Acting

Sozo Okada

Born June 15, 1903 · Tokyo, Japan

Died September 1, 1983 · aged 80

Sōzō Okada (岡田桑三), widely recognized by his acting pseudonym Hikaru Yamanouchi (山内光), was a Japanese actor and producer who played a significant role in both the performing and visual arts of Japan. Born on June 15, 1903, his early life was distinctly shaped by extensive international travel during the 1920s and 1930s, aided by his English ancestry through his grandfather. He initially aspired to…

Known For

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life · 1948

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life

Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob.

Street Without End

Street Without End · 1934

Street Without End

Mikio Naruse’s final silent film is a gloriously rich portrait of a waitress, Sugiko, whose life, despite a host of male admirers and even some intrigued movie talent scouts, ends up taking a suffocatingly domestic turn after a wealthy businessman accidentally hits her with his car.

ABC Lifeline

ABC Lifeline · 1931

Japanese silent film directed by Yasujirô Shimazu, originally released as a two-part movie on December 11, 1931.

Okoto and Sasuke

Okoto and Sasuke · 1935

Okoto and Sasuke

A period piece about the love of a wealthy blind woman, a teacher of koto and shamisen, and her devoted manservant. Based on a novella by Tanizaki Junichiro.

Mother's Love Letter

Mother's Love Letter · 1935

Mother's Love Letter

Domestic comedy involving a strong wife and a "henpecked" husband taking place in a family-run judo school.

The New Road: Akemi

The New Road: Akemi · 1936

The New Road: Akemi

The eldest daughter of a noble family is in love with an aviator while being courted by a fellow aristocrat she thinks is a dullard. This part is told from the perspective of Akemi.

Housewife Camellia

Housewife Camellia · 1936

Housewife Camellia

The narrative is about a woman who faces hard times, when her husband is arrested for a crime committed by his boss. The woman also has a child to look after, and they end up meeting several colorful personalities.

Family Meeting

Family Meeting · 1936

A melodrama about a businessman's relations with the three women in his life.

Filmography

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The Most Beautiful Day of My Life

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life · 1948

The Most Beautiful Day of My Life

Life and love in corrupt postwar Tokyo, as a young couple struggles against both the law and the mob.

Street Without End

Street Without End · 1934

Street Without End

Mikio Naruse’s final silent film is a gloriously rich portrait of a waitress, Sugiko, whose life, despite a host of male admirers and even some intrigued movie talent scouts, ends up taking a suffocatingly domestic turn after a wealthy businessman accidentally hits her with his car.

Hiroshi Yamanouchi

ABC Lifeline

ABC Lifeline · 1931

Japanese silent film directed by Yasujirô Shimazu, originally released as a two-part movie on December 11, 1931.

Okoto and Sasuke

Okoto and Sasuke · 1935

Okoto and Sasuke

A period piece about the love of a wealthy blind woman, a teacher of koto and shamisen, and her devoted manservant. Based on a novella by Tanizaki Junichiro.

Mother's Love Letter

Mother's Love Letter · 1935

Mother's Love Letter

Domestic comedy involving a strong wife and a "henpecked" husband taking place in a family-run judo school.

The New Road: Akemi

The New Road: Akemi · 1936

The New Road: Akemi

The eldest daughter of a noble family is in love with an aviator while being courted by a fellow aristocrat she thinks is a dullard. This part is told from the perspective of Akemi.

Housewife Camellia

Housewife Camellia · 1936

Housewife Camellia

The narrative is about a woman who faces hard times, when her husband is arrested for a crime committed by his boss. The woman also has a child to look after, and they end up meeting several colorful personalities.

Family Meeting

Family Meeting · 1936

A melodrama about a businessman's relations with the three women in his life.

Clerk B

The New Road: Ryota

The New Road: Ryota · 1936

The New Road: Ryota

The eldest daughter of a noble family is in love with an aviator while being courted by a fellow aristocrat she thinks is a dullard. Told from the perspective of Ryota. In this second part, we learn that Akemi is pregnant...

