close-up and cut back. The Pure Film Movement was central in the development of the gendaigeki and
scriptwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...
. New studios established around 1920, such as
Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
and Taikatsu, aided the cause for reform. At Taikatsu,
Thomas Kurihara was a Japanese actor and film director. Life Thomas Kurihara, birth name Kisaburō Kurihara (栗原喜三郎), was born in Hadano, Kanagawa. Kurihara's father was a wood trader, but he failed in business. Kurihara went to United States an ...
directed films scripted by the novelist Junichiro Tanizaki, who was a strong advocate of film reform. Even Nikkatsu produced reformist films under the direction of
Eizō Tanaka was an early Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. Life and career Tanaka initially trained as a stage actor in the shingeki movement under Kaoru Osanai, but eventually joined the Nikkatsu film studio in 1917. He debuted as a directo ...
. By the mid-1920s, actresses had replaced onnagata and films used more of the devices pioneered by Inoue. Some of the most discussed silent films from Japan are those of
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...
, whose later works (including ''
Ugetsu , is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the ''jidaigeki'' (peri ...
''/''Ugetsu Monogatari'') retain a very high reputation. Japanese films gained popularity in the mid-1920s against foreign films, in part fueled by the popularity of
movie stars A movie star (also known as a film star or cinema star) is an actor or actress who is famous for their starring, or leading, roles in movies. The term is used for performers who are marketable stars as they become popular household names and wh ...
and a new style of
jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—''Portrait of Hel ...
. Directors such as Daisuke Itō and
Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). Career Masa ...
made
samurai films , also commonly spelled "''chambara''", meaning "sword fighting" films,Hill (2002). denotes the Japanese film genre called samurai cinema in English and is roughly equivalent to Western and swashbuckler films. ''Chanbara'' is a sub-category of '' ...
like ''
A Diary of Chuji's Travels is a silent Japanese jidaigeki made in 1927 starring Denjirō Ōkōchi and directed by Daisuke Itō. It was originally released in three parts, all of which were long thought to be lost until portions of the second part and much of the third pa ...
'' and ''
Roningai , also known as ''Samurai Town: Story 1, Story 2 and Story 3'', are respectively 1928 and 1929 black and white Japanese silent films directed by Masahiro Makino. Serving as parts of a 4-part series, the first and second installments are represen ...
'' featuring rebellious antiheroes in fast-cut fight scenes that were both critically acclaimed and commercial successes. Some stars, such as Tsumasaburo Bando,
Kanjūrō Arashi was a Japanese film actor. His nickname was "Arakan." He is famous for playing the role of '' Kurama Tengu'' sereies. He entered the film industry in 1927 and came to fame playing Kurama Tengu, a character in the Bakumatsu era created by Jirō ...
,
Chiezō Kataoka (March 30, 1903 – March 31, 1983) was a Japanese film and television actor most famous for his starring roles in jidaigeki. Career Born in 1903 in Gunma Prefecture (his real name was Masayoshi Ueki), he was raised in Tokyo. As a child he began ...
,
Takako Irie was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was ), she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own produc ...
and
Utaemon Ichikawa was a Japanese film actor famous for starring roles in jidaigeki from the 1920s to the 1960s. Trained in kabuki from childhood, he made his film debut in 1925 at Makino Film Productions under Shōzō Makino. Quickly gaining popularity, he follow ...
, were inspired by
Makino Film Productions Makino Film Productions was a successful early film producing company active in Japanese cinema in the 1920s and 1930s. It was founded by the pioneering film director Shozo Makino in 1923. Makino produced many prominent films of the early era, and ...
and formed their own independent production companies where directors such as
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 t ...
,
Mansaku Itami Mansaku Itami (伊丹万作; real name Yoshitoyo Ikeuchi 池内義豊; 2 January 1900 – 21 September 1946) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his critical, sometimes satirical portraits of Japan and its history. H ...
and
Sadao Yamanaka was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the ''jidaigeki'', or historic ...
honed their skills. Director
Teinosuke Kinugasa was a Japanese filmmaker. He was born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture and died in Kyoto. Kinugasa won the 1954 Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival for '' Gate of Hell''. Biography Kinugasa began his career as an onnagata (actor specializing in f ...
created a production company to produce the experimental masterpiece ''
A Page of Madness is a 1926 Japanese silent film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Lost for 45 years until it was rediscovered by Kinugasa in his storehouse in 1971, the film is the product of an avant-garde group of artists in Japan known as the Shinkankakuha (o ...
'', starring Masao Inoue, in 1926. Many of these companies, while surviving during the silent era against major studios like
Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
,
Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
, Teikine, and Toa Studios, could not survive the cost involved in converting to sound. With the rise of left-wing political movements and labor unions at the end of the 1920s, there arose so-called
tendency films is a genre of socially conscious, left-leaning films produced in Japan during the 1920s and 1930s. Tendency films reflected a perceived leftward shift in Japanese society in the aftermath of the 1927 Shōwa financial crisis. Japan's left-wing lit ...
with left-leaning tendencies. Directors
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...
, Daisuke Itō,
Shigeyoshi Suzuki was a Japanese football player who played for and later managed the Japan national team. Club career Suzuki was born in Fukushima Prefecture on October 13, 1902. He was a founding member of the football team at Waseda University High School in ...
, and
Tomu Uchida , born Tsunejirō Uchida on 26 April 1898, was a Japanese film director. The stage name "Tomu" translates to “spit out dreams”. Early career Uchida started out at the Taikatsu studio in the early 1920s, but came to prominence at Nikkatsu, ada ...
were prominent examples. In contrast to these commercially produced 35 mm films, the
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
Proletarian Film League of Japan The , shortened to Prokino, was a left-wing film organization active in the late 1920s and early 1930s in Japan. Associated with the proletarian arts movement in Japan, it primarily used small gauge films such as 16mm film and 9.5mm film to record ...
(Prokino) made works independently in smaller gauges (such as 9.5mm and
16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...
), with more radical intentions. Tendency films suffered from severe censorship heading into the 1930s, and Prokino members were arrested and the movement effectively crushed. Such moves by the government had profound effects on the expression of political dissent in 1930s cinema. Films from this period include: '' Sakanaya Honda, Jitsuroku Chushingura, Horaijima,
Orochi , or simply , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon/serpent. Mythology Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD transcribes this dragon name ...
, Maboroshi,
Kurutta Ippeji is a 1926 Japanese silent film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Lost film, Lost for 45 years until it was rediscovered by Kinugasa in his storehouse in 1971, the film is the product of an avant-garde group of artists in Japan known as the Shinka ...
