was a Japanese

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...

active in the 1930s.

Background

Shinkō was established in September 1931 out of the remnants of the Teikoku Kinema studio with the help of Shōchiku capital. The historian Jun'ichirō Tanaka writes that the studio was part of Shōchiku's effort to monopolize the Japanese film industry, using Shinkō to control some of the independent production companies by distributing their films, and absorb rebellious talent who left rivals like

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 ...

or Fuji Eiga. And in fact, Shinkō did distribute the films of

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 H ...

stars like

Tsumasaburō Bandō was one of the most prominent List of Japanese actors, 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 Pro ...

and

Kanjūrō Arashi was a Japanese film actor. His nickname was "Arakan." He is famous for playing the role of '' Kurama Tengu'' sereies. He entered the film industry in 1927 and came to fame playing Kurama Tengu, a character in the Bakumatsu era created by Jirō ...

or gendaigeki stars such as

Takako Irie was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was ), she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own produ ...

. For a time, such directors as

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about 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), ''Ugets ...

Tomu Uchida , born Tsunejirō Uchida on 26 April 1898, was a Japanese film director. The stage name "Tomu" translates to “spit out dreams”. Early career Uchida started out at the Taikatsu studio in the early 1920s, but came to prominence at Nikkatsu, ad ...

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 ...

Shigeyoshi Suzuki was a Japanese football player who played for and later managed the Japan national team. Club career Suzuki was born in Fukushima Prefecture on October 13, 1902. He was a founding member of the football team at Waseda University High School in ...

, and Yutaka Abe, as well as such stars as

Tokihiko Okada (February 18, 1903 – January 16, 1934) was a silent film star in Japan during the 1920s and early 1930s. A native of Tokyo, he first started at the Taikatsu studio and later he was a leading player for Japanese directors such as Yasujirō ...

Isamu Kosugi was a Japanese actor and film director. Career Born in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, Kosugi first studied at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō before joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925. He came to prominence in tendency films such as '' Ikeru ...

Eiji Nakano was a Japanese film actor. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, Nakano attended Hōsei University, but left before graduating. When he was playing for the Nikkatsu amateur baseball team, he was scouted as an actor and made his debut in 1925 in ' ...

Fumiko Yamaji is a feminine Japanese given name. Possible writings *文子 (sentence, child) - also can be read as " Ayako" *富美子 or 冨美子 (wealthy beautiful child) *芙美子 (hibiscus, beautiful child) *史子 (historical child) People with the na ...

and Mitsuko Mori made movies there.

Masaichi Nagata was a Japanese businessman and served as president of Daiei Film. The self-proclaimed creator of Gamera, he produced the kaiju's second film ''Gamera vs. Barugon'', with the remainder of the Showa ''Gamera'' films produced instead by his son Hi ...

became studio head at one point. Its main offices were located in Hatchōbori in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, and its studios in Uzumasa in

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 c ...

and Ōizumi (now in

Nerima is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Nerima City. , the ward has an estimated population of 721,858, with 323,296 households and a population density of 15,013 persons per km2, while 15,326 foreign residents are ...

) in

Merger

Shinkō, however, could not retain such talent and remained a second-rank studio. In the 1941 government-led reorganization of the industry, it was merged with Daito Eiga and the production arm of

to form

Daiei Studios Daiei Film Co. Ltd. (Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing n ...

. The Tokyo and Kyoto studios of the

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by ...

are currently located on the sites of the old Shinkō studios.

References

Japanese film studios {{leisure-company-stub

Background

Merger

See also

References