OZU Yasujiro & TAKEUCHI Kozo

OZU Yasujiro (1903–1963)

OZU Yasujiro was a film director who played an active role in the Japanese film industry in the Showa period (1926–1989). He was born in Kamezumicho, Fukagawa Ward, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture (now 1 Fukagawa, Koto Ward, Tokyo Metropolis), and his family was a branch of the Ise merchant family of OZU Yoemon. In 1913, he moved to Kaibana, Kanbe Village, Iinan County (now Atagomachi, Matsusaka City), and attended Mie Prefectural Daiyon Middle School (renamed Mie Prefectural Ujiyamada Middle School in 1919) from 1916 to 1921. After a period of unemployment, he worked as a substitute teacher for a year, and then moved to Tokyo. In 1923, he got hired at the Shochiku Kinema Kamata Studio and began his career in the film industry.

After directing his first film titled Zange no Yaiba (Sword of Penitence) (1927), he continued to make many films, such as Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story) (1953) and Sanma no Aji (An Autumn Afternoon) (1962) throughout his lifetime of 60 years. His distinctive technique, characterized by low camera angles, came to be known as the “Ozu style” and had an influence on filmmakers both domestically and internationally.

In 2003, a monument was constructed here in Funae Park, where there was the building of Ujiyamada Middle School and he spent his youth, in commemoration of the centenary of his birth.

 

TAKEUCHI Kozo (1921–1945)

In 1921, TAKEUCHI Kozo was born into a family that ran Takeuchi Gofukuten, a kimono store located in Fukiage, Ise City. In 1934, he entered Mie Prefectural Ujiyamada Middle School, where he, along with his classmates, made comic magazines, such as Manga no Yorozuya (Store Dealing with a Variety of Comics) and Punch, and started his creative activities in earnest. After graduating from the school in March 1939, he moved to Tokyo and entered the Department of Cinema, the Specialty Division (now the Collage of Art), Nihon University in 1940. Around that time, his creative focus shifted to poetry, and in June 1942, he launched a coterie magazine titled Ise Bungaku (Ise Literature) together with his friends from middle school and composed numerous poems. However, due to the necessity of increasing military personnel during the wartime, he graduated from the university half a year earlier than originally scheduled and joined the Chubu 38th Troop of the Imperial Japanese Army stationed in Hisai Town (now Hisai, Tsu City) in October 1942. In September 1943, he was transferred to the new glider troop established at the Nishi-Tsukuba Airport, and continued to keep a diary titled Tsukuba Nikki (Tsukuba Diary), where he documented the daily life of the troop and composed poems. In April 1945, he lost his life in the Battle of Baguio in the Philippines at the young age of 23. His works left to his older sister Ko serve as a testament to his life.

Without being caught up in the trends of the times, he created various works freely from the heart, and many of them, such as Hone no Utau (Bones Sing) and Nihon ga Mienai (Japan Is Invisible), have been widely known for years.

November 30, 2022

Ise City Cultural Policy Division

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