,
Jujiro , also known as ''Crossways'', ''Shadows of the Yoshiwara'' or ''Slums of Tokyo'', is a 1928 silent Japanese drama film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. It is believed to be the first or one of the first Japanese films to be screened in Europe, ...
, Kurama Tengu: Kyōfu Jidai'', and ''Kurama Tengu''. A later version of ''The Captain's Daughter'' was one of the first
talkie A sound film is a motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...
films. It used the
Mina Talkie System Mina may refer to: Places Iran * Minaq, East Azerbaijan * Mina, Fars * Mineh, Lorestan Province * Mina, Razavi Khorasan * Mehneh, Razavi Khorasan Province United States * Mina, California * Mina, Nevada * Mina, New York * Mina, Ohio * Mina, ...
. The Japanese film industry later split into two groups; one retained the Mina Talkie System, while the other used the Eastphone Talkie System used to make Tojo Masaki's films. The 1923 earthquake, the bombing of Tokyo during World War II, and the natural effects of time and Japan's
humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...
on flammable and unstable
nitrate film Nitrocellulose (also known as cellulose nitrate, flash paper, flash cotton, guncotton, pyroxylin and flash string, depending on form) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to a mixture of nitric acid and ...
have resulted in a great dearth of surviving films from this period. Unlike in the West, silent films were still being produced in Japan well into the 1930s; as late as 1938, a third of Japanese films were silent. For instance,
Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...
's ''An Inn in Tokyo'' (1935), considered a precursor to the neorealism genre, was a silent film. A few Japanese sound shorts were made in the 1920s and 1930s, but Japan's first feature-length talkie was '' Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato'' (1930), which used the ''
Mina Talkie System Mina may refer to: Places Iran * Minaq, East Azerbaijan * Mina, Fars * Mineh, Lorestan Province * Mina, Razavi Khorasan * Mehneh, Razavi Khorasan Province United States * Mina, California * Mina, Nevada * Mina, New York * Mina, Ohio * Mina, ...
''. Notable talkies of this period include
Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, ...
's ''
Wife, Be Like A Rose! ''Wife! Be Like a Rose!'' ''Kimiko'' ( ja, 妻よ薔薇のやうに, Tsuma yo bara no yô ni) is a 1935 Japanese comedy drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the shinpa play ''Futari tsuma'' (二人妻, lit. ''Two Wives'') by Mino ...
'' (''Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni'', 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S.;
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...
's ''
Sisters of the Gion or ''Sisters of Gion'' is a 1936 black and white Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi about two geisha sisters living in Kyoto's Gion district. It forms a diptych with Mizoguchi's ''Osaka Elegy'' which shares much of the same cast and ...
'' (''Gion no shimai'', 1936); ''
Osaka Elegy is a 1936 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It forms a diptych with Mizoguchi's ''Sisters of the Gion'' which shares much of the same cast and production team, and is considered an early masterpiece in the director's career. Plot S ...
'' (1936); and ''
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums , also titled ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum'' and ''The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums'', is a 1939 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Based on a short story by Shōfu Muramatsu, it follows an onnagata (male actor speciali ...
'' (1939); and
Sadao Yamanaka was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed 26 films between 1932 and 1938. He was a contemporary of Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi and one of the primary figures in the development of the ''jidaigeki'', or historic ...
's ''
Humanity and Paper Balloons is a 1937 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Sadao Yamanaka. It was Yamanaka's last film before his death. Plot The film is set in feudal Japan during the 18th century, an era known as the Edo period. It depicts the struggles and schemes of Ma ...
'' (1937). Film criticism shared this vitality, with many film journals such as ''
Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...
'' and newspapers printing detailed discussions of the cinema of the day, both at home and abroad. A cultured "impressionist" criticism pursued by critics such as
Tadashi Iijima was a Japanese film critic and screenwriter. He has been called "a leader who established film criticism and film research in Japan". Career After graduating from the Tokyo Prefectural First Middle School (now Hibiya High School), he attended th ...
,
Fuyuhiko Kitagawa (3 July 1900 – 12 April 1990) was a Japanese poet and film critic. His real name was . While born in Shiga Prefecture, he was raised in Manchukuo in China due to his father's work on the South Manchurian Railway, and then graduated from To ...
, and
Matsuo Kishi (18 September 1906 – 17 August 1985) was a Japanese film critic, director, screenwriter, producer, and biographer. His real name was Aji Shūichirō. Born in Tokyo, he became interested in film from his days in high school and, continuing on to ...
was dominant, but opposed by leftist critics such as
Akira Iwasaki (18 November 1903 – 16 September 1981) was a prominent left-wing Japanese film critic, historian, and producer. Born in Tokyo, he became interested in film from his student days at Tokyo University. Early on, he helped introduce German experimen ...
and
Genjū Sasa (14 January 1900 – 7 July 1959) was a left-wing Japanese film director and film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalis ...
who sought an ideological critique of films. The 1930s also saw increased government involvement in cinema, which was symbolized by the passing of the
Film Law A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, which gave the state more authority over the film industry, in 1939. The government encouraged some forms of cinema, producing
propaganda films Propaganda Films was an American music video and film production company founded in 1986 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Dominic Sena and Greg Gold. By 1990, the company was producin ...
and promoting
documentary films A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
(also called ''bunka eiga'' or "culture films"), with important documentaries being made by directors such as
Fumio Kamei (1 April 1908 – 27 February 1987) was a left-wing Japanese documentary and fiction film director. Biography Kamei went to the Soviet Union in 1928 to study filmmaking, but had to return home because of an illness. He eventually began working ...
. Realism was in favor;
film theorist Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for unde ...
s such as
Taihei Imamura was a Japanese film critic and film theorist. Born in Saitama Prefecture, he attended the Kobe University of Commerce (the precursor to Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a leading Japanese national university located in ...
and Heiichi Sugiyama advocated for documentary or realist drama, while directors such as Hiroshi Shimizu and
Tomotaka Tasaka was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 193 ...
produced fiction films that were strongly realistic in style. Films reinforced the importance of traditional Japanese values against the rise of the Westernised
modern girl (also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I. were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ve ...
, a character epitomised by
Shizue Tatsuta Shizue Tatsuta ( ja, link=no, 龍田 静枝) (3 November 1903 - 21 January 1962) was the stage name of Shizue Shiono, a Japanese actress who starred in silent movies. Born in Yamagata Prefecture, she briefly attended Japan Women's University but d ...
in Ozu's 1930 film ''Young Lady''.


