10 Facts About Shochiku

Shochiku Company, Limited is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company.

Shochiku is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, and the oldest of Japan's "Big Four" film studios.

Shochiku is considered the oldest company in Japan involved in present-day film production, but Nikkatsu began earlier as a pure film studio in 1912.

The onyomi reading of Shochiku first appeared in 1920 with the founding of the film production subsidiary "Shochiku Kinema Gomei-sha".

Shochiku grew quickly in the early years, expanding its business to many other Japanese live theatrical styles, including Noh and Bunraku, and established a near monopoly due to its ownership of theaters, as well as kabuki and shimpa drama troupes.

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In 1931, Shochiku released the first “talkie” made in Japan: The Neighbor's Wife and Mine .

In 1953, after the end of the occupation, Kido returned to Shochiku and revived the melodramatic style of films which had been a Shochiku trademark in the pre-war era.

Shochiku continued to maintain its family-orientated audience largely due to the phenomenal success of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series directed by Yoji Yamada from 1969 through 1997.

In 1986, Shochiku decided to focus on exporting products, such as towards a large, worldwide effort that was scheduled for 1987 to promote the company's classics throughout the west.

Since that time, Shochiku has relied on its film studio and backlot in Kyoto.