was a Japanese
film studio active in the early years of cinema in
Japan. Its origins can be traced back to when
Einosuke Yokota received one of the first
Lumiere cinematograph machines in Japan from
Inabata Katsutarō to conduct traveling exhibitions of the device. In 1901, Yokota founded Yokota Shōkai and concentrated on film importing and exhibition. Around 1908, the company began contracting with
Shōzō Makino and his
Senbonza theater to begin creating
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 ...
(called ''kyūgeki'' at the time), which eventually made a star out of
Matsunosuke Onoe. Its first studio was the Nijō Castle Studio, the second the Hokkendō Studio. In 1912, Yokota Shōkai merged with
Yoshizawa Shōten
was a film studio and importer active in the early years of cinema in Japan. Originally involved in the magic lantern business, Yoshizawa bought a cinématographe camera off a visiting Italian and began exhibiting motion pictures in 1897. Run by ...
,
Fukuhōdō
was a Japanese film studio active in the early years of cinema in Japan.
Background
Fukuhōdō was founded in 1910 when Kenzō Tabata built a chain of modern, concrete movie theaters in Tokyo. To supply these eight theaters, Tabata started a p ...
, and
M. Pathe to form
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 ...
.
Notes
External links
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Yokota Shokai' in the Internet Movie Database
Japanese film studios
{{film-studio-stub