is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed ''

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the

Kabuki-za in Ginza is the principal theater in Tokyo for the traditional ''kabuki'' drama form. History The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and o ...

theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and established the Kamata Film Studio. Currently, it is considered one of Japan's Big Four film studios and is the oldest among the Big Four. Shochiku is a member of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ). It also produces and distributes

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

films, in particular those produced by

Bandai Namco Filmworks is a Japanese entertainment company owned by Bandai Namco Holdings with its business focused on production, planning, and management of anime. It was founded in September 1972 by former Mushi Production staff as the animation studio branch o ...

(which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all, anime films produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks). Its best remembered directors include

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese filmmaker. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in the 1930s. The most pr ...

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...

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 Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

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 ...

and Yōji Yamada. It has also produced films by highly regarded independent and "loner" directors such as

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and surrealism, b ...

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy '' The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology '' Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sen ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

ese New Wave director

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien ( zh, t=侯孝賢, poj=Hâu Hàu-hiân; born 8 April 1947) is a retired Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema mo ...

History

As Shochiku Kinema

The company was founded in 1895 as a

production company and later began producing films in 1920. Shochiku is considered the oldest company in Japan involved in present-day film production, but

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

began earlier as a pure film studio in 1912. Founded by the brothers Takejirō Ōtani (大谷竹次郎) and Matsujirō Shirai (白井松次郎), it was named “Matsutake” in 1902 after the combined ''

kunyomi is the way of reading kanji characters using the native Japanese word that matches the meaning of the Chinese character when it was introduced. This pronunciation is contrasted with ''on'yomi'', which is the reading based on the original Chi ...

'' reading of the ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' ''take'' (

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

) and ''matsu'' (

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

) from their names, reflecting the traditional three symbols of happiness: bamboo, pine, and plum. The ''

onyomi , or the Sino-Japanese reading, is the reading of a kanji based on the historical Chinese pronunciation of the character. A single kanji might have multiple ''on'yomi'' pronunciations, reflecting the Chinese pronunciations of different period ...

'' reading of ''Shōchiku'' first appeared in 1920 with the founding of the film production subsidiary "Shōchiku Kinema Gōmei-sha". Shochiku grew quickly in the early years, expanding its business to many other Japanese live theatrical styles, including ''

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. It is Japan's oldest major theater art that is still regularly performed today. Noh is often based on tales from traditional literature featuri ...

'' and ''

Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers), the (chanters) ...

'', and established a near monopoly due to its ownership of theaters, as well as ''kabuki'' and ''

shimpa (also rendered ''shimpa'') is a modern form of theater in Japan usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional ''kabuki'' style. Taking its start in the 1880s, it later spread to cinema. Art form Theatre historians ...

'' drama troupes. The company began making films in 1920, about a decade after its main rival Nikkatsu. The company sought to break away from the prevailing pattern of ''

jidai-geki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants ...

'' and to emulate

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

standards. It was the first film studio to abandon the use of female impersonators and brought new ideas, including the

star system A star system or stellar system is a small number of stars that orbit each other, bound by gravity, gravitational attraction. It may sometimes be used to refer to a single star. A large group of stars bound by gravitation is generally calle ...

and the

sound stage A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a large, soundproof structure, building or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or te ...

to Japan. It built its main studio at Kamata, named Shochiku Kamata Studio, between Tokyo and Yokohama, and hired

Henry Kotani was a pioneering Japanese film director and cinematographer. Career Born Kuraichi Kotani in Hiroshima Prefecture, Kotani emigrated to the United States with his parents when he was still a boy. Graduating from high school, he began working ...

, a Japanese who had worked in Hollywood as an actor and cameraman to direct its first film, ''Island Woman'' (''Shima no Onna'', 1920). It also hired the prominent theater director

Kaoru Osanai , was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and actor central in the development of modern Japanese theater. Biography Kaoru Osanai was born on July 26, 1881, in Hiroshima, the second son of Director of Hiroshima Army Garrison Hospital, Takes ...

to head a school at the studio, which produced the film '' Souls on the Road'' (1921), a film directed by

Minoru Murata was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor who was one of the major directors of the silent era in Japan. Career Born in Tokyo, Murata started out as a shingeki actor on the stage. Murata's troupe appeared in the first " pure films ...

which is considered "the first landmark film in Japanese history". However, Shochiku's early history was difficult, as audiences preferred the more action-packed ''jidai-geki'' historical swashbucklers over the

shinpa (also rendered ''shimpa'') is a modern form of theater in Japan usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional ''kabuki'' style. Taking its start in the 1880s, it later spread to cinema. Art form Theatre historians ...