Wartime movies

Because of World War II and the weak economy, unemployment became widespread in Japan, and the cinema industry suffered. During this period, when Japan was expanding its Empire, the Japanese government saw cinema as a propaganda tool to show the glory and invincibility of the
Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
. Thus, many films from this period depict patriotic and militaristic themes. In 1942 Kajiro Yamamoto's film ''
Hawai Mare oki kaisen is a 1942 black-and-white Japanese war film directed by Kajiro Yamamoto, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Plot Production ''Hawai Mare oki kaisen'' was the most costly film made in Japan up to that time, costing over , when a typica ...
'' or "The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya" portrayed the attack on Pearl Harbor; the film made use of special effects directed by
Eiji Tsuburaya was a Japanese special effects director and cinematographer. Known as the he worked on 250 feature films in a career spanning 50 years. He is regarded as one of the co-creators of the ''Godzilla'' series, as well as the main creator of the ' ...
, including a miniature scale model of Pearl Harbor itself.
Yoshiko Yamaguchi was a Japanese singer, actress, journalist, and politician. Born in China, she made an international career in film in China, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Early in her career, the Manchukuo Film Association concealed her Japanese ori ...
was a very popular actress. She rose to international stardom with 22 wartime movies. The
Manchukuo Film Association or (Chinese: 株式會社滿洲映畫協會) was a Japanese film studio in Manchukuo during the 1930s and 1940s. Background Man'ei was established by the Kwantung Army in the occupied northeast part of China in 1937. Man'ei controlled the enti ...
let her use the Chinese name Li Xianglan so she could represent Chinese roles in Japanese propaganda movies. After the war she used her official Japanese name and starred in an additional 29 movies. She was elected as a member of the
Japanese parliament The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...
in the 1970s and served for 18 years.
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
made his feature film debut with '' Sugata Sanshiro'' in 1943.


