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Masaichi Nagata | |
|---|---|
 Nagata at the27th Academy Awards | |
| Born | (1906-01-21)21 January 1906 Kyoto, Japan |
| Died | 24 October 1985(1985-10-24) (aged 79) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupations | Daiei president, film producer, baseball executive |
| Years active | 1925–1980 |
| Children | 2[1] |
Baseball player Baseball career | |
| Member of the Japanese | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1988 |
Masaichi Nagata (永田 雅一,Nagata Masaichi; 21 January 1906 – 24 October 1985) was a Japanese businessman and film producer who served as president ofDaiei Film and was the self-proclaimed creator of thekaijuGamera, and was also the first president of thePacific League.[2]
His achievements to contribute in the golden era of Japanese film industries granted a title "Father of thecinema" (Japanese:映画界の父,Hepburn:Eigakai no Chichi) in Japan,[note 1] while his well-known nicknames "Nagata Trumpet" (Japanese:永田ラッパ,Hepburn:Nagata Rappa) and "Fixer of the political world" (Japanese:政界の黒幕,Hepburn:Seikai no Kuromaku) along with others[note 2] were given due to hisboasting behaviors and connections with political circles.[6][7][8]
Either Masaichi orHideo Matsuyama [ja], the inventor of the "Silver Week", was also the inventor of theadvertising slogan "Golden Week".[9]
His biological and non-biological relatives includeHidemasa Nagata (son), a film and television producerMamoru Nagata [ja] (grandson),[10] Masashi Nagata (grandson) who is the current chairman of Nagata Kikaku founded by Masaichi,[6] a businessman Masao Nagata (great-grandson) known as theYouTuber "Nagata Trumpet",[11]Ichikawa Raizō VIII's wife Masako Ōta (adopted daughter),[12] and his nephew-in-lawMasayuki Tayayama [ja] is the first professionaltaiko player in Japan.[13]
Masaichi was born into aton'ya foryūzen anddye in Kyoto, however his family underwent misfortunes since when Masaichi was three-years-old, and eventually fell apart; loss of the factory by a fire, an elopement by akozō [ja] (employee) and ajochū [ja] (housemaid) who stole money when they escaped, and the bankruptcy due to his father being a joint guarantor of his friend. Masaichi attempted to became a kozō for one of his relatives (an executive director ofTokyo Stock Exchange) to reconstruct the family for his parents. To gain a sufficienteducational attainment, he attended theŌkura College of Commerce [ja] (nowTokyo Keizai University), however lost his father due to anintracranial hemorrhage and dropped out the school in despair. As a member of a localseinendan, he diligently contributed in the cleaning of damaged cites following theGreat Kantō Earthquake, and subsequently returned to Kyoto.[14][15]
Nagata was gradually influenced bysocialism due to his admire for heroism, and joined a localyakuzaSenbongumi afterwards. He, along withJun Okamoto [ja], became one of apprentices ofSuezaburō Sasai [ja],[note 3] while Nagata defended Suezaburō and his father and thecrime boss Sanzaemon; Sanzaemon was a renownedkyōkaku known as ""Fierce Tiger" (Japanese:荒虎,Hepburn:Aratora)", and Nagata claimed Sanzaemon definitely not being an actual yakuza, and Suezaburō was the 10th highest taxpayer in Kyoto back then. However, Masaichi's mother strongly deplored the fact that her son became a subject ofsurveillance by the police, and she expelled Masaichi from the family.[14][16]
He joined theNikkatsu studio in 1925 due to his relationships with the aforementionedShōzō Makino and theMakino Family [ja],[4] and after working as a location manager, rose to become head of production at theDaiei Kyoto studio [ja].[18][16] As a fledgling handyman, Nagata was noticed for his eloquence andsocial skills, and was favored by notable figures (such asYoshirō Fujimura,Nobuo Asaoka [ja],Mochizuki Keisuke, and so on), and developed a relationship with the political world.[19] Experiencing conflicts with the Nikkatsu president, he left the company in 1934, taking many Nikkatsu stars with him, to formDaiichi Eiga.[18] While short-lived, that studio created such masterpieces asKenji Mizoguchi'sSisters of the Gion (1936) andOsaka Elegy (1936).
