Yasujirō Shimazu

Biography

Yasujirō Shimazu (島津 保次郎, Shimazu Yasujirō, 3 June 1897 – 18 September 1945) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, and a pioneer of the shōshimin-eiga (common people drama) genre at the Shōchiku studios in pre-World War II Japan. Shimazu was born in Tokyo, the second son of merchant Otojirō Shimazu. His father owned a long-established seaweed business named Kōshū-ya directly in front of the main Mitsukoshi department store in Nihonbashi. Shimazu entered Shōchiku in 1920 after answering an advertisement and began training under Kaoru Osanai. He gave his debut as director in 1921 at Shōchiku's recently established Kamata studio, directing both comedy and melodrama films, often depicting the everyday life of the lower middle classes. Our Neighbor, Miss Yae (1934) and A Brother and His Younger Sister (1939) are regarded as his most exemplary and best films. By the end of the 1930s, he moved to Tōhō studios, where he made some films in cooperation with the Manchuria Film Association. He died of cancer just after the war ended. Many famous directors, such as Heinosuke Gosho, Shirō Toyoda, Kōzaburō Yoshimura, and Keisuke Kinoshita, started their careers as his assistant.

Directed

1. Our Neighbor, Miss Yae (1934) — Director
2. A Brother and His Younger Sister (1939) — Director
3. The Lights of Asakusa (1937) — Director
4. ABC Lifeline (1931) — Director
5. Okoto and Sasuke (1935) — Director
6. Vermilion and Green (1937) — Director
7. My Nightingale (1944) — Director
8. First Steps Ashore (1932) — Director
9. So Goes My Love (1938) — Director
10. That Night's Woman (1934) — Director
11. Love, Be with Humanity: Part 1 (1931) — Director
12. Love, Be with Humanity: Part 2 (1931) — Director
13. White Heron (1941) — Director
14. The Trio's Engagements (1937) — Director
15. Okayo's Preparedness (1939) — Director
16. Men vs. Women (1936) — Director
17. My Elder Brother (1934) — Director
18. Nichijô no tatakai (1944) — Director
19. Osayo Koi Sugata (1934) — Director
20. Reijin (1930) — Director
21. Yama no senroban (1923) — Director
22. A World of Two (1940) — Director
23. Arashi no naka no shojo (1932) — Director
24. Green Earth (1942) — Director
25. Father (1923) — Director
26. Family Meeting (1936) — Director
27. Umi mo yusha (1927) — Director
28. Wedding Day (1940) — Director
29. Hikari to kage (Zenpen) (1940) — Director
30. Hikari to kage (Kōhen) (1940) — Director
31. Scenes of Love (1929) — Director
32. Brave Love (1925) — Director
33. Nature Is the Judge (1925) — Director
34. Young Master (1926) — Director
35. If Only She... (1928) — Director
36. The Glory of the Shōwa Era (1928) — Director
37. Echigo Lion (1929) — Director
38. The Great Ship (1930) — Director
39. ABC Lifeline: Fujieda Chapter (1931) — Director
40. Victory or Defeat (1932) — Director