was a Japanese actor, radio host, singer, and prominent researcher and expert on Japanese folk art. He also founded the Shabondama-za

theater company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicat ...

. Ozawa, who was born in Tokyo, graduated from

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

. He began acting after college, beginning with his debut stage role in 1951. He also appeared in television and film roles, acting quite frequently in films directed by Shohei Imamura and Yūzō Kawashima. In 1971, Ozawa launched his long running radio show. A respected folk art expert, Ozawa also researched traditional Japanese

performing art The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Pe ...

s. He recorded and released "Nihon no Horo Gei" ("Japan's Itinerant Arts") based on his research. In 2004, Ozawa became the "mayor" of

Meiji Mura is an open-air architectural museum/theme park in Inuyama, near Nagoya in Aichi prefecture, Japan. It was opened on March 18, 1965. The museum preserves historic buildings from Japan's Meiji (1867–1912), Taishō (1912–1926), and early ...

, an open-air museum in

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

which showcases

Meiji Era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

architecture. The Japanese government awarded Ozawa the

Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

in 2001 and the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1994 for his body of work. Shōichi Ozawa died on December 10, 2012, at the age of 83.

Filmography

*'' Suzaki Paradise: Akashingō'' (1956) *''

Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate , also known as ''A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era'', is a 1957 Japanese comedy film directed by Yūzō Kawashima and written by Kawashima, Shōhei Imamura and Keiichi Tanaka. It was voted the fifth best Japanese film of all time in a p ...

'' (1957) *'' Endless Desire'' (1958) *'' My Second Brother'' (1959) *''

Pigs and Battleships is a 1961 Japanese satirical comedy film by director Shōhei Imamura. The film depicts black market trades between the U.S. military and the local underworld at Yokosuka. Plot The film focuses on Kinta, a member of the Himori Yakuza, who has ...

'' (1961) *''

Foundry Town is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Kirio Urayama. It was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival and won the Blue Ribbon Awards in 1962. Synopsis Kawaguchi in Saitama Prefecture is a city where many cupolas of foundries stand si ...

'' (1962) *'' The Insect Woman'' (1963) *'' Bad Girl'' (1963) * ''

Kunoichi ninpō is a Japanese term for . In popular culture, it is often used for female ninja or practitioner of ninjutsu (''ninpo''). The term was largely popularized by novelist Futaro Yamada in his novel in 1964. Although kunoichi have appeared in numerous ...

'' (1964) *'' Story of a Prostitute'' (1965) *''

Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon , also known as ''Space Gulliver'', is a 1965 Japanese animated feature that was released in Japan on March 20, 1965, and in the United States on July 23, 1966. Plot The story concerns a homeless boy named Ricky, or Ted in the Japanese version ...

'' (1965) *'' The Threat'' (1966) *''

The Pornographers is a 1966 satirical Japanese film directed by Shōhei Imamura. It is based on the novel ''Erogotoshitachi'' by Akiyuki Nosaka. Plot Subuyan Ogata is a pornographic filmmaker living in Osaka. His business is under threat from thieves, the gov ...

'' (1966) *'' A Fool's Love'' (1967) *'' The Human Bullet'' (1968) *'' Summer Soldiers'' (1972) *'' The Gate of Youth'' (1975) *'' Eijanaika'' (1981) *''

Tora-san's Promise , also called ''Torasan and a Paper Balloon'' in some regions, is a 1981 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Mikiko Otonashi as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san's Prom ...

'' (1981) *'' The Ballad of Narayama'' (1983) *'' Gonza the Spearman'' (1986) *''

Black Rain Black rain is liquid precipitation polluted with dark particulates, especially soot and ashes (including coal ash) resulting from wildfires, coal combustion, or nuclear explosions (a liquid type of nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is res ...

'' (1989) *'' The Eel'' (1997) *''

Dr. Akagi ''Dr. Akagi'', known in Japan as , is a 1998 Japanese comedy-drama film by director Shohei Imamura. For his work on the film, Yosuke Yamashita was awarded Best Film Score at the 1999 Mainichi Film Concours. Plot The film concerns Dr. Akagi, a ...

'' (1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ozawa, Shoichi 2012 deaths Japanese male stage actors Japanese male television actors Japanese male film actors Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class Waseda University alumni 1929 births Japanese actresses