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Shochiku
The '''Shochiku Company, Limited''' (松竹株式会社, ''Shōchiku Kabushiki gaisha'')  is a Japanese movie studio, cinema chain, and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include [[:en:Yasujirō_Ozu|Yasujirō Ozu]], [[:en:Kenji_Mizoguchi|Kenji Mizoguchi]], [[:en:Mikio_Naruse|Mikio Naruse]], [[:en:Keisuke_Kinoshita|Keisuke Kinoshita]] and [[:en:Yoji_Yamada|Yōji Yamada]]. It has also produced films by highly regarded independent and "loner" directors such as [[:en:Takashi_Miike|Takashi Miike]], [[:en:Takeshi_Kitano|Takeshi Kitano]], [[:en:Akira_Kurosawa|Akira Kurosawa]], [[:en:Masaki_Kobayashi|Masaki Kobayashi]] and Taiwanese New Wave director [[:en:Hou_Hsiao-hsien|Hou Hsiao-hsien]].

Shochiku is one of the four members of the [[:en:Cinema_of_Japan|Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan]] (MPPAJ), and the oldest of Japan's "Big Four" film studios.

== History ==
'''As Shochiku Kinema'''⏎
⏎
== Early history ==

The company was founded in 1895 as a [[kabuki]] production company and later began producing films in 1920. Shochiku is considered the oldest company in Japan involved in present-day film production, but [[Nikkatsu]] began earlier as a pure film studio in 1912. Founded by the brothers [[Takejirō Ōtani]] (大谷竹次郎) and [[Matsujirō Shirai]] (白井松次郎), it was named “Matsutake” in 1902 after the combined ''kunyomi'' reading of the ''kanji'' ''take'' (bamb(contracted; show full)x27; ''(Madamu to nyōbō'', 1930). Filming became increasing difficult at the Kamata studios during the 1930s with the rapid industrialization of the surrounding area with munitions factories and metal foundries, and Shochiku decided to close the studio and relocate to [[Ōfunato, Iwate|Ofuna]], near [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]] in 1936. The following year, Shochiku Kinema was merged with its parent company, Shochiku Entertainment, and adopted the new name of Shochiku Corporation.

== 
As Shochiku CorporationSince WW2 ==
During the [[:en:World_War_II|Second World War]], Shochiku's President, [[Shiro Kido]], helped establish the Dai Nippon Eiga Kyokai (Greater Japan Film Association), whose purpose was to coordinate the industry's efforts with Japanese government policy. From the mid-1930s until 1945, the films produced by Shochiku and other Japanese movie companies were propagandistic. After the [[:en:Surrender_of_Japan|surrender of Japan]], Kido and Shochiku's co-founder Otani were arrested and charged with Class-A war crimes by the [[:en:Occupation_of_(contracted; show full)formed into a theme park, Kamakura Cinema World, but this was closed in 1998 and the site was sold off in 2000 to [[:en:Kamakura_Women's_University|Kamakura Women's College]]. Since that time, Shochiku has relied on its film studio and backlot in Kyoto. Yamada’s “[[:en:The_Twilight_Samurai|The Twilight Samurai]]” (''Tasogare Seibei'', 2002) was nominated for an [[Academy Award|Oscar]] as [[:en:Academy_Award_for_Best_International_Feature_Film|Best Foreign Language Picture]].


Shochiku served as a distributor of theatrical [[anime]]. Major titles have included the ''[[:en:Cardcaptor_Sakura|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' films, ''[[:en:Mobile_Suit_Gundam|Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' movies, ''[[:en:Origin:_Spirits_of_the_Past|Origin: Spirits of the Past]]'', ''[[:en:Forest_of_Piano|Piano no Mori]]'', ''[[:en:Ghost_in_the_Shell|Ghost in the Shell]]'', ''[[:en:Fullmetal_Alchemist_the_Movie:_Conqueror_of_Shamballa|Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa]]'', ''[[:en:Fullmetal_Alchemist:_The_Sacred_Star_of_Milos|Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos]]'', ''[[:en:Sword_of_the_Stranger|Sword of the Stranger]]'', ''[[:en:Fairy_Tail_the_Movie:_Phoenix_Priestess|Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess]]'' and ''[[:en:Jungle_Emperor_Leo|Jungle Emperor Leo]]''.{{authority control}}
[[Category:1895 establishments]]
[[Category:1890s establishments in Asia]]
[[Category:19th century establishments in Japan]]