Ōtani Takejirō

Ōtani Takejirō, 1955

With Matsujirō, 1932

Awarded the Order of Culture in 1955

Ōtani Takejirō ( Japanese 大谷 竹 次郎 ; born December 13, 1877 in Kyoto ; died December 27, 1969 ) was a Japanese entrepreneur in the theater and film sector.

Live and act

Ōtani Takejirō was born as the son of a small theater agent in Kyoto. He founded with his twin brother Matsujirō (大谷 松 次郎; 1877-1951) in 1902 the media company Shōchiku , one of the oldest in the world. In 1913 he took over the management of the Kabuki theater in Tōkyō. Over time, he took control of the majority of the kabuki, shimpa, and bunraku theaters in Japan and their actors. In 1920 he gained a foothold in the film industry with the establishment of Shōchiku Kinema Co., which merged with the parent company in 1927.

Ōtani contributed to the preservation of the Kabuki tradition and the development of the modern film industry in Japan. In 1958 he opened the "Shōchiku Ōtani Library" (松竹 大谷 図 書館), which collects and provides literature on theater and film.

In 1955 Ōtani was honored as a person with special cultural merits and was awarded the Order of Culture in the same year .

Remarks

1. ↑ Front row from left: Hiranuma Ryōzō , Futaki Kenzō , Ōtani, back row from left: Masumoto Hakaru , Maeda Seison and Watsuji Tetsurō .
2. ↑ The name of the company Shōchiku (松竹), ie “pine bamboo”, is derived from the auspicious trinity “Shōchikubai” (松竹梅).
3. ↑ Shimpa (新派), literally "New Wing", was a trend in modern theater from 1880 onwards.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Ōtani Takejirō . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1170.

Web links

• Biographies Ōtani Takejirō in the Kotobank, Japanese

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Ōtani is the family name, Takejirō the first name.