American occupation and Post-war period

In 1945,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
was defeated in World War II, the rule of Japan by the SCAP (
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...
) began. Movies produced in Japan were managed by GHQ's subordinate organization CIE (Civil Information Educational Section, 民間情報教育局). This management system lasted until 1952, and it was the first time in the Japanese movie world that management and control by a foreign institution was implemented. During the planning and scripting stages it was translated to English, only the movies approved by the CIE were produced. For example,
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's “
Akatsuki no Dassō is a 1950 Japanese List of anti-war films, anti-war film directed by Senkichi Taniguchi. Co-written by Taniguchi and Akira Kurosawa, the film is based on ''Story of a Prostitute'' by Taijiro Tamura. The film revolves around a tragic affair betwee ...
” (1950) was originally a work depicting a Korean military comfort woman starring
Yoshiko Yamaguchi was a Japanese singer, actress, journalist, and politician. Born in China, she made an international career in film in China, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. Early in her career, the Manchukuo Film Association concealed her Japanese ori ...
, but with dozens of CIE censorship, it became an original work. The completed film was censored a second time by a CCD (
Civil Censorship Detachment The Civil Censorship Department was created within the Civil Intelligence Section of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. It exercised considerable influence over the operation and administration of the American Occupation of Japan after ...
). The censorship was also carried out retroactively to past movie works. Japan was exposed to over a decade's worth of American
animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
that were banned under the war-time government. Furthermore, as part of the occupation policy, the issue of responsibility for war spread to the film industry, and when voices of banning war cooperators in movie production during the war began to be expressed,
Nagamasa Kawakita was a Japanese entrepreneur, film producer and importer. Together with his wife Kashiko Kawakita and daughter Kazuko Kawakita, he was instrumental in the development of the Japanese film industry, sponsoring actors and actresses, and in promotin ...
,
Kanichi Negishi Kan'ichi or Kanichi (written: , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese historian *, Japanese politician *, Imperial Japanese Navy officer *, Japanese voice actor and comedian *, Japanese philo ...
,
Shiro Kido Shiro, Shirō, Shirow or Shirou may refer to: People * Amakusa Shirō (1621–1638), leader of the Shimabara Rebellion * Ken Shiro (born 1992), Japanese boxer * Shiro Azumi, Japanese football player 1923–1925 * Shiro Ichinoseki (born 1944), Ja ...
in 1947, the person who was involved in such high-motion films was exiled. However, as in other genre pursuits, the position of responsibility for war has been dealt with vaguely in the film industry, and the above measures were lifted in 1950. The first movie released after the war was “Soyokaze” (そよかぜ) 1945 by
Yasushi Sasaki (25 January 1908 – 13 September 1993), aka Kō Sasaki, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from the 1920s to the 1960s. Filmography Director He directed 182 films: * (1945) * (踊る龍宮城 ''Odoru ryū kyūjō'', literall ...
, and the theme song “ Ringo no Uta” by
Michiko Namiki Michiko is a Japanese given name, used for females. Although written romanized the same way, the Japanese language written forms (kanji, katakana, hiragana) can be different. Common forms include: * 美智子 — "beautiful wise child" * 美 ...
was a big hit. In the production ban list promulgated in 1945 by CIE's David Conde, nationalism, patriotism, suicide and slaughter, brutal violent movies, etc. became prohibited items, making the production of historical drama virtually impossible . As a result, actors who have been using historical drama as their business appeared in contemporary drama. This includes
Chiezō Kataoka (March 30, 1903 – March 31, 1983) was a Japanese film and television actor most famous for his starring roles in jidaigeki. Career Born in 1903 in Gunma Prefecture (his real name was Masayoshi Ueki), he was raised in Tokyo. As a child he began ...
's “
Bannai Tarao is the name of a set of Japanese mysteries (the first, , being made in 1946), featuring a detective of the same name who could take on seven different faces, in similar fashion to the protagonists of later series '' 7-Color Mask'', '' Rainbowman ...
” (1946),
Tsumasaburō Bandō was one of the most prominent Japanese actors of the twentieth century. Famous for his rebellious, sword fighting roles in many jidaigeki silent films, he rose to fame after joining the Tōjiin Studio of Makino Film Productions in Kyoto in ...
's “
Torn Drum Torn may refer to: Film and television * ''Torn'' (2009 film), an American film by Richard Johnson * ''Torn'' (2013 American film), directed Jeremiah Birnbaum * ''Torn'' (2013 Nigerian film), directed by Moses Inwang * ''Torn'' (TV series), a ...
(破れ太鼓)” (1949),
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 t ...
's “The Child Holding Hands (手をつなぐ子等)”, and Daisuke Itō's “King (王将)”. In addition, many propaganda films were produced as democratic courtesy works recommended by SCAP. Significant movies among them are,
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), Japane ...
appeared in
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's “
No Regrets for Our Youth is a 1946 Japanese film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the 1933 Takigawa incident. The film stars Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura and Denjirō Ōkōchi. Fujita's character was inspired by the real-life Hotsum ...
” (1946),
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 ...
's “
A Ball at the Anjo House is a 1947 Japanese drama film directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura. The film won the 1947 Kinema Junpo Award for Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year, Best Film. Plot After Japan's defeat in the Pacific War, the wealthy Anjō family have to ...
” (1947),
Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for Social realism, social realist filmmaking informed by a Left-wing politics, left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life ...
's “
Aoi sanmyaku is a 1949 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushid ...
” (1949), etc. It gained national popularity as a star symbolizing the beginning of a new era. In
Yasushi Sasaki (25 January 1908 – 13 September 1993), aka Kō Sasaki, was a Japanese film director. He directed films from the 1920s to the 1960s. Filmography Director He directed 182 films: * (1945) * (踊る龍宮城 ''Odoru ryū kyūjō'', literall ...
's " Hatachi no Seishun (はたちの青春)" (1946), the first kiss scene of a Japanese movie was filmed. The first collaborations between
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
and actor
Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...
were ''
Drunken Angel is a 1948 Japanese ''yakuza'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is notable for being the first of sixteen film collaborations between director Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune. Plot Sanada (Takashi Shimura) is an alcoholic doctor (the tit ...
'' in 1948 and ''
Stray Dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...
'' in 1949.
Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...
directed the critically and commercially successful ''
Late Spring is a 1949 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, based on the short novel ''Father and Daughter'' (''Chichi to musume'') by the 20th-century novelist and critic Kazuo Hirotsu. The film was written and ...
'' in 1949. The
Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...
was created in 1946. The 1950s are widely considered the
Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
of Japanese cinema. Three Japanese films from this decade (''
Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori (actor), Masayuki Mori, and ...
'', ''
Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'' and ''
Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogniti ...
'') appeared in the top ten of ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...
''s critics' and directors' polls for the best films of all time in 2002. They also appeared in the 2012 polls, with ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) dethroning ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited ...
'' at the top of the 2012 directors' poll. War movies restricted by
SCAP SCAP may refer to: * S.C.A.P., an early French manufacturer of cars and engines * Security Content Automation Protocol * ''The Shackled City Adventure Path'', a role-playing game * SREBP cleavage activating protein * Supervisory Capital Assessment ...
began to be produced, Hideo Sekigawa's “
Listen to the Voices of the Sea ''Listen to the Voices of the Sea'' ( ja, 日本戦歿学生の手記　きけ、わだつみの声, Nippon senbotsu gakusei no shuki: Kike wadatsumi no koe, Notes from fallen Japanese Student Soldiers: Listen to the Voices from the Sea) is a 1950 ...
” (1950),
Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for Social realism, social realist filmmaking informed by a Left-wing politics, left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life ...
's “Himeyuri no Tô - Tower of the Lilies” (1953),
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 Yasu ...
's “
Twenty-Four Eyes is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Sakae Tsuboi. The film stars Hideko Takamine as a schoolteacher named Hisako Ōishi, who lives during the rise and fall of Japanese national ...
” (1954), “
Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...
's “ The Burmese Harp” (1956), and other works aimed at the tragic and sentimental retrospective of the war experience, one after another, It became a social influence. Other Nostalgia films such as