Hotaru no hikari

Hotaru no hikari · 1938

Hotaru no hikari

MovieDramaRomance

Approaching their graduation ceremony, Saegusa, Sanae, and their classmates go on an overnight trip to Hakone with their teacher Ms. Kawahara, who will soon leave school. They thank her doing so and go on their respective paths, ending soon their student life.

Youth, Why Do You Cry?

Youth, Why Do You Cry? · 1930

Youth, Why Do You Cry?

A modern girl suddenly intrudes into a widower's family home.

Shuzo Katori

The Lights of Asakusa

The Lights of Asakusa · 1937

The Lights of Asakusa

Pre-war Asakusa was a riotous district of cabarets, dance-halls and brothels - a striking backdrop for Shimazu's story of innocence and experience. Pretty, young Reiko is the new dancer in an infamous theatre troupe, and her fellow performers try to protect her virtue in a land of vice. Meanwhile, an ageing actor wants to be a hero off stage as well as on, and the troupe matriarch Marie has to keep them all together.

Arakawa

Lovers' Duet

Lovers' Duet · 1939

Melodrama about a talented singer who finally makes her debut

Literary faculty member

Osayo Koi Sugata

Osayo Koi Sugata · 1934

Osayo Koi Sugata

The poor novelist Yamamoto is writing his novel, determined and with a headband around his head. With him, the novelist who is always in trouble paying his bills, is the girl Saya who becomes the model for his novel. Saya however is in love with a young driver. When he is forced to move into a spa town as the result of the jealousy of another man Saya is terribly sad. But with the help of Yamamoto the driver's rival can be revealed and Saya can finally be with her beloved.

Ryoichi Uchida

Warm Current

Warm Current · 1939

Adaptation of Kishida Kunio's novel. Set against the backdrop of a power struggle within a hospital, depicts the love lives of the director's daughter, the administrative director, a doctor, and a nurse.

Life is Born

Life is Born · 1963

MovieDocumentary

Cameraman Yonesaku Kobayashi (1905-2005) is a pioneer of scientific films of Japan. He and producer Sozo Okada made many scientific educational films, and in 60's - 70's, many avant-garde composers composed music for these films.

Producer

ヒトの染色体

ヒトの染色体 · 1966

ヒトの染色体

MovieDocumentary

Producer

Electronic Processes - In Crystal and Living Organism

Electronic Processes - In Crystal and Living Organism · 1964

Electronic Processes - In Crystal and Living Organism

MovieDocumentary

Cameraman Yonesaku Kobayashi (1905-2005) is a pioneer of scientific films of Japan. He and producer Sozo Okada made many scientific educational films, and in 60's - 70's, many avant-garde composers composed music for these films.

Producer

The World of Pulses - Electronics and Living Organism

The World of Pulses - Electronics and Living Organism · 1962

The World of Pulses - Electronics and Living Organism

MovieDocumentary

Cameraman Yonesaku Kobayashi (1905-2005) is a pioneer of scientific films of Japan. He and producer Sozo Okada made many scientific educational films, and in 60's - 70's, many avant-garde composers composed music for these films.

Producer

Victory or Defeat

Victory or Defeat · 1932

Victory or Defeat

Japanese film from 1932, adapted from the novel by Kan Kikuchi. The first sound film from director Yasujiro Shimazu.

The Glory of the Shōwa Era

The Glory of the Shōwa Era · 1928

The Glory of the Shōwa Era

Japanese silent film from 1928.

Masaru (Son, As an Adult)

ABC Lifeline: Fujieda Chapter

ABC Lifeline: Fujieda Chapter · 1931

ABC Lifeline: Fujieda Chapter

First chapter of Tasujiro Shimazu's ABC Lifeline, released two months before ABC Lifeline: Part 1 and ABC Lifeline: Part 2.

Record of Love and Desire

Record of Love and Desire · 1930

Record of Love and Desire

Record of Love and Desire a.k.a. Desire of Night (愛慾の記[b], Aiyoku no ki; lit. "Memories of Love and Desire") is a 1930 Japanese silent film directed by Heinosuke Gosho, starring Kinuyo Tanaka and Ichirō Yuki.

Passion

Passion · 1932

Film by Hiroshi Shimizu, featuring an early role for frequent Ozu and Naruse collaborator Hideko Takamine.

Michiro, Tokiko's brother