(1868 – 1934) was a Japanese film promoter and producer who financially supported

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

activities over a period of nearly 20 years. In 1906 he founded the early Japanese film production company M. Pathe."Umeya Shokichi - The Revolutionist as Impresario", Peter B. High, 2005
- Detailed biography of Umeya Shokichi by a professor at

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...

Biography

Umeya was a pan-Asianist activist. Umeya was born in 1868 to a merchant family in

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. In 1882, he took his first trip abroad, going to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. There, he was both impressed by the city's Euro-American aspects and also witnessed the city's semi-colonial nature, racism, and inequality. In his early 20s, Umeya worked in his family's international business, selling rice in Korea and speculating on

gold mining in China Gold mining in the People's Republic of China has propelled the country to become the List of countries by gold production, world's largest Gold mining, gold producer since 2007. In 2022, China produced approximately of gold, maintaining its to ...

. In 1891, having experienced a series of business losses, he relocated to

Amoy Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

and then to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, where he opened a photography studio. By 1895, Umeya had relocated his family and photography studio to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. He first met Sun Yat-sen in 1895 in Hong Kong and became a supporter of Sun's revolutionary cause. Umeya began contributing funds to Sun's revolutionary activities and helped to secure weapons for the aborted

Canton Uprising The Guangzhou Uprising, Canton Uprising or Canton Riots of 1927 was a failed communist uprising in the city of Guangzhou (Canton) in southern China. Background The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Guangdong Provincial Committee had been pre ...

in 1895. In 1903, Umeya fled the authorities and went to Singapore. Drawing on his contacts with Sun's network, he entered the film exhibition business in order to help generate funds and popular support for the revolution. Umeya's film exhibition business became extremely profitable through showing news films about the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

(1904-1905). Audiences were enthused to see the success of a rising Asian power on the film screen. Returning to Japan in 1906, Umeya founded one of Japan's earliest film companies, M. Pathé. He named the film company after the French company

Pathé Frères Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

. Umeya used his profits to fund Sun's revolutionary activities, including providing financial support for the ''Mingbao newspaper.'' Purportedly based on Sun's suggestion to use cinema for the public benefit, Umeya sought to connect film to the development of science, industry, and education. As a result, M. Pathe in 1906, M. Pathe imported more than 120 educational and scientific films form Europe. In 1911, Umeya published ''A Treasured Encyclopedia of Moving Pictures'', which provided synopses of approximately 400 scientific and educational films. M. Pathe documented the success of the 1911 Xinhai Revolution beginning with the

Wuchang uprising The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan) in the Chinese province of Hubei on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthr ...

and leading to Sun's inauguration, producing three documentary films that covered the revolution.

References

External links

"Sun Yat-sen And Umeya Shokichi: China And Japan 100 Years Ago" The Japan Times Online, 22/07/2011

* [http://www.shfao.gov.cn/wsb/english/cooperation_and_Exchange/u1a16805.html "A Bosom Japanese Friend of Sun Yat-sen - The Unveiling of Bronze Statue of Umeya Shokichi Held in Shanghai", Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipality, 07/11/2011] Japanese film producers 1868 births 1934 deaths Japanese expatriates in Hong Kong {{HongKong-hist-stub

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links