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

s, and its Kamata studios were destroyed by the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The 1923 Great Kantō earthquake (, or ) was a major earthquake that struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshu at 11:58:32 JST (02:58:32 UTC) on Saturday, 1 September 1923. It had an approximate magnitude of 8.0 on the mom ...

, forcing a temporary relocation to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. With the reopening of its Kamata studios, Shochiku also introduced the ''

shomin-geki , literally "petty bourgeois film" or "lower middle class film", is a genre of Japanese realist films which focus on the everyday lives of ordinary or middle class people. An alternate term for the is the pseudo-Japanese word , literally "common ...

'' genre,Alexander Jacoby, ''A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors'', 2008, Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, p.381. with stories reflecting the lives of the lower-middle urban classes. These dramas proved immensely popular, and marked the start of the careers of many prominent directors (including Ozu, Naruse, and Hiroshi Shimizu) and actors (including

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

). In 1931, Shochiku released the first “

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

” made in Japan: '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'' ''(Madamu to nyōbō'', 1930). Filming became increasingly difficult at the Kamata studios during the 1930s with the rapid industrialization of the surrounding area, such as the construction of munitions factories and metal foundries, and Shochiku decided to close the studio and relocate to Ofuna, near

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

in 1936. The following year, Shochiku Kinema was merged with its parent company, Shochiku Entertainment, and adopted the new name of Shochiku Corporation.

As Shochiku Corporation

During the war years, Shochiku's president, Shiro Kido, helped establish the Dai Nippon Eiga Kyokai (Greater Japan Film association), whose purpose was to coordinate the industry's efforts with Japanese government policy. From the mid-1930s until 1945, the films produced by Shochiku and other Japanese movie companies were

propagandistic Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

. After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

, Kido and Shochiku's co-founder Otani were arrested and charged with Class-A war crimes by the Allied occupation authorities however, Otani's charges were ultimately dropped after the list of war criminals was deemed too large. 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. Directors associated with Shochiku in this era included Ozu,

, and

Noboru Nakamura was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Biography After graduating from the Tokyo Imperial University Faculty of Letters in 1936, Nakamura joined the Shochiku film studios, working as an assistant director for Torajirō Saitō and Yas ...

. Many of the films during the 1950s were aimed primarily at female audiences. In particular, Hideo Oba's three-part ''What is Your Name?'' (''Kimi no na wa?'') in 1953 was the most commercially successful film of the period. Ozu's ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...

'', made in 1953, later earned considerable accolades, being selected in the 2012

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

international critics poll as the third best film of all time.

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

was Shochiku's primary rival during this period, competing for talent and properties as well as with the influx of Hollywood films and the rise of television. By the start of the 1960s, Shochiku's films were criticized as “old-fashioned” with the popularity of rival

’s ''Taiyo-zoku'' youth-orientated movies. The studio responded by launching the

Japanese New Wave The is a term for a group of loosely-connected Japanese films and filmmakers between the late 1950s and part of the 1970s. The most prominent representatives include directors Nagisa Ōshima, Yoshishige Yoshida, Masahiro Shinoda and Shōhei I ...

(''Nuberu bagu'') which also launched the career of

Nagisa Oshima is a Japanese name, Japanese given name used by either sex and is occasionally used as a surname. Written forms Nagisa can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *渚, "beach, strand" *汀, "water's edge/shore" *凪砂, "lu ...

among others, though Oshima soon went independent; the films of Oshima and other film makers were not financially successful and the company changed its policies. However, the growing threat from television led to the bankruptcy of Shochiku’s competitors

Shintoho was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company ...

in 1961 and

Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, 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 ...

in 1971, whereas

and Toei turned to gangster movies and soft pornography to maintain attendance, while

continued to thrive with its

kaiju is a Japanese term that is commonly associated with media involving giant monsters. Its widespread contemporary use is credited to ''tokusatsu'' (special effects) director Eiji Tsuburaya and filmmaker Ishirō Honda, who popularized the ''kaiju'' ...

films and prestige talent roster. Shochiku held its family-orientated audience largely due to the phenomenal success of the Tora-san series directed by

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ('' The Twilight Samurai'', '' The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography Yamada was born in Osaka, but due to his father' ...

from 1969 through 1997. However, with the death of its star

Kiyoshi Atsumi , born , was a Japanese actor. He is best known for portraying Tora-san in the Japanese comedy film series Otoko wa Tsurai yo, a role he played 48 times over 26 years. Life and career Atsumi was born in Tokyo suffering from childhood malnutr ...