When Daiichi Eiga folded, Nagata became head of the Kyoto studio ofShinkō Kinema until the government reorganized the industry during World War Two. Against a government plan to combine the fiction film companies into two studios, Nagata fought hard for the alternative option of creating a third studio.[20] His efforts resulted in the creation of theDaiei Motion Picture Company, where he first served as an executive.[18] He rose to become president in 1947 and, apart from a brief period when he waspurged byOccupation authorities, remained in that position until 1971.[15][4]
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,[21] thus introducing Japanese cinema to the world. Nagata also spurred the production ofTeinosuke Kinugasa'sGate of Hell (1953), the first Japanese color film to be shown abroad, earning both an honoraryAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film[22] and thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival.[23] Nagata also produced such renowned films as Mizoguchi'sUgetsu (1953) andSansho the Bailiff (1954), as well asJokyo (1960) which was entered into the10th Berlin International Film Festival.[24] On the popular front, Nagata's Daiei was also known for such successful film series as theZatoichi films starringShintaro Katsu, theSleepy Eyes of Death series featuringRaizō Ichikawa, and theGamera movies. In the early 1950s, Nagata attempted to export Japanese films to obtain foreign currencies for the post-war reconstruction of the Japanese economy;[25] his later efforts to save the declining Japanese cinema resulted in the establishment of agovernmental association to export Japanese films and to support productions ofkaiju andtokusatsu genres in particular for foreign currencies.[26][27] For theGamera franchise, Nagata produced the second filmGamera vs. Barugon, with the remainder of theShowaGamera films produced instead by his sonHidemasa Nagata.
Nagata was also known for his friendship withWalt Disney where Disney called him a "brother", and became an avid fan ofDisneyland and had associated in Disney-related businesses such as distributions of Disney films by Daiei Film, publication ofBambi, a Life in the Woods,[note 4] promotion ofTokyo Disneyland, construction ofNara Dreamland, and so on. Nagata also established Daiei's department of western films due to influences from Disney, andhad started distributing foreign films.[29] Additionally, he produced a documentary filmWhite Mountains (白い山脈,Shiroi Sanmyaku) as he was inspired byWalt Disney Productions'True-Life Adventures series.[30]
Due to the decline of the film industry, and Nagata's extravagant expenditures, Daiei went bankrupt in 1971,[15] but he continued as an independent producer for some years after that. He produced more than 160 films during his career.[31]
During the age when many Japanese film studios owned professional baseball teams, Nagata served as owner first of theDaiei Stars, and then of theDaimai Orions when the Stars merged with the Mainichi Orions in 1958.[15] He promoted the two-league system, helped buildTokyo Stadium, and became the first president of thePacific League in Japan.[2] He was inducted into theJapanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.[2]
Masaichi had engaged in various other businesses most notablyhorse racing. He became ahorse owner [ja] in 1934, and owned several notable horses such as Yamaichi, a foal ofKurifuji,Toast [ja], themare ofLucky Ruler [ja],Otemon [ja], andTokino Minoru; Masaichi later produced the 1955 drama filmThe Phantom Horse based on the life of Tokino Minoru.[7] Masaichi later became the second president of the Tokyo Racehorse Owners' Association, and contributed in the establishment of theJapan Racing Association as a commissioner.[32]
Nagata's competence for managements were also demonstrated in his performances as the first president and a temporal manager of the sports newspaperTokyo Sports (due to his connection withYoshio Kodama) to make it into a major national daily,[33] as the business delegate and the owner ofPepsi-Cola Company in Japan,[34] as asodanyaku of theJapan Pro Wrestling Federation,[35] and as a commissioner (jp) of theJapan Sumo Association.
Nagata was also apatronage ofSchools of the Sacred Heart in Japan (jp), and contributed in its expansion notably by contriving resources through managing the palace of theKuni-no-miya house.[36]
Nagata also became an influential figure on political circles and was regarded as a political fixer.[4] Nagata used his connections with the political world to establish The Japanese Film Export Promotion Association (Japanese:日本映画輸出振興協会,Hepburn:Nihon Eiga Yusyutsu Shinkō Kyōkai), a governmental incorporated association to support declining Japanese film industries due to a recession of Japanese economy and the prosperity of television industries,[26][27] however his position also made him as one of 14 suspects for the corruption of theBushu Railway (jp), however five of them including Nagata were eventually acquitted.[8]
Due to influences from his mother, Masaichi himself became an enthusiastic Buddhist ofNichiren-shū. He was also an influential figure and became the representative of worshippers (jp), andKazuo Hasegawa andFutabayama Sadaji were two of his attendants.[37] Masaichi declared producing films theming the life ofNichiren is his lifework; he producedNichiren and the Great Mongol Invasion (1958) andNichiren (1979), and a number of worshippers of Nichiren-shū were appointed for the latter.[38][39]
The 2015 novelHoly Beast War Chronicle: White Shadow (聖獣戦記 白い影,Seijū Senki – Shiroi Kage) was a tribute to Masaichi, which themedGamera and Nichiren and theMongol invasions of Japan and setted Nichiren as the current summoner of the "Black Tortoise" (Gamera).[40]
Yukijirō Hotaru played Nagano, a character based on Masaichi in the 2020 biopic filmNezura 1964, which focused on the production ofGiant Horde Beast Nezura (jp), the scrapped predecessor ofGamera, the Giant Monster.[41]
