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 .

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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 The , formerly known as the Yokohama Broadcasting Technical School, is a Japanese film school and university. It was founded in 1975 by film director Shohei Imamura. While a student at this school, director Takashi Miike was given his first film ...

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