Shunji Shimizu (清水俊二 ''Shimizu Shunji''^?), (1906-1988), is a well-known Japanese subtitler and translator, referred to by one scholar as 'practically a household name in Japan'. He translated popular authors including Erskine Caldwell and Agatha Christie. He had a long working relationship with the Hollywood studio

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. He was a mentor to the eminent subtitler Natsuko Toda.

Career

Shunji Shimizu is said to have inaugurated film subtitling proper in Japan. The first subtitled film in Japan was

Josef von Sternberg Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an Austrian-American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the silent to the sound era, during which he worked with most of the major ...

's 1930 film

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. It came out in Japan in 1931 and was subtitled by Yukihiko Tamura. The film's success was so great that Paramount decided greatly to expand its distribution of films to Japan, but Tamura was not able to leave Japan. He introduced Shunji Shimizu to Paramount Pictures, which whom he went on to have a long working relationship. One scholar suggests that "Shimizu’s work with Paramount marks the start of film translation proper in Japan and he is considered by many to be the first true film subtitling craftsman ... He was Paramount's subtitler for the Japanese market, with responsibility for preparing Paramount newsreels for distribution in Japan in the late 1930s and early 1940s, until American films were banned in Japan. He published extensively on the art and practice of subtitling. He was at one point a representative of the Japanese Administrating Commission of Motion Picture Code of Ethics. He acted as a mentor to the later very well-known subtitler Natsuko Toda, and also taught translation to the sf editor, writer and translator

Masami Fukushima was a Japanese science fiction editor, author, critic, and translator. As the first chief editor of ''SF Magazine'', he helped popularize science fiction in Japan and became known as the "Demon of SF". His real name is . He also used the pen name ...

Films subtitled by Shunji Shimizu

# Working Girl (1931)Shunji Shimizu Translation Catalogue (Kodansha Publishing 1994), Edited by Teruo Ishikawa # The Last Parade (1932) # The Criminal Code (1932) # 24 Hours (1932) # Ladies of Leisure (1932) # Girls About Town (1932) # The Beloved Bachelor (1932) # Caught (1932) # Two Kinds of Women (1932) # This Reckless Age (1932) # Strangers in Love (1932) # Wayward (1932) # The Lights of Buenos Aires (1932) # Fifty Fathoms Deep (1932) # This is the Night (1932) # The Broken Wing (1932) #

Million Dollar Legs (1932 film) ''Million Dollar Legs'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film starring Jack Oakie and W.C. Fields, directed by Edward F. Cline, produced by Herman J. Mankiewicz (co-writer of '' Citizen Kane'') and B.P. Schulberg, co-written by Joseph L. ...

# Sky Bride (1932) # The Misleading Lady (1932) # The Strange Case of Clara Deane (1932) # Make Me a Star (1932) # Sinners in the Sun (1932) #

Devil and the Deep ''Devil and the Deep'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Marion Gering, based on Maurice Larrouy's novel (''Sirenes et Tritons''), and starring Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton and Cary Grant. It follows a naval ...

(1932) # The Miracle Woman (1932) # Subway Express (1932) # Guilty as Hell (1932) # Ten Cents a Dance (1932) # Thunder Below (1932) #

The Night of June 13 ''The Night of June 13'' is a 1932 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Stephen Roberts. The film stars Clive Brook, Frances Dee, Charlie Ruggles, Gene Raymond, Lila Lee, Mary Boland and Adrianne Allen. The film was released on September 2 ...

(1932) # No One Man (1932) # Madison Square Garden (1933) # Street Scene (film) (1933) # The Big Broadacst (1933) #

If I Had a Million ''If I Had a Million'' is a 1932 American pre-Code Paramount Studios anthology film starring Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, W.C. Fields, Jack Oakie, Frances Dee and Charlie Ruggles, among others. There were seven directors: Ernst L ...

(1933) # Palmy Days (1933) # The Phamtom President (1933) # Night After Night (1933) # Evenings for Sale (1933) # He Learned About Women (1933) # Corsair (1933) # Island of Lost Souls (1933) # Under-Cover Man (1933) # Wild Horse Mesa (1933) # The Vanishing Frontier (1933) # The Devil is Driving (1933) #

American Madness ''American Madness'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Frank Capra and starring Walter Huston as a New York banker embroiled in scandal. Plot At the Union National Bank, the directors are concerned because they think that bank presi ...

(1933) # Forbidden (1933) # Hot Saturday (1933) # Hello, Everybody!(1933) # The Billion Dollar Scandal (1933) # From Hell to Heaven (1933) # Murders in the Zoo (1933) # White Zombie (1933) # Luxury Liner (1933) # Reserved for Ladies (1933) # Terror Abroad (1933) # Heritage of the Desert (1933) #

The Story of Temple Drake ''The Story of Temple Drake'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by Stephen Roberts and starring Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue. It tells the story of Temple Drake, a reckless woman in the American South who falls into the hands of ...

(1933) # Strictly Personal (1933) # The Greeks had a Word for Then (1933) # Song of the Eagle (1933) # The Age for Love (1933) #

Rain (1932 film) ''Rain'' is a 1932 pre-Code drama film that stars Joan Crawford as prostitute Sadie Thompson. Directed by Lewis Milestone and set in the South Seas, the production was filmed in part at Santa Catalina Island and what is now Crystal Cove State ...

(1933) # The Girl in 419 (1933) # College Humor (1933) # I Love That Man (1933) # The Eagle and the Hawk (1933) # Supernatural (1933) # Washington Merry-Go-Round (1933) # The Night Club Lady (1933) # International House (1933) # This Day and Age (1933) # I Cover the Waterfront (1933) # Brothers (1933) # Mama Loves Papa (1933) # Disgraced! (1933) # Platinum Blonde (1933) # Gambling Ship (1933) # Three-Cornered Moon (1933) # Midnight Club (1933) # Her Bodyguard (1933) # Under the Tonto Rim (1933) # One Sunday Afternoon (1933) # Air Hostess (1933)

References

# Teahouse of the August Moon (

Daniel Mann Daniel Chugerman (August 8, 1912 – November 21, 1991), known professionally as Daniel Mann, was an American stage, film and television director. Originally trained as an actor by Sanford Meisner, between 1952 and 1987 he directed over 31 feat ...

, 1956) #

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

(

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

, 1965) #

Conrack ''Conrack'' is a 1974 American drama film based on the 1972 autobiographical book '' The Water Is Wide'' by Pat Conroy, directed by Martin Ritt and starring Jon Voight in the title role, alongside Paul Winfield, Madge Sinclair, Hume Cronyn and ...

(

Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include ''The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...

, 1974) #

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

(

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

, 1980)

Publications by Shunji Shimizu

# ''Eiga Jimaku no Gojunen'' (Tokyo: Hayakawa Shobo, 1985). # ''Eiga Jimaku no Tsukurikata Oshiemasu'' (Tokyo, Bunshun Bunko, 1988) # ''Eiga Jimaku wa Honyaku de wa Nai'', ed. Natsuko Toda and Tamako Ueno (Tokyo: Hayakawa Shobo, 1992)

References

External links

* Japanese subtitlers 1906 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Japanese translators {{Japan-translator-stub