was a Japanese

movie studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...

. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included

Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, 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 Maruben ...

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 al ...

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by ...

, and

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 ...

) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original

company following a bitter strike in 1947. To compete with the other major studios in the horror/supernatural movie field, Shintoho turned out a large group of such films between 1957 and 1960, including a number of period ghost movies and low-budget science fiction films (such as the ''Starman'' ('' Super Giant'') series which was designed to compete with rival then-popular characters ''

Planet Prince is a 1958 Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series created by Masaru Igami and produced by Senkosha, the series aired on NTV from November 4, 1958 to October 6, 1959, with a total of 49 episodes (comprising four separate adventures). I ...

'', '' Space Chief'' and '' Moonlight Mask''). Shintoho declared bankruptcy in 1961, its last production being '' Jigoku''.

Shintoho Starlet Program

Like the other major Japanese movie companies at that time, Shintoho was also recruiting so-called new faces under the name of "Shintoho Starlet". Recruitment started in 1951. However, due to the early bankruptcy of Shintoho, the materials have been scattered, and there are many unclear points in the information on successful applicants. One of the successful applicants was the future kickboxing sports-legend

Tadashi Sawamura was a Japanese kickboxer whose real name was . He was one of the first popular participants in the sport, and enjoyed great fame throughout his career. He is sometimes credited with sustaining the early boom in the popularity of kickboxing. ...

, who acted under pseudonym "Tetsuya Shiro".

Partial list of Shintoho's films

* ''Nozomi nakini arazu'' (1949) * ''Ikoku no oka'' (1949) * ''Nagarehoshi'' (1949) * ''Yu no machi ereji'' (1949) * ''Shin Tokyo ondo-Bikuri goningumi'' (1949) * '' Design of a Human Being'' * ''Shinya no kokuhaku'' (1949) * ''Guudo bai'' (1949) * ''Enoken - Okochi no Tabisugata ninki otoko'' * ''Zenigata Heiji torimonocho hikae-Heiji hapyakuyacho'' (1949) * '' Ginza kankan musume'' (1949) * ''Nabejima kaineko den'' (1949) * ''Otoko no namida'' (1949) * ''Daitokai no kao'' (1949) * ''Umon torimonocho-Nazo no hachiju hachiya'' (1949) * ''Tobisuke's Adventures'' (1949) * ''Hateshinaki jonetsu'' (1949) * ''Wasurerareta kora'' (1949) * ''Akireta museme tachi'' (1949) * ''

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 ...

'' (1949) * ''Enoken - Kasaoki no Gokuraku fufu'' (1949) * ''Ohara Shosuke-san'' (1949) * ''Damoi'' (1949) * ''Jinsei senshu'' (1949) * ''Rinchi'' (1949) * ''Kage wo shitaite'' (1949) * ''Enoken - Kasaoki no Osomehisamatsu'' (1949) * ''Shojoho'' (1950) * '' Aktsuki no daso'' (1950) (translation: ''Escape at Dawn'') * ''Tokyo Kachinka musume'' (1950) * ''Ishinaka sensei gyojyoki'' (1950) * ''Tsuma to onna kisha'' (1950) * ''Enoken no sokonuke daihoso'' (1950) * ''Umi no G-Men-Genkainada no musume'' (1950) * ''Muko sangen ryodonari-Koi no sanmoneko'' (1950) *''

Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers is a 1956 independent Japanese ''tokusatsu'' science fiction film directed and written by Shinichi Sekizawa, with special effects and cinematography by Sadao Uemura. Produced by Kokumotsu Films and distributed by Shintoho, it is Sekizawa's sol ...

'' (1956) * ''The Depths'' (1957) a.k.a. ''

Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi (''Ghost Story of Kasane Swamp''), also known as ''The Depths'', or ''The Ghost of Kasane'', is a 1957 black-and-white/ Scope Japanese horror film directed by Nobuo Nakagawa for Shintoho Films. The screenplay was based on a story called ''Shin ...

'' (''Ghost Story of Kasane Swamp'') * ''Seven Mysteries'' (1957) a.k.a. ''Ghost Story of Wanderer at Honjo'' (''Kaidan Honjo Nanfushigi'') * ''Starman: Atomic Rulers of the World'' (1957) * ''Starman: Invaders from Space'' (1957) * ''Starman: Attack from Space'' (1957) * ''Starman: Evil Brain from Outer Space'' (1958-1959) * '' Black Cat Mansion'' (1958) a.k.a. '' Borei Kaibyo Yashiki'' * '' Ghost of Chibusa Enoki'' (1958) a.k.a. ''Kaidan chibusa enoki'', a.k.a. ''The Mother Tree'' * ''The Ghost of Yotsuya'' (1959) a.k.a. '' Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan'' * ''Woman Vampire'' (''Onna kyuketsuki'') (1959) a.k.a. ''Lady Vampire'' * ''Girl Diver of Spook Mansion'' (1959) a.k.a. ''The Haunted Cave'' * ''Blood Sword of the 99th Virgin'' (1959) * ''Ghost of Kagami-ga-fuchi'' (1959) a.k.a. ''Kaidan Kagami-ga-fuchi'' * ''Ghost of the Girl Diver'' (1960) a.k.a. ''Kaidan ama yurei'' * ''Ghost Cat of Otama Pond'' (1960) a.k.a. ''Kaibyo Otama-ga-Ike''Lee, Walter W. (1973). "Reference Guide to Fantastic Films". Chelsea-Lee Books. Page 238 * '' Sennin Buraku'' (1960) * '' Jigoku'' (1960) a.k.a. ''Sinners of Hell''; released as "adults only"

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