Denjirō Ōkōchi | |
|---|---|
大河内 傳次郎 | |
 Denjirō Ōkōchi | |
| Born | (1898-02-05)February 5, 1898 |
| Died | July 18, 1962(1962-07-18) (aged 64) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Other names | Masuo Ōbe |
| Occupation | Film actor |
| Years active | 1925 – 1961 |
Denjirō Ōkōchi (大河内 傳次郎,Ōkōchi Denjirō, February 5, 1898 – July 18, 1962) was aJapanesefilm actor best known for starring roles injidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers.
Ōkōchi was bornMasuo Ōbe[1] on February 5, 1898, in Ōkōchi, Iwaya (present-day Ōkōchi,Buzen),Fukuoka Prefecture, the fifth son and eighth of nine children[2] of town physician Susumu Ōbe and his wife Aki. Ōkōchi was born to a family of physicians; his father Susumu was the 16th generation of the Ōbe family of physicians, and had served as a personal physician to thedaimyo before establishing his own practice following theMeiji Restoration. His paternal grandmother was the daughter of Suematsu Gendō, the domain doctor ofKokura. His mother Aki was the daughter of aConfucian scholar andsamurai in the service ofNakatsu Domain.[3]
Ōkōchi entered Shinkokugeki (New National Theatre), training underSawada Shōjirō (aka Sawasho). Sawada founded this new school of popular theatre in 1917 which had strong cultural impact by the early 1920s.[4] Shinkokugeki was known forjidaigeki the period drama genre, particularly for its realistic sword fights (tate) or swordplay (kengeki).[4]
With this background, Ōkōchi entered theNikkatsu studio in 1925 and soon came to fame inchanbara (sword-fighting)samurai films – a subgenre of jidaigeki emphasizingtate[4] – playing characters such asChūji Kunisada andTange Sazen.[1]
At his peak, he was one of the top jidaigeki stars alongsideTsumasaburō Bandō andChiezō Kataoka. DuringWorld War II, he also appeared in a number ofwar films. During thesecond Toho strike in 1946, Okochi led the formation of a newunion which opposed the strike. After the end of the strike, the new union becameShintoho.[5]
He was directed byAkira Kurosawa,Ishiro Honda,Daisuke Itō,Sadao Yamanaka,Teinosuke Kinugasa,Hiroshi Inagaki andMasahiro Makino.
Ōkōchi had ceased acting by 1961, dying a year later on July 18, 1962.
His house and garden inArashiyama,Kyoto, calledŌkōchi Sansō,[6] are still preserved and open to the public.
