was a Japanese film director, most famous for making tragi-comic films and satires.

Career

Kawashima was born in

Mutsu, Aomori is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 56,244, and a population density of 65 persons per km2, in 28,778 households. The total area of the city is , making it the largest municipality in Aomori P ...

in the Shimokita Peninsula. From his youth, he suffered from a paralysis that affected his right leg and arm. He was educated at

Meiji University , abbreviated as Meiji (明治) or Meidai (明大'')'', is a private research university located in Chiyoda City, the heart of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1881 as Meiji Law School (明治法律学校, ''Meiji Hōritsu Gakkō'') by three Meiji-er ...

, where he was a member of the film study circle. He entered the

Shōchiku () 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 ...

studios in 1938 and served as an assistant director under

Minoru Shibuya was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Tokyo, Shibuya attended Keiō University but left before graduating. He joined Shochiku in 1930 and worked as an assistant under Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and Heinosuke Gosho, before making his ...

and

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 ...

before directing his first film, '' The Man Who Has Returned'', in 1944. At Shōchiku after the war, he made many comedies before switching to

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 ...

in 1955, when the studio resumed film production. There he made such notable works as '' Burden of Love'' (1955), '' Suzaki Paradise: Red Light District'' (1956), and ''

Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate is a 1957 Japanese comedy film directed by Yūzō Kawashima with a screenplay by Kawashima, Shōhei Imamura and Keiichi Tanaka. It was voted the fifth best Japanese film of all time in a poll of 140 Japanese critics and filmmakers conducted by ...

'' (1957), which was later voted the fifth best Japanese film of all time in

Kinema Junpō , 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 ...

's poll of 140 film critics and filmmakers in 1999. In his remaining years, Kawashima worked at multiple studios—

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 ...

, Tokyo Eiga, 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 an ...

— continuing to create satirical works like ''

Temptation on Glamour Island Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

'' (1959),'' Room for Let '' (1959), and ''

The Graceful Brute is a 1962 Japanese satire, satirical comedy film directed by Yuzo Kawashima, Yūzō Kawashima and written by Kaneto Shindō. Plot The family of ex-naval officer Tokizo Maeda lives in a small urban concrete block apartment, always quick at hiding ...

'' (1962), as well as literary adaptations like ''

Women Are Born Twice A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

'' (1961) and ''

The Temple of Wild Geese ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1962). Like many Japanese

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of the period, Kawashima was very prolific, completing 51 films during a career that only lasted 19 years. He died suddenly in 1963 of

cor pulmonale Pulmonary heart disease, also known as cor pulmonale, is the enlargement and failure of the right ventricle of the heart as a response to increased vascular resistance (such as from pulmonic stenosis) or high blood pressure in the lungs. Chronic ...

. His grave in Mutsu bears one of the lines from ''Kashima ari'': "Saying goodbye is all life is" (''Sayonara dake ga jinsei da'').

Influence

He was a key influence on Shohei Imamura, who worked as his assistant director and referred to him as "my teacher." Imamura later remade Kawashima's 1957 film ''Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate'' as '' Eijanaika''.

Selected filmography

* 1944 '' The Man Who Has Returned'' (還って来た男) * 1948 '' The Follower'' (追跡者) * 1948 '' Oh Citizens!'' (市民諸君) * 1952 '' Tonkatsu taishō'' (とんかつ大将) * 1954 '' The Path of Sincerity'' (真実一路) * 1953 ''

Ojōsan shachō , lit. "Madame Company President", is a 1953 Japanese black-and-white musical film directed by Yuzo Kawashima. Cast * Hibari Misora as Madoka Ohara * Ichirō Arishima as Tetsutaro Kaitani * Takiko Egawa as musical actress * Kodayu Ichikawa a ...

'' (お嬢さん社長), lit. "Madame Company President" * 1954 '' Between Yesterday and Tomorrow'' (昨日と明日の間) * 1955 '' Burden of Love'' (愛のお荷物) * 1955 '' Till We Meet Again'' (あした来る人) * 1955 '' Tales of Ginza'' (銀座二十四帖) * 1956 '' The Balloon'' (風船) * 1956 '' Suzaki Paradise: Red Light'' (洲崎パラダイス赤信号) * 1956 ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

'' (わが町) * 1956 '' Hungry Soul'' (飢える魂) * 1956 '' Hungry Soul, Part II'' (続飢える魂) * 1957 ''

'' (幕末太陽傳, aka ''Bakumatsu taiyōden'') * 1958 '' Woman Unveiled'' (女であること) * 1958 ''Noren'' (暖簾) * 1959 ''

'' (グラマ島の誘惑) * 1959 '' Room for Let'' (貸間あり) * 1960 '' The Flow of Evening'' (夜の流れ, aka ''The Lovelorn Geisha'') (with

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, ...

) * 1960 '' Soft Touch of Night'' (赤坂の姉妹夜の肌) * 1961 '' Romance Express'' (特急にっぽん) * 1961 ''

'' (女は二度生まれる, aka ''A Geisha’s Diary'') * 1962 '' The Temple of the Wild Geese'' (雁の寺) * 1962 '' The Tale of the Blue Beka Boat'' (青べか物語) * 1962 ''

'' (しとやかな獣, aka ''Elegant Beast'') * 1962 ''

Mount Hakone , with its highest peak Mount Kami (1,438 meters), is a complex volcano in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan that is truncated by two overlapping calderas, the largest of which is 10 × 11 km wide. The calderas were formed as a result of ...

'' (箱根山)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawashima, Yuzo 1918 births 1963 deaths Japanese film directors People from Mutsu, Aomori Meiji University alumni