14 Facts About Kaoru Osanai

Kaoru Osanai, was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and actor central in the development of modern Japanese theater.

Kaoru Osanai was born on July 26,1881, in Hiroshima, the second son of Director of Hiroshima Army Garrison Hospital, Takeshi Osanai.

Kaoru Osanai's father was a former samurai from Hirosaki Domain.

Kaoru Osanai subsequently moved to Tokyo where he received his education.

Kaoru Osanai studied English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, graduating in 1906.

In 1909, Kaoru Osanai founded the Free Theater with Ichikawa Sadanji II and staged translations of Ibsen, Chekov, and Gorky, but there he experienced the limits of doing realist theater with kabuki actors.

Kaoru Osanai described these limits as an "existing theatrical poison", for he aimed to extend the boundaries of kabuki as part of the shingeki movement.

Kaoru Osanai was one of the many animators who contributed toward defining the fundamental aspects of shingeki theatre.

Between December 1912 and August 1913, Kaoru Osanai traveled throughout Europe to experience modern theater first-hand.

Kaoru Osanai was particularly impressed with the work of the Moscow Art Theatre.

Kaoru Osanai played an important role in film history when he was hired by Shochiku in 1920 to head their actors school.

Kaoru Osanai helped produce and appeared in Souls on the Road, a groundbreaking work in Japanese cinema, and raised such important film talents as Minoru Murata, Kiyohiko Ushihara, Daisuke Ito, Yasujiro Shimazu, and Denmei Suzuki.

Kaoru Osanai taught at Keio University and helped support such young writers as Jun'ichiro Tanizaki.

On December 25,1928, Kaoru Osanai collapsed at a Chinese restaurant in Nihonbashi during a thank-you party held after the performance of Fumiko Enchi's first play Banshun Soya, and died shortly after returning home.