was a Japanese

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

who photographed more than 100 films in a career that spanned 30 years. He worked for film directors such as

Shirō Toyoda was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed over 60 films during his career which spanned 50 years. He was denoted for his high-quality adaptations of works of many important twentieth-century Japanese writers. Career Born in Kyo ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Shigeyoshi Suzuki, and

Kajirō Yamamoto was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor who was known for his war films and comedies and as the mentor of Akira Kurosawa. The combined list of his efforts as a director for documentaries, silent, and sound films includes over 90 ...

. An award for new cinematographers was named after him in his memory.

Biography

Miura was born in

Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...

. He entered the Kamata section of the

Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...

film studios, where he shot his first film in 1925. In 1928, Miura made a trip to

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 ...

for reasons of research, where he was impressed by the use of shadows in the films of

Josef von Sternberg Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the Silent film, silent to the Sound film, sound era, during which he worked with mos ...

and the abundant lighting in Hollywood films in general. In an article he later contributed to the publication of the Japan Film Photographers Club (modeled on the

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...

), Miura emphasised the importance of lighting and tones in camerawork. After leaving Shochiku in the early 1930s, Miura worked for

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%). ...

, Fuji Eigasha, and

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 produc ...

's Irie Productions before finally entering P.C.L. (later

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. ...

) in the late 1930s. Films he worked on at P.C.L. included Mikio Naruse's ''A Woman's Sorrows'' and ''Learn From Experience'' (both 1937). In 1942, he photographed the war propaganda film '' The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya''. After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, Miura resumed working for Toho, but left following the strikes at the studio and joined Heinosuke Gosho's new production company, Studio Eight. He worked on Gosho's films, from ''Dispersed Clouds'' to '' Where Chimneys Are Seen'', after which the company disbanded. In his last years, he worked repeatedly for director Shirō Toyoda on films like ''

The Wild Geese ''The Wild Geese'' is a 1978 war film starring an ensemble cast led by Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris and Hardy Krüger. The film, which was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, was the result of a long-held ambition of producer Eua ...

'', '' Marital Relations,'' and ''

A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women , also titled ''Shozo, a Cat, and Two Women'', is a 1956 Japanese comedy film directed by Shirō Toyoda. It is based on Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's 1936 novella ''A Cat, a Man, and Two Women''. Plot Kitchenware salesman Shōzō shows more affection f ...

'', his final film. Miura died in 1956 at the age of 53. The Japan Film Photographers Club initiated the Mitsuo Miura Award for new cinematographers in his memory. In their 1959 book ''The Japanese Film – Art & Industry'',

Donald Richie Donald Richie (April 17, 1924 – February 19, 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also ...

and Joseph L. Anderson titled Miura "one of Japan's best cameramen." One of his apprentices was Hajime Koizumi, later regular cameraman for

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

Filmography (selected)

* 1931: '' Flunky, Work Hard!'' * 1937: ''A Woman's Sorrows'' * 1937: ''Learn From Experience'' * 1942: ''The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya'' * 1947: ''Once More'' * 1951: ''Dispersed Clouds'' * 1953: ''Where Chimneys Are Seen'' * 1953: ''The Wild Geese'' * 1955: ''Marital Relations'' * 1956: '' The Legend of the White Serpent'' * 1956: ''A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women''

Awards

* 1947:

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by ''Mainichi Shimbun'' (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of t ...

for Best Cinematography (''Once More'') * 1953: Blue Ribbon Award for Best Cinematography (''Where Chimneys Are Seen'', ''The Wild Geese'' and ''Aijō ni tsuite'') * 1956: Blue Ribbon Award for Best Cinematography and Mainichi Film Award for Best Cinematography (both for ''A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women'' and ''The Legend of the White Serpent'')

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miura Mitsuo 1902 births 1956 deaths Japanese cinematographers People from Miyagi Prefecture