was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

best known for starring roles in

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 ...

directed by leading Japanese filmmakers.

Early life and family

Ōkōchi was born Masuo Ōbe on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi, Buzen),

Fukuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

, the fifth son and eighth of nine children of town physician Susumu Ōbe and his wife Aki. Ōkōchi was born to a family of physicians; his father Susumu was the 16th generation of the Ōbe family of physicians, and had served as a personal physician to the

daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally ...

before establishing his own practice following the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. His paternal grandmother was the daughter of Suematsu Gendō, the domain doctor of

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen lin ...

. His mother Aki was the daughter of a

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

scholar and

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

in the service of

Nakatsu Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Buzen Province in modern-day Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu. The domain was centered at Nakatsu Castle in what is now Nakatsu, Ōita. In the han system, Nakatsu was a po ...

Career

Ōkōchi entered Shinkokugeki (New National Theatre), training under Sawada Shōjirō (aka Sawasho). Sawada founded this new school of popular theatre in 1917 which had strong cultural impact by the early 1920s.Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto, ''Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema'', Duke University Press, 2000; Ch "Seven Samurai" p213 Shinkokugeki was known for

the period drama genre, particularly for its realistic sword fights (''tate'') or swordplay (''kengeki''). With this background, Ōkōchi entered the

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 ...

studio in 1925 and soon came to fame in

chanbara , 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 '' ...

(sword-fighting)

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 '' ...

– a subgenre of jidaigeki emphasizing ''tate'' – playing characters such as Chūji Kunisada and

Tange Sazen Tange may refer to: People: *Arthur Tange (1914–2001), Australian senior public servant * Jun Watanabe Tange or Watanabe Jun (born 1954), Japanese architect, former professor at Chubu University *Kenzo Tange (1913–2005), Japanese architect, win ...

. At his peak, he was one of the top jidaigeki stars alongside

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 ...

and Chiezō Kataoka. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he also appeared in a number of

war films War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war f ...

. He was directed by

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 ...

Ishiro Honda Ishiro may refer to: * Chamacoco language, or Ishiro, a language of South America * Chamacoco, or Ishiro, an ethnic group of South America * Ishirō Honda (1911–1993), Japanese film director See also * Ichirō , also written Ichiro, Ichirou ...

, Daisuke Itō,

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Death

Ōkōchi had ceased acting by 1961, dying a year later on July 18, 1962.

Legacy

His house and garden in

Arashiyama is a district on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Japan. It also refers to the mountain across the Ōi River, which forms a backdrop to the district. Arashiyama is a nationally designated Historic Site and Place of Scenic Beauty. Notable to ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, called

Ōkōchi Sansō is the former home and garden of the Japanese ''jidaigeki'' (period film) actor Denjirō Ōkōchi in Arashiyama, Kyoto. The villa is open to the public for an admission fee and is known for its gardens and views of the Kyoto area. Several of the b ...

, are still preserved and open to the public.

Selected filmography

*'' Yaji and Kita: The Battle of Toba Fushimi'' (1927) *'' Yaji and Kita: Yasuda's Rescue'' (1927) *''

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 ...

'' (xxxx) (忠治旅日記 Chūji tabi nikki) *''

Oatsurae Jirokichi Koshi is a 1931 black and white Japanese silent film with benshi accompaniment directed by Daisuke Itō. It is the only completely preserved silent film directed by Ito and related the life of a legendary thief, Jirokichi the Rat, in an exquisite or ...

'' (1931) *''

The Million Ryo Pot is a 1935 black and white Japanese comedy film directed by Sadao Yamanaka and starring Denjirō Ōkōchi. Cast * Denjirō Ōkōchi: Tange Sazen * Kiyozo: Ofuji * Kunitaro Sawamura: Genzaburo Yagyu * Reisaburo Yamamoto: Yokichi * Minoru Taka ...

'' (1935) *'' The Giant'' (1938) *''

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 ...

'' (1942) *''

Sanshiro Sugata is a 1943 Japanese martial arts drama film and the directorial debut of the Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa. First released in Japan on 25 March 1943 by Toho film studios, the film was eventually released in the United States on 28 April 1 ...

'' (1943) *''

Ano hata o ute (Filipino: ''Liwayway ng Kalayaan'') also known as ''Dawn of Freedom'',, pp. 100-102 and ''Shoot That Flag: The End of Corregidor'' is a 1943 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Yutaka Abe and Gerardo de León. Synopsis The opening credits ...

'' (1944) *''

Sanshiro Sugata Part II is a 1945 Japanese action drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the novel by Tsuneo Tomita, son of Tomita Tsunejirō, the earliest disciple of judo. It was filmed in early 1945 in Japan towards the end of World War II. ...

'' (1945) *''

The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail is a 1945 Japanese period drama film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, based on the kabuki play ''Kanjinchō'', which is in turn based on the Noh play '' Ataka''. It depicts a famous 12th century incident in which Yoshitsune and a small ...

'' (1945) *''

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) *''

Aru yo no Tonosama is a 1946 Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. Cast *Kazuo Hasegawa *Isuzu Yamada *Hideko Takamine * Chōko Iida *Mitsuko Yoshikawa *Ichiro Sugai *Tetsu Nakamura *Takashi Shimura *Eitarō Shindō *Susumu Fujita *Denjirō Ōkōchi Awards ...

'' (1946) *'' The Tale of Genji'' (1951) *''

Dedication of the Great Buddha is a 1952 Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Shinobu Araki as Ryōben * Kōtarō Bandō * Kazuo Hasegawa as Kunihito Tateto * Sumiko Hidaka as Morime Ōmiya * Tatsuya Ishig ...

'' (1952) *''

Eagle of the Pacific , also known as ''Operation Kamikaze'', is a 1953 Japanese 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 the role of ...

'' (Taiheiyô no washi) (1953) *''

The Princess Sen is a color 1954 Japanese film directed by Keigo Kimura. Cast See also * Senhime (May 26, 1597 – March 11,February 6 in the old calendar 1666), or Lady Sen, was the eldest daughter of the '' shōgun'' Tokugawa Hidetada and later the ...

'' (1954) *''

Yagyu Secret Scrolls is a 1957 color Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki. Other English titles include: ''Yagyu Bugeicho – Ninjitsu part 1'', ''Secret Scrolls'', ''Yagyu Secret Scrolls Part I''. It was followed by a sequel in 1958, . Cast * Toshirō Mifun ...

'' (1957) *'' Dai-bosatsu tōge'' (1957) *'' Akō Rōshi'' (1961)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okochi, Denjiro Japanese male film actors 1898 births 1962 deaths People from Buzen, Fukuoka Actors from Fukuoka Prefecture Japanese male silent film actors 20th-century Japanese male actors