The Kon Ichikawa Story (市川崑物語)

"If someone asked me, as a movie watcher,"

"whose films I've seen the most,"

"I'd definitely answer:"

"Kon Ichikawa."

Yukio Mishima.

1915.

4th Year of the Taisho Era.

Mie Prefecture.

Uji-Yamada.

Now Ise City.

Kon Ichikawa's birthplace.

Real name: Giichi Ichikawa.

A kimono wholesale store.

Latticed windows.

In the dusky room, hung

a shop curtain.

The grounds of Ise Shrine.

Its white gravel.

They were his oldest memories.

Raised among women:

Teu, mother.

Chou, first daughter.

Koto, second daughter.

Chie, third daughter.

"I was spoiled by them."

Soon after he was born

his father died.

Their kimono wholesale store

folded before long.

He went with his mother

to live with his sister's family.

Kujo Area of Osaka.

A factory town with

chimneys.

He liked drawing.

He was always drawing.

The film he first saw was one

starring

Matsunosuke Onoe.

"Jiraiya"

The film fascinated him.

Dominant in those days were

Lloyd.

Keaton.

Chaplin.

"But I preferred"

"Japan's swordplay movies."

While playing baseball

While playing baseball

a ball hit his back.

The pain continued.

He saw a doctor.

"It might be Pott's disease."

Pott's disease: A tuberculosis that affects the spine.

It can cause back pain and paralysis of the legs.

For treatment

bed rest is needed for six months.

For quiet rest

he moved to Shinshu with his mother.

In the fresh, clean air,

he played baseball

and had sword fights.

Then he got better.

In the end...

was it really Pott's disease?

It's not clear.

But this "Pott's disease"

later saved his Life.

First love.

"I'm not sure."

"But..."

"a girl caught my attention."

A pawnbroker's daughter.

A neighbor.

Older than he.

Bobbed hair.

A long kimono.

A little strong-minded,

but pretty.

Standing before a warehouse,

she gazed at children

from a distance.

Her leg was paralyzed.

She was always alone.

He later wrote a short novel about her.

"Osome of a Pawn Shop."

It won a prize in a weekly paper.

He was 17

or

18 back then.

His uncle told him to change his name

to Kon for good luck.

A crucial encounter:

Walt Disney's

"Silly Symphony."

An animated movie.

Drawings and

movies had been

combined into one.

His calling.

The young man had found his dream,

and who could stop him?

1933.

1933.

He moved to the west part ofKyoto.

J.O. Studios.

ItsTalkie-Animation Department.

With the help of a relative,

he somehow got hired.

The firm later became Toho.

His unique lighting and cutting,

as well as stylish imagery made him

a great master of Japanese films.

He started with animated films.

The "Cake Before Flowers" series

"Mt. Kachi-kachi Story"

They were made by

just a few staff using

stop-motion animation.

Mickey Mouse,

Betty Boop

And Popeye. He studied them

and tried many things.

He tried color too.

Back in those days

there were no color movies in Japan.

After finishing a film,

animators would apply

the three primary colors

to each frame of print

and project it.

It could hardly be called "color film."

But it conveyed the colors.

Kon Ichikawa's first color film

was probably like this.

A great success!

As feature films became popular,

the amount of animation

work decreased.

His staff resigned

one after another.

Finally...

"l was left alone."

Aside from the music,

he made everything by himself.

Animation was his calling.

He thought so

until he saw

a set where a film was being shot.

On a dusty stage,

many people were focused

on one task.

Such passion!

He was envious.

He made animated movies

by himself

in a small room upstairs.

But he became taken

with feature films.

1 936.

The Talkie-Animation Dept. was closed.

At that time

J.O. Studios merged

with P.C.L. and others,

and Toho was born.

1939.

He moved to Tokyo

to join

Toho Studios.

No smoking

"l kept running."

Assistant director is a tough job.

"l want to be a director."

The wish made him

run around in the set.

His senior back then was:

Akira Kurosawa.

"Kurosawa was..."

a good screenwriter.

He was everyone's idol.

1941.

December 8.

The Pacific War

broke out.

Ichikawa was drafted

from Hiroshima.

He went home to become a soldier.

A physical examination site for conscription.

There were two lines.

One for a young doctor.

The other for an old doctor.

The old doctor

examined the men slowly and carefully.

The line for him was long.

The young doctor

wasn't so serious.

The line for him was short.

Ichikawa joined it instinctively.

"Your medical history...?"

"Pott's disease."