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 Logo used since 2007 | |
Native name | 日活株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Nikkatsu Kabushiki-gaisha |
| Company type | PrivateKK |
| Industry | Television production andfilm |
| Predecessor | |
| Founded | 1912; 113 years ago (1912) |
| Headquarters | Hongō,, |
| Owner | Nippon Television (35%) SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%) |
| Subsidiaries | Django Films Kantana Japan |
| Website | www |
Nikkatsu Corporation (日活株式会社,Nikkatsu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese film studio located inBunkyō. The nameNikkatsu amalgamates the wordsNippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures".
Shareholders areNippon Television Holdings (35%) andSKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%).[1]
Nikkatsu is Japan's oldest major movie studio,[2] having been founded on September 10, 1912, when several production companies and theater chains,Yoshizawa Shōten,Yokota Shōkai,Fukuhōdō andM. Pathe, consolidated under the name Nippon Katsudō Shashin.[3] The company enjoyed its share of success.[clarification needed] It employed such notable film directors asShozo Makino and his sonMasahiro Makino.
During World War II, the government ordered the ten film companies that had formed by1941 to consolidate into two.Masaichi Nagata, founder ofDaiei Film and a former Nikkatsu employee, counter-proposed that three companies be formed and the suggestion was approved. Nikkatsu, set to merge with the two weakest companies,Shinkō Kinema andDaito, were verbally displeased. The committee formed to establish the value of each company retaliated by purposefully undervaluing Nikkatsu, which led to Shinkō becoming the dominant head of production. The reformed Nikkatsu continued to prosper as an exhibition company but ceased all film production.
The postwar film industry expanded rapidly and, in1951, Nikkatsu president Kyusaku Hori began construction of a new production studio.[4] A graduate ofTokyo Keizai University, Hori had joined the company in 1951 after quitting his initial employment as the manager of Sanno Hotel (now rebuilt asSanno Park Tower).
Under Hori, Nikkatsu is considered to have had its "Golden Age".[citation needed] The company began making movies again in1954.[5] Many assistant directors from other studios, includingShōhei Imamura andSeijun Suzuki fromShochiku, moved to Nikkatsu with the promise of advancement to full director status within one or two years.[citation needed] Suzuki made dozens of films for Nikkatsu from 1956 onwards, developing an increasingly inventive visual style, but was controversially fired following the release of his 40th,Branded to Kill (1967),[6] which Hori deemed "incomprehensible".[citation needed]
The company made a fewsamurai films andhistorical dramas but by1960 had decided to devote its resources to the production of urban youth dramas,comedy,action andgangster films.[citation needed] From the late 1950s to the start of the 1970s, they were renowned for their "borderless action" (mukokuseki akushun) movies,[7] designed for the youth market, whose directors included Suzuki,Toshio Masuda, andTakashi Nomura.[8] The studio also employed such stars asYujiro Ishihara,Akira Kobayashi,Joe Shishido,Tetsuya Watari,Ruriko Asaoka,Chieko Matsubara and, later,Meiko Kaji andTatsuya Fuji.[citation needed] DirectorShōhei Imamura began his career there and between 1958 and 1966 made for them such notable films asPigs and Battleships (1961),The Insect Woman (1963) andThe Pornographers (1966).[citation needed]
Strangely during the height of the popularity of Japan's 1960s daikaiju (giant monster) genre, Nikkatsu only produced oneGodzilla-type monster movie, 1967'sDaikyoju Gappa (Giant Beast Gappa), released internationally asGappa: The Triphibian Monster andMonster from a Prehistoric Planet,[9] a film generally regarded as a remake of the 1961 British filmGorgo.[10]
By 1971 the increased popularity of television had taken a heavy toll on the film industry and in order to remain profitable Nikkatsu turned to the production ofRoman Porno, which focus onsex,violence,S&M andromance. Hori resigned over the change in focus, and many stars and directors left the company. A few, including the film directorsYasuharu Hasebe,Keiichi Ozawa,Shōgorō Nishimura, andKoreyoshi Kurahara, stayed. It also witnessed the emergence of such new directors asTatsumi Kumashiro,Masaru Konuma andChūsei Sone.
Between 1974 and 1986, Nikkatsu promoted a number of their leading Roman Porno actresses of the popular BDSM niche under the epithet "SM Queen" (SMの女王,SM no joō). They includeNaomi Tani (1974–1979),Junko Mabuki (1980–1981),Izumi Shima (1982–1983),Nami Matsukawa (1983),Miki Takakura (1983–1985), andRan Masaki (1985-1986).
The advent ofhome video brought an end to active production at Nikkatsu.Bed Partner (1988) was the last release in the venerable 17-year Roman Porno series. Nikkatsu declared bankruptcy in 1993.[11]
In 2005, the company was sold toIndex Holdings and in 2010, a revived Nikkatsu studio announced new production ofSushi Typhoon, a movie series made in partnership with a U.S. distributor.[12] TheSushi Typhoon arm of Nikkatsu creates low-budget horror, science fiction, and fantasy films aimed at an international audience. By 2011, the company had produced seven feature films.[13]
On March 3, 2025, Nikkatsu announced the establishment of NK Animation which would continue to handle the company's animation planning and production division.[14]
In 2011, the French director Yves Montmayeur produced a documentary about the Pink Film period at Nikkatsu calledPinku Eiga: Inside the Pleasure Dome Of Japanese Erotic Cinema.[16]
[T]he first phase of The Sushi Typhoon's films will be released in late 2010 and early 2011, with the company self-distributing their titles in North America. The first two titles to be released will beAlien vs Ninja andMutant Girls Squad, with the assistance of FUNimation Entertainment, the Texas-based company responsible for releasing some of the best anime titles in America.
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