The Lights of Asakasu

Born in Kanda, Tokyo on June 3rd 1897 as the second son of marine products merchant Otojiro, Yasujiro Shimazu assisted with the family business after graduating from an English language school. But his passion for film grew, and in 1920 he applied to Shochiku after seeing a newspaper advertisement recruiting staff for their move into the film business. There he became an apprentice to Osanai Kaoru, and subsequently worked as an assistant director on the 1921 film Souls on the Road (Rojo no Reikon) at the Shochiku Cinema Institute.

His directorial debut Sabishiki Hitobito (1921) was shelved, but in 1922 he returned to Shochiku’s Kamata studio and was recognized as a director for films such as Yama no Senroban (1923). The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 destroyed studios in Tokyo and while most directors relocated to Kyoto, Shimazu remained in Tokyo and established a rapport with new Kamata studio head Shiro Kido. Then he made a switch from Shinpa melodramatic tragedies to modern dramas that revolved around ordinary lives, establishing a brand of “petit bourgeois” films that would become known as the Kamata style.

Beginning with First Steps Ashore (1932), he broke new ground in sound films, developing uniquely realistic talkies such as Our Neighbor Miss Yae (1934). Furthermore, he made a hit of his adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki’s novel Okoto to Sasuke, setting the stage for future literary films. In The Trio’s Engagements (1937), he applied his talents to creating to a new generation of stars. In 1939 he switched to Toho, but due to factors including growing state control of the film industry, he became unable to direct films at the same rate as in the past, but still delivered major hits such as Shirasagi (1941). Leaving The Daily Battle (1945) as his final work, he died of lung cancer on September 18th, 1945.

Shimazu was dedicated to cultivating new talent and many prominent filmmakers honed their skills working under him as assistant directors, such as Heinosuke Gosho, Shiro Toyoda, Kozaburo Yoshimura, and Keisuke Kinoshita at Shochiku, and Senkichi Taniguchi, Kiyoshi Saeki, and Hideo Sekikawa at Toho.

His style of vividly depicting ordinary lives, especially in domestic dramas, was carried on and created the foundations of Japanese cinema. Shimazu’s influence on Japanese film cannot be overestimated. —filmex.net