, the series came to an end, and the company faced increasing financial difficulties. 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. The Ofuna studio was briefly transformed into a theme park, Kamakura Cinema World, but this was closed in 1998 and the site was sold off in 2000 to Kamakura Women's College. Since that time, Shochiku has relied on its film studio and

backlot A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction. Uses Some movie studios build a wide variety of ...

in Kyoto. Yamada’s “ The Twilight Samurai” (Tasogare Seibei, 2002) was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Picture. Shochiku served as a distributor of theatrical

. Major titles have included the ''

Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine '' Nakayoshi'' from the June 1996 to August 2000 issues, it was also published in ...

'' films, the ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also retrospectively known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Na ...

'' films, '' Origin: Spirits of the Past'', '' Piano no Mori'', ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'', '' Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa'', '' Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos'', ''

Sword of the Stranger A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip ...

'', '' Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess'', '' The Dog of Flanders'' and ''

Jungle Emperor Leo ''Jungle Emperor Leo'', known in Japan as is a 1997 Japanese animated adventure drama film focusing on the last half of Osamu Tezuka's manga, '' Jungle Taitei'' (known in earlier US productions as ''Kimba the White Lion'' and '' Leo the Lion'') ...

''.

Shareholders

''as of October 2015'' * Kabuki-za Theatrical Corp., 3.44% *

Mizuho Corporate Bank , or MHCB, was the corporate and investment banking subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, the second-biggest Japanese financial services conglomerate, prior to the reintegration of investment banking services under the Mizuho Bank name in July 20 ...

, 3.22%

Partial list of Shochiku's films

*''Island Woman'' (''Shima no Onna'') (1920), directed by

*'' Souls on the Road'' (1921), directed by

*'' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'' (1931), directed by

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first successful sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shōshimin-eiga (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his ...

*'' I Was Born, But...'' (1932), directed by

*''

Every-Night Dreams is a 1933 Japanese silent drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. The film follows a single mother who works as a bar hostess and her struggles to provide for her son in depression-era Japan. Plot Omitsu works as a hostess in a harbour bar entert ...

'' (1933), directed by

*''

Mr. Thank You is a 1936 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu (director), Hiroshi Shimizu. It is based on a short story by Nobel Prize for Literature, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Yasunari Kawabata, and noted for its portrayal of ...

'' (1936), directed by Hiroshi Shimizu *'' Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors'', directed by

Mitsuyo Seo was a Japanese animator, screenwriter, and film director, director of animated films who played a central role in the development of Japanese anime. He was born in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture. Career Initially working as a sign painter, Seo began ...

* ''

A Ball at the Anjo House is a 1947 Japanese drama film directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura. The film won the 1947 Kinema Junpo Award for Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year, Best Film. Plot After Japan's defeat in the Pacific War, the wealthy Anjō family have to ...

'' (1947), directed by Kozaburo Yoshimura * '' President and a Female Clerk'' (1948), music by

Akira Ifukube was a Japanese composer. He is best known for composing several entries in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchise as well as developing the Godzilla, titular monster's roar. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born o ...

*''The New Version of the Ghost of Yotsuya'' (1949) a.k.a. ''Shinshaku

Yotsuya kaidan , the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon, is a tale of betrayal, murder and onryou, ghostly revenge. Arguably the most famous Kaidan (parapsychology), Japanese ghost story of all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times and continues to be ...

''; filmed in two parts *''

Carmen Comes Home is a 1951 Japanese comedy film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It was Japan's first feature length colour film. Plot Due to the renovation of the Tokyo based venue where she works, Okin, stage name Lily Carmen, and her lovesick friend Maya pay h ...

'' (1951); in Color *'' The Idiot'' (1951); in Monochrome *''

Twenty-Four Eyes is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Sakae Tsuboi. The film stars Hideko Takamine as a young schoolteacher who lives during the rise and fall of Japanese nationalism in the ea ...

'' (1954) *''The Mask of Destiny'' (1955) *''The Dancing Mistress'' (1957) a.k.a. ''Kaidan Iro-Zange Kyoran Onna Shisho'', directed by Ryosuke Kurahashi *'' The Ballad of Narayama'' (1958); in Color/GrandScope *''

Harakiri , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near t ...

'' (1962) a.k.a. ''Sepuku''; in Shochiku-Regalscope *'' Samurai Spy'' (1962) a.k.a. ''Spy Hunter''; in Shochiku-European Scope *''

The X From Outer Space is a 1967 Japanese science fiction ''kaiju'' film directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu, and stars Eiji Okada and Toshiya Wazaki. Guilala returned in a 2008 Shochiku sequel (of sorts) called '' Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit''. Plot The s ...