Battleship Yamato (1953) was the lead ship of Yamato-class battleship, her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, , were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever construct ...
and
Eagle of the Pacific , also known as ''Operation Kamikaze'', is a 1953 Japanese epic film, epic war film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film dramatizes the start of Japan's military action in World War II, with an emphasis on th ...
(1953) were also mass-produced. Under these circumstances, movies such as "Emperor Meiji and the Russo-Japanese War (明治天皇と日露大戦争)" (1957), where
Kanjūrō Arashi was a Japanese film actor. His nickname was "Arakan." He is famous for playing the role of '' Kurama Tengu'' sereies. He entered the film industry in 1927 and came to fame playing Kurama Tengu, a character in the Bakumatsu era created by Jirō ...
played
Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...
, also appeared. It was a situation that was unthinkable before the war, the commercialization of the
Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
who was supposed to be sacred and inviolable. The period after the American Occupation led to a rise in diversity in movie distribution thanks to the increased output and popularity of the film studios of
Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...
,
Daiei , based in Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation ...
,
Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
,
Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
, and Toei. This period gave rise to the four great artists of Japanese cinema:
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic (genre), epic trilogy ''The Human Condition (film series), The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri (1962 film), Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Reb ...
,
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
,
Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...
, and
Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...
. Each director dealt with the effects the war and subsequent occupation by America in unique and innovative ways. The decade started with
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's ''Rashomon'' (1950), which won the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
in 1951 and the Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1952, and marked the entrance of Japanese cinema onto the world stage. It was also the breakout role for legendary star
Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...
. In 1953 ''
Entotsu no mieru basho , also titled ''Four Chimneys'', is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. Based on a novel by Rinzō Shiina, ''Where Chimneys Are Seen'' is regarded as one ...
'' by
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 ...
was in competition at the
3rd Berlin International Film Festival The 3rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 28 June 1953. Description This year's festival did not give any official jury prizes; instead awards were given by audience voting. This continued until the FIAPF granted Be ...
. The first Japanese film in
color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
was ''
Carmen Comes Home is a 1951 Japanese comedy film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It was Japan's first feature length colour film. Plot Due to the renovation of the Tokyo based venue where she works, Okin, stage name Lily Carmen, and her lovesick friend Maya pay her ...
'' directed by
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 Yasu ...
and released in 1951. There was also a black-and-white version of this film available. ''
Tokyo File 212 ''Tokyo File 212'' (Japanese: ) is a 1951 spy film directed by and . George Breakston wrote the film's script and co-produced it with Dorrell McGowan jointly under the banner of their newly formed Breakston–McGowan Productions and Japanese ...
'' (1951) was the first American feature film to be shot entirely in Japan. The lead roles were played by
Florence Marly Florence Marly (2 June 1919 – 9 November 1978) was a Czech-born French film actress. During World War II, Marly moved to neutral Argentina with her Jewish husband, film director Pierre Chenal, where she appeared in several films. She also acted ...
and Robert Peyton. It featured the geisha
Ichimaru , born , was a popular Japanese recording artist and geisha. Her rivalry with another popular geisha singer, , created the " Era" in Japanese music history. Early life Ichimaru grew up in Japan with eleven siblings under harsh conditions. She ...
in a short cameo. Suzuki Ikuzo's Tonichi Enterprises Company co-produced the film. '' Gate of Hell'', a 1953 film by
Teinosuke Kinugasa was a Japanese filmmaker. He was born in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture and died in Kyoto. Kinugasa won the 1954 Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival for '' Gate of Hell''. Biography Kinugasa began his career as an onnagata (actor specializing in f ...
, was the first movie that filmed using
Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...
film, ''Gate of Hell'' was both
Daiei , based in Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation ...
's first color film and the first Japanese color movie to be released outside Japan, receiving an
Academy Honorary Award The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Moti ...
in 1954 for Best Costume Design by
Sanzo Wada was a Japanese painter and costume designer who won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for his work on the jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most ...
and an Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, the first Japanese film to achieve that honour. The year 1954 saw two of Japan's most influential films released. The first was the Kurosawa epic ''
Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The story takes place in 1586 during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. It follows the story of a village of desperate farmers who hire seven ...
'', about a band of hired samurai who protect a helpless village from a rapacious gang of thieves. The same year,
Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 44 feature films in a career spanning 59 years. The most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki, his films have had a significant influence on the film industry. Honda enter ...
directed the anti-nuclear monster-drama ''
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
'', which was released in America two years later under the title ''
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! is a 1956 '' kaiju'' film directed by Terry O. Morse and Ishirō Honda. It is a heavily re-edited American localization, commonly referred to as an "Americanization", of the 1954 Japanese film ''Godzilla''. The film was a Japanese- American c ...
''. Though edited for its Western release,
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...
became an international icon of Japan and spawned an entire subgenre of ''
kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...
'' films, as well as the longest-running film franchise in history. Also in 1954, another Kurosawa film, ''
Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. Th ...
'' was in competition at the
4th Berlin International Film Festival The 4th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 29 June 1954. This year's festival did not give any official jury prizes, instead awards were given by audience voting. This continued until the FIAPF granted Berlin "A-Status ...
. In 1955,
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 t ...
won an Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film for
Part I Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer * Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor * Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) ...
of his ''Samurai'' trilogy and in 1958 won the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
for ''
Rickshaw Man , also released as ''Muhomatsu, the Rickshaw Man'' or ''The Rikisha-Man'', is a 1958 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. It is a remake of his own 1943 film. In the 1943 version Tsumasaburo Bando played the role of Muhōmatsu. In Oct ...
''.
Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...
directed two anti-war dramas: '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956), which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, and '' Fires On The Plain'' (1959), along with '' Enjo'' (1958), which was adapted from
Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...
's novel ''Temple Of The Golden Pavilion''.
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic (genre), epic trilogy ''The Human Condition (film series), The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri (1962 film), Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Reb ...
made three films which would collectively become known as '' The Human Condition Trilogy'': ''No Greater Love'' (1959), and ''The Road To Eternity'' (1959). The trilogy was completed in 1961, with ''A Soldier's Prayer''. Kenji Mizoguchi, who died in 1956, ended his career with a series of masterpieces including ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''
Ugetsu , is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the ''jidaigeki'' (peri ...
'' (1953) and ''
Sansho the Bailiff is a 1954 Japanese period film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Based on a 1915 short story of the same name by Mori Ōgai (usually translated as "Sanshō the Steward" in English), which in turn was based on a folktale, it follows two aristocratic ch ...
'' (1954). He won the Silver Bear at the
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
for ''Ugetsu''. Mizoguchi's films often deal with the tragedies inflicted on women by Japanese society.
Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, ...
made '' Repast'' (1950), ''Late Chrysanthemums'' (1954), ''The Sound of the Mountain'' (1954) and ''Floating Clouds'' (1955). Yasujirō Ozu began directing color films beginning with ''Equinox Flower'' (1958), and later ''
