was a Japanese
film critic
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...
,
theorist
A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...
and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
. His real name was .
Overviews
Born in
Niigata,
Niigata Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,131,009 (1 July 2023) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, He published more than a hundred books on film, and was one of Japan's foremost scholars and historians addressing film. He was recognized as one of the world's foremost authorities on Japanese cinema specifically, although little of his work had been translated for publication abroad. He also wrote books on Chinese,
Korean,
American
and European
films.
The international awareness of Sato's scholarship can be attributed to a collection of selected essays, ''Currents In Japanese Cinema'', published internationally in English translation in 1982. His ''Kenji Mizoguchi and the Art of Japanese Cinema'' was published in Japanese in 1982 and translated in 2008.
[Sato, Tadao, (trans. Brij Tankha) ''Kenji Mizoguchi and the Art of Japanese cinema'', Oxford; New York, NY : Berg, 2008. .] Sato has also frequently appeared as a primary source in the writing of other Japanese film historians, notably
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
Joan Mellen.
[Mellen, Joan. The Waves At Genji's Door, pp. 304, New York: Pantheon. 1975. .]
He was the president of the
Japan Institute of the Moving Image.
Bibliography
References
Tadao Sato's reflections on the Golden Age of cinema can be found in English translation in Abigail Deveney's scholarly paper
Influential Storytelling at its Finest: Why the Postwar West Took Notice of Yasujirō Ozu’s Tokyo Story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sato, Tadao
1930 births
2022 deaths
People from Niigata (city)
Film theorists
Japanese film critics
Recipients of the Legion of Honour
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
Film historians
People from Niigata Prefecture