'' (1967) a.k.a. ''Uchu daikaiju Guirara'' / ''Giant Space Monster Guilala'', directed by

Kazui Nihonmatsu (born 9 April 1922, date of death unknown) was a Japanese film director. Biography After graduating in Business at the Waseda University, Nihonmatsu was hired at the Shochiku Ofuna Photographic Office in 1948 and later became assistant director ...

; in Color/ScopeGalbraith, Stuart (1994). ''Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films''. McFarland. p. 325. *'' Black Lizard'' (1968) a.k.a. ''Kurotokage''; in Color/Scope *''Curse of the Blood''/ ''Kaidan zankoku monogatari'' (1968) a.k.a. ''Cruel Ghost Legend''; in Color/Scope *'' Goké, Body Snatcher from Hell'' (1968) a.k.a. ''Vampire Gokemidoro''; in Color/ScopeGalbraith, Stuart (1994). ''Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films''. McFarland. p. 321. *''

Genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

'' (1968) a.k.a. ''War of the Insects'', directed by

; in Color/Scope *'' The Living Skeleton'' (1968) in Black and White/Scope *''The Black Rose Inn'' (1969) a.k.a. ''Kurobarano yakata''Galbraith, Stuart (1994). ''Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films''. McFarland. p. 323. *'' The Rendezvous'' (1972); in Color (Fujicolor)/CinemaScope *'' The Castle of Sand'' (1974); in Color/Scope *''Village of the Eight Gravestones'' (1977) a.k.a. ''Yatsu hukamura'' *'' Demon Pond'' (1979) a.k.a. ''Yashagaike'' *''Children of Nagasaki'' (1982); in Color/Widescreen *'' Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!'' (1986), animated feature film *''

Hachikō Monogatari is a 1987 Japanese drama film directed by Seijirō Kōyama and written by Kaneto Shindo. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Kaoru Yachigusa, Mako Ishino and Masumi Harukawa, the film depicts the true story of Hachikō, a loyal Akita dog who continued to w ...

'' (1987) a.k.a. ''The Tale of Hachikō'', directed by

Seijirō Kōyama (born 16 July 1941) is a Japanese film director. Career Born in Gifu Prefecture, Kōyama attended Nihon University but quit midway to join the independent production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai, where he worked as an assistant director under su ...

*''

The Discarnates is a 1988 Japanese fantasy drama mystery film directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi from a screenplay by Shin'ichi Ichikawa, based on the novel'' Strangers'' by Taichi Yamada. Produced and distributed by Shochiku, the film was released in Japan on Septe ...

'' (1988); in Color/

VistaVision VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format that was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the ...

*''

Venus Wars is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It was serialized in the Gakken magazine ''Nora Comics'' from 1986 to 1990. In 1989, ''The Venus Wars'' was adapted into an anime film directed by Yasuhiko, co-written ...

'' (1989), animated feature film *''

The Guyver ''The Guyver'' (released in Europe and South America as ''Mutronics'') is a 1991 science fiction ''tokusatsu'' superhero film directed by Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, and produced by Brian Yuzna. Loosely based on the Japanese manga se ...

'' (1991), co-produced with

Brian Yuzna Brian Yuzna is an American film producer, director, and writer. He is best known for his work in the science fiction and horror film genres. Yuzna began his career as a producer for several films by director Stuart Gordon, such as ''Re-Animator ...

*'' Jankenman: The Great Monster Battle'' (1992), animated short feature film *'' Floral Magician Mary Bell: The Key of the Phoenix'' (1992), animated short feature film *'' Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture'' (1994), animated feature film *''

'' (1997), animated feature film *'' Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie'' (1999), animated feature film *'' Cardcaptor Sakura Movie 2: The Sealed Card'' (2000), animated feature film *'' Ah! My Goddess: The Movie'' (2000), animated feature film *'' Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit'' (2008), features the return of Guilala after 41 years of absence"ギララの逆襲／洞爺湖サミット危機一発". Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 27 December 2020. *'' A Silent Voice'' (2016), animated feature film *'' Violet Evergarden: Eternity and the Auto Memory Doll'' (2019)

References

External links

Shochiku Co., Ltd.
{{Authority control Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Fukuoka Stock Exchange Anime companies Mass media companies based in Tokyo Distribution companies based in Tokyo Mass media companies established in 1895 Film distributors of Japan Japanese film studios International sales agents Mass media companies of Japan Japanese brands Japanese companies established in 1895 Film production companies established in the 1890s