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An Outlook of Motion Picture Industry in Japan
By Sai Ichikawa
1. Introduction
Notwithstanding social depression the motion picture industry in Japan has made rapid strides in the last three or four years, and it has been recognized again as a business by the business world who had taken no notice of in the past. A remarkable tendency of business men to invest capital in the motion picture business is looked upon as a foreboding of dawn upon the motion picture industry, and, is a fact worthy of special mention.
Above all, when the investigation is made into the structure of the motion picture world, the cry for rationalization of the systems of distribution and exhibition, which have been adopted by the existing motion picture companies, is growing louder day by day, and, when they begin to advocate the scientific method of management, it indicates that the time has come to make a radical reconstruction of the motion picture industry itself.
There are five large companies in this country today, with the exception of small producers, viz. Shochiku Kinema Co., Ltd., Nippon Motion Picture Co., Ltd., ( Nikkatsu) Shinko Kinema Co., Ltd., Daito Motion Picture Co., Ltd., and The Toho Film Dis¬ tributing Co., Ltd.
Shochiku Joint Stock Company was founded early in 1937 as the result of amal¬ gamation of Shochiku Kinema Co. and Shochiku Exhibiting Co. and it is not only the largest company in Japan, handling motion picture and theatrical business, but also form¬ ing the so-called “Shochiku Trust” by controlling Nippon Motion Picture Co., Ltd., Shinko Kinema Co., Ltd. and Daito Motion Picture Co., Ltd. with its capital. These are also known as Four-company Combine and it is the most dominating power in producing and distribution of motion pictures in Japan.
The Nippon Motion Picture Co., Ltd. once took pride in its solid foundation as the oldest motion picture company in Japan and it had a great power to divide motion picture world in two with Shochiku Kinema Co., for many years, but since a few years ago its business was suddenly reduced to depression and in 1936 it failed in business, and, finally it had to submit itself to the management of Shochiku’s capital. Shinko Kinema Co., Ltd. and Daito Motion Picture Co., Ltd. can possibly be said to be two second-rate companies. The former is purely a subsidiary company of Shochiku Com
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