Koji Shima

Koji Shima
島 耕二
Koji Shima on 15 May 1947
Born(1901-02-16)16 February 1901
Nagasaki, Japan
Died10 September 1986(1986-09-10) (aged 85)
Other nameTakehiko Kagoshima
Occupations
  • Film director
  • actor
  • screenwriter
Years active1925–1970
Spouse(s)
Ryoko Otani
​
​
(m. 1926, divorced)​
[1]
Natsuko Katayama
​
(divorced)​
[1]
​
​
(m. 1953; div. 1965)​
ChildrenAkihiko Katayama (son)[note 1]

Koji Shima (島 耕二, Shima Kōji; 16 February 1901 – 10 September 1986) was a Japanese film director, actor, and screenwriter.

Career

Born as Takehiko Kagoshima in Nagasaki, Shima left for Tokyo after graduating from high school.[2] He was in the first class of the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō and joined the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1925.[3] Playing mostly romantic leads, he appeared in films directed by such masters as Tomu Uchida and Kenji Mizoguchi.[3] He turned to directing in 1939, and quickly came to prominence with films such as Kaze no Matasaburō, an adaptation of a Kenji Miyazawa story, and Jirō Monogatari.[2] After the war, he directed such films as Ginza Kankan Musume and Jūdai no Seiten at Shintoho and Daiei Studios. He won a prize at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival for Unforgettable Trail.[4] Some of his final films were made in Hong Kong for Shaw Brothers.[5]

He directed over 90 films as a director and appeared in over 90 films as an actor. He was once married to the actress Yukiko Todoroki.[2]

Noriaki Yuasa, specially known for the Gamera franchise, is Shima's nephew and was temporarily his assistant director.[6][7]

Selected filmography

Director

Actor

  • Jōnetsu no Shijin Takuboku (情熱の詩人啄木) (1936)
  • Naked City (1937 (裸の町) (1937)

Notes

  1. ↑ Biological son of Shima and his first wife Ryoko Otani, but was raised by the second wife Natsuko Katayama.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mie, Yanashita [in Japanese] (17 May 2015). "『翼の世界』:馬場良秀さん (『島耕二監督』監督・撮影)トークショー". Eigato.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Shima Kōji". Rekishi ga nemuru Tama Reien. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Shima Kōji". Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus. Kōdansha. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  4. ↑ "1st Moscow International Film Festival (1959)". MIFF. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Bordwell, David (October 2009). "Another Shaw Production: Anamorphic Adventures in Hong Kong". DavidBordwell.net. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  6. ↑ Steven Sloss, 2021, The Invincible Noriaki Yuasa, Arrow Films
  7. ↑ David Milner, Yoshihiko Shibata (July 1996). "Noriaki Yuasa Interview". Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2025.

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