Good Morning "Good morning" is a common greeting in the English language. It may also refer to: Television * ''Good Morning!!!'' (Australian show), a children's show * ''Good Morning'' (New Zealand show), a daytime talk show * ''Good Morning'' (Russian ...
'' (1959) and ''
Floating Weeds is a 1959 Japanese drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Nakamura Ganjirō II and Machiko Kyō. It is a remake of Ozu's own black-and-white silent film '' A Story of Floating Weeds'' (1934) and considered one of the greatest films ever made. ...
'' (1958), which was adapted from his earlier silent ''
A Story of Floating Weeds is a 1934 silent film directed by Yasujirō Ozu which he later remade as ''Floating Weeds'' in 1959 in color. It won the Kinema Junpo Award for best film. Plot The film starts with a travelling kabuki troupe arriving by train at a provincial se ...
'' (1934), and was shot by ''Rashomon'' and ''Sansho the Bailiff'' cinematographer
Kazuo Miyagawa was a Japanese cinematographer. Career Born in Kyoto, Miyagawa was taken with sumi-e Chinese ink painting from the age of eleven and began to sell his work as an illustrator while a teenager. He became interested in the cinema during the 1920s, ...
. The
Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...
were established in 1950. The first winner for Best Film was '' Until We Meet Again'' by
Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for Social realism, social realist filmmaking informed by a Left-wing politics, left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life ...
. The number of films produced, and the cinema audience reached a peak in the 1960s. Most films were shown in double bills, with one half of the bill being a "program picture" or B-movie. A typical program picture was shot in four weeks. The demand for these program pictures in quantity meant the growth of film series such as ''
The Hoodlum Soldier is a Japanese film directed by Yasuzo Masumura. ''The Hoodlum Soldier'' was the first of a series of nine films that followed two soldiers, Kisaburo Omiya (Shintaro Katsu), a former yakuza who has become a soldier, and Arita (Takahiro Tamura), an ...
'' or '' Akumyo''. The huge level of activity of 1960s Japanese cinema also resulted in many classics. Akira Kurosawa directed the 1961 classic ''
Yojimbo is a 1961 Japanese samurai film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Yoko Tsukasa, Isuzu Yamada, Daisuke Katō, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Atsushi Watanabe. ...
''. Yasujirō Ozu made his final film, ''
An Autumn Afternoon is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Shochiku Films. It stars Ozu regular Chishū Ryū as the patriarch of the Hirayama family who eventually realises that he has a duty to arrange a marriage for his daughter Michiko (Shim ...
'', in 1962. Mikio Naruse directed the wide screen melodrama ''When a Woman Ascends the Stairs'' in 1960; his final film was 1967's ''Scattered Clouds''. Kon Ichikawa captured the watershed 1964 Summer Olympics, 1964 Olympics in his three-hour documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965). Seijun Suzuki was fired by
Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
for "making films that don't make any sense and don't make any money" after his surrealist Yakuza film, yakuza flick ''Branded to Kill'' (1967). The 1960s were the peak years of the ''Japanese New Wave'' movement, which began in the 1950s and continued through the early 1970s. Nagisa Oshima, Kaneto Shindo, Masahiro Shinoda, Susumu Hani and Shohei Imamura emerged as major filmmakers during the decade. Oshima's ''Cruel Story of Youth'', ''Night and Fog in Japan'' and ''Death By Hanging'', along with Shindo's ''Onibaba (film), Onibaba'', Hani's ''Kanojo to kare'' and Imamura's ''The Insect Woman'', became some of the better-known examples of Japanese New Wave filmmaking. Documentary played a crucial role in the New Wave, as directors such as Hani, Kazuo Kuroki, Toshio Matsumoto, and Hiroshi Teshigahara moved from documentary into fiction film, while feature filmmakers like Oshima and Imamura also made documentaries. Shinsuke Ogawa and Noriaki Tsuchimoto became the most important documentarists: "two figures [that] tower over the landscape of Japanese documentary." Teshigahara's ''The Woman in the Dunes (film), Woman in the Dunes'' (1964) won the Special Jury Prize at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
, and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film Academy Awards, Oscars. Masaki Kobayashi's ''Kwaidan (film), Kwaidan'' (1965) also picked up the Special Jury Prize at Cannes and received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' by
Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for Social realism, social realist filmmaking informed by a Left-wing politics, left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life ...
won the Golden Bear at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival. ''Immortal Love'' by
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 Yasu ...
and ''Twin Sisters of Kyoto'' and ''Portrait of Chieko'', both by Noboru Nakamura, also received nominations for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. ''Lost Spring'', also by Nakamura, was in competition for the Golden Bear at the 17th Berlin International Film Festival. The 1970s saw the cinema audience drop due to the spread of television. Total audience declined from 1.2 billion in 1960 to 0.2 billion in 1980. Film companies fought back in various ways, such as the bigger budget films of Kadokawa Pictures, or including increasingly sexual or violent content and language which could not be shown on television. The resulting pink film industry became the stepping stone for many young independent filmmakers. The seventies also saw the start of the "idol films, idol eiga", films starring young Japanese idol, "idols", who would bring in audiences due to their fame and popularity. Toshiya Fujita made the revenge film ''Lady Snowblood (film), Lady Snowblood'' in 1973. In the same year, Yoshishige Yoshida made the film ''Coup d'Etat (1973 film), Coup d'État'', a portrait of Ikki Kita, the leader of the Japanese coup of February 1936. Its experimental cinematography and mise-en-scène, as well as its avant-garde score by Toshi Ichiyanagi, garnered it wide critical acclaim within Japan. In 1976, the Hochi Film Award was created. The first winner for Best Film was ''The Inugamis (1976 film), The Inugamis'' by
Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...
. Nagisa Oshima directed ''In the Realm of the Senses'' (1976), a film detailing a crime of passion involving Sada Abe set in the 1930s. Controversial for its explicit sexual content, it has never been seen uncensored in Japan. Kinji Fukasaku completed the epic ''Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' series of yakuza films. Yoji Yamada introduced the commercially successful Otoko wa Tsurai yo, ''Tora-San'' series, while also directing other films, notably the popular ''The Yellow Handkerchief (1977 film), The Yellow Handkerchief'', which won the first Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy Prize for Best Film in 1978. New wave filmmakers Susumu Hani and Shōhei Imamura retreated to Documentary film, documentary work, though Imamura made a dramatic return to feature filmmaking with ''Vengeance Is Mine (1979 film), Vengeance Is Mine'' (1979). ''Dodes'ka-den'' by Akira Kurosawa and ''Sandakan No. 8'' by Kei Kumai were nominated to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The 1980s saw the decline of the major Japanese film studios and their associated chains of cinemas, with major studios
Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...
and Toei barely staying in business,
Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...
supported almost solely by the ''Otoko wa tsurai yo'' films, and
Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...
declining even further. Of the older generation of directors, Akira Kurosawa directed ''Kagemusha'' (1980), which won the Palme d'Or at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, and ''Ran (film), Ran'' (1985). Seijun Suzuki made a comeback beginning with ''Zigeunerweisen (film), Zigeunerweisen'' in 1980. Shohei Imamura won the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
for ''The Ballad of Narayama (1983 film), The Ballad of Narayama'' (1983). Yoshishige Yoshida made ''A Promise (1986 film), A Promise'' (1986), his first film since 1973's ''Coup d'État''. New directors who appeared in the 1980s include actor Juzo Itami, who directed his first film, ''The Funeral (1984 film), The Funeral'', in 1984, and achieved critical and box office success with ''Tampopo'' in 1985. Shinji Sōmai, an artistically inclined populist director who made films like the youth-focused Typhoon Club (film), ''Typhoon Club'', and the critically acclaimed Roman porno Love Hotel (1985 film), ''Love Hotel'' among others. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who would generate international attention beginning in the mid-1990s, made his initial debut with pink films and genre horror. During the 1980s, anime rose in popularity, with new animated movies released every summer and winter, often based upon popular anime television series. Mamoru Oshii released his landmark ''Angel's Egg'' in 1985. Hayao Miyazaki adapted his manga series ''Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga), Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind'' into a Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film), feature film of the same name in 1984. Katsuhiro Otomo followed suit by adapting his own manga ''Akira (manga), Akira'' into a Akira (1988 film), feature film of the same name in 1988. Home video made possible the creation of a direct-to-video film industry. Mini theaters, a type of independent movie theater characterized by a smaller size and seating capacity in comparison to larger movie theaters, gained popularity during the 1980s. Mini theaters helped bring Independent film, independent and arthouse films from other countries, as well as films produced in Japan by unknown Japanese filmmakers, to Japanese audiences.


