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| Company type | PrivateKK |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motion pictures |
| Founded | 1942 |
| Founder | Shunsuke Inuma,Masaichi Nagata |
| Defunct | 2002 |
| Fate | Merged withKadokawa Pictures |
| Successor | Kadokawa Daiei Studio |
| Headquarters | |
Area served | Japan |
Key people | Masaichi Nagata (President),Hidemasa Nagata (Vice-president) |
| Parent | Tokuma Shoten |
Daiei Film Co. Ltd. (Kyūjitai:大映映畫株式會社Shinjitai:大映映画株式会社Daiei EigaKabushiki Kaisha) was a Japanesefilm studio. Founded in 1942 asDai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing not only artistic masterpieces, such asAkira Kurosawa'sRashomon (1950) andKenji Mizoguchi'sUgetsu (1953), but also launching several film series, such asGamera,Zatoichi andYokai Monsters, and making the threeDaimajin films (1966). It declared bankruptcy in 1971 and was acquired byKadokawa Pictures.[1]
Daiei Film was the product of government efforts to reorganize the film industry during World War II in order to rationalize use of resources and increase control over the medium. Against a government plan to combine all the film studios into two companies,Masaichi Nagata, an executive atShinkō Kinema, pressed hard for an alternative plan to create three studios.[2] His efforts won out and Shinkō Kinema, Daito Eiga, and the production arm ofNikkatsu (the Nikkatsu theaters did not take part in the merger) were merged in 1942 to form theDai Nippon Eiga Seisaku Kabushiki Kaisha, or Daiei for short.[2] The novelistKan Kikuchi served as the first president, with Nagata continuing as an executive. Daiei's studios were located inChofu, Tokyo and in Uzumasa inKyoto.
Nagata became president in 1947 and, apart from a brief period when he was purged byOccupation authorities, remained in that position until 1971.[3] Under his reign, Daiei producedAkira Kurosawa'sRashomon (1950) and entered it in theVenice Film Festival, where it won the grand prize and became the first Japanese film to win an international award,[4] thus introducing Japanese cinema to the world. Daiei also producedTeinosuke Kinugasa'sGate of Hell (1953), the first Japanese color film to be shown abroad, earning both an honoraryAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[5] and thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival.[6] Daiei also produced such renowned films asKenji Mizoguchi'sUgetsu (1953) andSansho the Bailiff (1954), as well asJokyo ("A Woman's Testament", 1960) which was entered into the10th Berlin International Film Festival.[7] On the popular front, Daiei was also known for such successful film series as theZatoichi series starringShintaro Katsu, theNemuri Kyoshiro (Sleepy Eyes of Death) series starringRaizō Ichikawa, the originalGamera series, theDaimajin trilogy and theYokai Monsters trilogy. Daiei also produced many television series such asShōnen Jet.
At its peak, Daiei featured such talent as the actors Raizō Ichikawa, Shintaro Katsu,Kazuo Hasegawa,Fujiko Yamamoto,Machiko Kyō, andAyako Wakao; the directors Kenji Mizoguchi,Kon Ichikawa,Yasuzo Masumura,Tokuzō Tanaka,[8] andKenji Misumi;[8] and the cinematographerKazuo Miyagawa andFujirō Morita.
Like some other Japanese film studios, Daiei had its own professional baseball team in the 1950s, theDaiei Stars, which later became theDaiei Unions. These teams eventually became theChiba Lotte Marines.
Suffering from Nagata'sprofligacy and an industry-wide decline in attendance, Daiei tried to stay alive by teaming up withNikkatsu to createDainichi Eihai, but eventually declared bankruptcy in December 1971. Art directorYoshinobu Nishioka and some of the studio's other employees foundedEizo Kyoto Production.[9] Other members of the union, however, succeeded in getting Yasuyoshi Tokuma, the president of the publishing houseTokuma Shoten, to revive the company in 1974.[2] The company continued as a producer, making only a small number of films, some of which were big budget spectaculars like the international co-productionThe Go Masters (1982), a newGamera trilogy (1995, 1996 and 1999), art house hits likeShall We Dance? (1996), and genre films likeKiyoshi Kurosawa'sPulse orTakashi Miike'sDead or Alive films.
Following the passing of Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Daiei Film Co. was sold to theKadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. In November 2002, Chairman Maihiko Kadokawa announced that Daiei Film Co. would merge with the company's own film division,Kadokawa Pictures, to form Kadokawa-Daiei Film Co. Ltd.[10] In 2004, it dropped the name Daiei and went by the name Kadokowa Pictures. The studio now goes by the name; Kadokawa Daiei Studio Co., Ltd.
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