Heisei period

Because of economic recessions, the number of movie theaters in Japan had been steadily decreasing since the 1960s. The 1990s saw the reversal of this trend and the introduction of the Multiplex (movie theater), multiplex in Japan. At the same time, the popularity of mini theaters continued. Takeshi Kitano emerged as a significant filmmaker with works such as ''Sonatine (1993 film), Sonatine'' (1993), ''Kids Return'' (1996) and ''Hana-bi'' (1997), which was given the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Shōhei Imamura again won the Golden Palm (shared with Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami), this time for ''The Eel (Japanese film), The Eel'' (1997). He became the fifth two-time recipient, joining Alf Sjöberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Emir Kusturica and Bille August. Kiyoshi Kurosawa gained international recognition following the release of ''Cure (film), Cure'' (1997). Takashi Miike launched a prolific career with titles such as ''Audition (1999 film), Audition'' (1999), ''Dead or Alive (1999 film), Dead or Alive'' (1999) and ''The Bird People in China'' (1998). Former documentary filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda launched an acclaimed feature career with ''Maborosi'' (1996) and ''After Life (film), After Life'' (1999). Hayao Miyazaki directed two mammoth box office and critical successes, ''Porco Rosso'' (1992) – which beat ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982) as the List of highest-grossing films in Japan, highest-grossing film in Japan – and ''Princess Mononoke'' (1997), which also claimed the top box office spot until ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'' (1997). Several new anime directors rose to widespread recognition, bringing with them notions of anime as not only entertainment, but modern art. Mamoru Oshii released the internationally acclaimed philosophical science fiction action film ''Ghost in the Shell (1995 film), Ghost in the Shell'' in 1996. Satoshi Kon directed the award-winning psychological thriller ''Perfect Blue''. Hideaki Anno also gained considerable recognition with ''The End of Evangelion'' in 1997. In the beginning of 21st century, the number of movies being shown in Japan steadily increased, with about 821 films released in 2006. Movies based on Japanese television series were especially popular during this period. Anime films now accounted for 60 percent of Japanese film production. The 1990s and 2000s are considered to be "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age", due to the immense popularity of anime, both within Japan and overseas.Dave Kehr
Anime, Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age
''The New York Times'', January 20, 2002. Although not a commercial success, ''All About Lily Chou-Chou'' directed by Shunji Iwai was honored at the Berlin, the Yokohama and the Shanghai Film Festivals in 2001. Takeshi Kitano appeared in ''Battle Royale (film), Battle Royale'' and directed and starred in ''Dolls (2002 film), Dolls'' and ''Zatoichi (2003 film), Zatoichi''. Several horror films, ''Kairo (film), Kairo'', ''Dark Water (2002 film), Dark Water'', ''Yogen'', Ju-on, the ''Grudge'' series and ''One Missed Call (2004 film), One Missed Call'' met with commercial success. In 2004, ''Godzilla: Final Wars'', directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Godzilla. In 2005, director Seijun Suzuki made his 56th film, ''Princess Raccoon''. Hirokazu Koreeda claimed film festival awards around the world with two of his films ''Distance (2001 film), Distance'' and ''Nobody Knows (2004 film), Nobody Knows''. Female film director Naomi Kawase's film ''The Mourning Forest'' won the Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival), Grand Prix at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
in 2007. Yoji Yamada, director of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series, made a trilogy of acclaimed revisionist samurai films, 2002's ''Twilight Samurai'', followed by ''The Hidden Blade'' in 2004 and ''Love and Honor (2006 film), Love and Honor'' in 2006. In 2008, ''Departures (2008 film), Departures'' won the Academy Award for best foreign language film. In anime, Hayao Miyazaki directed ''Spirited Away'' in 2001, breaking Japanese box office records and winning several awards—including the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2003—followed by ''Howl's Moving Castle (film), Howl's Moving Castle'' and ''Ponyo'' in 2004 and 2008 respectively. In 2004, Mamoru Oshii released the anime movie ''Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence'' which received critical praise around the world. His 2008 film ''The Sky Crawlers'' was met with similarly positive international reception. Satoshi Kon also released three quieter, but nonetheless highly successful films: ''Millennium Actress'', ''Tokyo Godfathers'', and ''Paprika (2006 film), Paprika''. Katsuhiro Otomo released ''Steamboy'', his first animated project since the 1995 short film compilation ''Memories (1995 film), Memories'', in 2004. In collaboration with Studio 4C, American director Michael Arias released ''Tekkon Kinkreet'' in 2008, to international acclaim. After several years of directing primarily lower-key live-action films, Hideaki Anno formed Studio Khara, his own production studio and revisited his still-popular ''Evangelion'' franchise with the ''Rebuild of Evangelion'' tetralogy, a new series of films providing an alternate retelling of the original story. Since February 2000, the Japan Film Commission Promotion Council was established. On November 16, 2001, the Japanese Foundation for the Promotion of the Arts laws were presented to the House of Representatives of Japan, House of Representatives. These laws were intended to promote the production of media arts, including film scenery, and stipulate that the government – on both the national and local levels – must lend aid in order to preserve film media. The laws were passed on November 30 and came into effect on December 7. In 2003, at a gathering for the Agency of Cultural Affairs, twelve policies were proposed in a written report to allow public-made films to be promoted and shown at the Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art. Four films have so far received international recognition by being selected to compete in major film festivals: ''Caterpillar (2010 film), Caterpillar'' by Kōji Wakamatsu was in competition for the Golden Bear at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival and won the Silver Bear for Best Actress, ''Outrage (2010 film), Outrage'' by Takeshi Kitano was In Competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, ''Himizu (film), Himizu'' by Sion Sono was in competition for the
Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...
at the 68th Venice International Film Festival. In 2011, Takashi Miike's ''Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai'' was In Competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, the first 3D film ever to screen In Competition at Cannes. The film was co-produced by British independent producer Jeremy Thomas, who had successfully broken Japanese titles such as Nagisa Oshima's ''Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence'' and '' Taboo (1999 film), Taboo'', Takeshi Kitano's ''Brother (2000 film), Brother'', and Miike's ''13 Assassins (2010 film), 13 Assassins'' onto the international stage as producer. In 2018, Hirokazu Kore-eda won the Palme d'Or for his movie ''Shoplifters (film), Shoplifters'' at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, 71st Cannes Film Festival, a festival that also featured Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's ''Asako I & II'' in competition.


Reiwa period

In October 2020, a Japanese anime film ''Demon Slayer: Mugen Train'' based on the ''Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'' manga series broke all box-office records in the country, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time and the highest-grossing film of 2020. The 2021 Drama (film and television), drama-Road movie, road film Drive My Car (film), Drive My Car won Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Golden Globe Awards and received the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.


Genres

* Anime: animated films ** Mecha anime, Mecha: films featuring mecha robots * ''Gendaigeki'': films set in the present day, the opposite of ''jidaigeki'' * Japanese horror: horror films * Japanese science fiction: science fiction films ** Japanese cyberpunk: cyberpunk films ** ''Kaiju'': monster films ** ''Tokusatsu'': films that make heavy use of special effects, usually involving costumed superheroes * ''Jidaigeki'': period films set during the Edo period (1603–1868) or earlier, the opposite of ''gendaigeki'' ** Samurai cinema: films featuring swordplay, also known as ''chanbara'' (an onomatopoeia describing the sound of swords clashing) * Ninja films: films featuring ninjas * Pink films: Softcore pornography, softcore pornographic films * ''Shomingeki'': realistic films about common working people * Tendency films: socially conscious, left-leaning films * Yakuza films: gangster films about yakuza mobsters


Box office


Film theorists

Film scholars experts in Japanese cinema include: * Isolde Standish, Australian and British film theorist Javanese


See also

*
Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...
, hosted by the Nippon Academy-shō Association, is the Japanese equivalent of the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. * Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy Prize * Lists of Japanese films ** List of highest-grossing Japanese films ** Lists of highest-grossing Japanese films * List of highest-grossing films in Japan * List of highest-grossing non-English films * List of Japanese actors * List of Japanese actresses * List of Japanese film directors * List of Japanese films * Cinema of the world * History of cinema ** Genres: *** List of jidaigeki *** Samurai cinema *** List of ninja films, Ninja *** Tokusatsu#Tokusatsu movies, Tokusatsu * List of Japanese-language films * List of Japanese movie studios * List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film * Nuberu bagu (The Japanese New Wave) * Television in Japan * Voice acting in Japan


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * Available online at th
Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan
* * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links



by Joaquín da Silva * Toki Akihiro & Mizuguchi Kaoru (1996
''A History of Early Cinema in Kyoto, Japan (1896–1912). Cinematographe and Inabata Katsutaro''
* Kato Mikiro (1996
''A History of Movie Theaters and Audiences in Postwar Kyoto, the Capital of Japanese Cinema''

Japanese Cinema Database
maintained by the Agency for Cultural Affairs (films after 1896, in Japanese)
Japanese Film Database
maintained by UniJapan (in English, films after 2002)
Kinema Junpo Database
maintained by
Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...
(films after 1945, in Japanese)
National Film Center Database
(films in the national archive collection, in Japanese)

(includes film database, box office statistics)
Japanese Movie Database
(in Japanese) * Japan Cuts, JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film (Japan Society (Manhattan), Japan Society, New York)
Kinema Club

Midnight Eye

Japanese Reference Materials for Studying Japanese Cinema at Yale University
by Aaron Gerow
Japanese Cinema to 1960
by Gregg Rickman * Japanese Film Festival (Singapore) – An annual curated film program focusing on classic Japanese cinema and new currents, with regular guest directors and actors. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cinema Of Japan Cinema of Japan,