# Kon Ichikawa

Kon Ichikawa (市川 崑, Ichikawa Kon, 20 November 1915 – 13 February 2008) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films The Burmese Harp (1956) and Fires on the Plain (1959), to the documentary Tokyo Olympiad (1965), which won two BAFTA Film Awards, and the 19th-century revenge drama An Actor's Revenge (1963). His film Odd Obsession (1959) won the Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
At his death in 2008, The New York Times recalled that "The Globe and Mail, the Canadian newspaper, called him in 2001 “the last living link between the golden age of Japanese cinema, the spunky New Wave that followed and contemporary Japanese film.”"

## Biography
### Early life

Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture as Giichi Ichikawa (市川儀一). His father died when he was four years old, and the family kimono shop went bankrupt, so he went to live with his sister. He was given the name Kon by an uncle who thought the characters in the kanji 崑 signified good luck, because the two halves of the Chinese character look the same when it is split in half vertically. As a child he loved drawing and his ambition was to become an artist. He also loved films and was a fan of "chambara" or samurai films. In his teens he was fascinated by Walt Disney's "Silly Symphonies" and decided to become an animator. He attended a technical school in Osaka. Upon graduation, in 1933, he found a job with a local rental film studio, J.O Studio, in their animation department. Decades later, he told the American writer on Japanese film Donald Richie, "I'm still a cartoonist and I think that the greatest influence on my films (besides Chaplin, particularly The Gold Rush) is probably Disney."

### Film career

He moved to the feature film department as an assistant director when the company closed its animation department, working under directors including Yutaka Abe and Nobuo Aoyagi.
In the early 1940s J.O Studio merged with P.C.L. and Toho Film Distribution to form the Toho Film Company. Ichikawa moved to Tokyo. His first film was the puppet play A Girl at Dojo Temple (Musume Dojoji 1946), which was confiscated by the interim U.S. Occupation authorities under the pretext that it was too "feudal", but some sources suggest the script had not been approved by the occupying authorities. Thought lost for many years, it is now archived at the Cinémathèque Française.
It was at Toho that he met Natto Wada. Wada was a translator for Toho. They agreed to marry sometime after Ichikawa completed his first film as director. Natto Wada's original name was Yumiko Mogi (born 13 September 1920 in Himeji, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan); the couple both had failed marriages behind them. She graduated with a degree in English literature from Tokyo Woman's Christian University. She married Kon Ichikawa on 10 April 1948, and died on 18 February 1983 of breast cancer.
Ichikawa was among the first group of Toho staff that broke from the labor union during the Toho strikes, which became part of Shintoho. Due to a shortage of directorial talent at the new company, he made his debut as director with A Thousand and One Nights with Toho.
It was after Ichikawa's marriage to Wada that the two began collaborating, first on Design of a Human Being (Ningen moyo) and Endless Passion (Hateshinaki jonetsu) in 1949. The period 1950–1965 is often referred to as Ichikawa's Natto Wada period. It's the period that contains the majority of Ichikawa's most highly respected works, such as Tokyo Olympiad (Tōkyō Orinpikku), for which he was awarded the Olympic Diploma of Merit, as well as the BAFTA United Nations Award and the Robert Flaherty Award (now known as the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary). It is also during this period that Wada wrote 34 screenplays, most of which were adaptations.
He gained Western recognition during the 1950s and 1960s with two anti-war films, The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain, and the technically formidable period-piece An Actor's Revenge (Yukinojo henge) about a kabuki actor.
Among his many literary adaptations were Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's The Key (Kagi), Natsume Sōseki's The Heart (Kokoro) and I Am a Cat (Wagahai wa neko de aru), in which a teacher's cat critiques the foibles of the humans surrounding him, and Yukio Mishima's Conflagration (Enjo), in which a priest burns down his temple to save it from spiritual pollution. The Key, released in the United States as Odd Obsession, was entered in the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Jury Prize with Antonioni's L'Avventura.
After Tokyo Olympiad Wada retired from screenwriting, and it marked a significant change in Ichikawa's films from that point onward. Concerning her retirement, he said "She doesn't like the new film grammar, the method of presentation of the material; she says there's no heart in it anymore, that people no longer take human love seriously."
His final film, 2006's Inugamis, a remake of Ichikawa's own 1976 film The Inugami Family, was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival.
Also in 2006, Ichikawa was the subject of a feature-length documentary, The Kon Ichikawa Story, directed by Shunji Iwai.
Ichikawa died of pneumonia on 13 February 2008 in a Tokyo hospital. He was 92 years old.
The Magic Hour marked Ichikawa's last appearance and was dedicated to his memory. (This message can be seen in the end of this film.) In this film, a movie director played by Ichikawa is shooting Kuroi Hyaku-ichi-nin no Onna ('A hundred and one dark women'), a parody of Ten Dark Women.

## Filmography

| Year | English title | Japanese title | Romanized title | Notes |
| 1935 | Cowardly Samurai Squad | | Yowamushi Chinsengumi | Animated short film |
| 1945 | A Girl at Dojo Temple | | Musume Dōjōji | Puppet film |
| 1947 | A Thousand and One Nights with Toho | 東宝千一夜 | Tōhō sen'ichiya | |
| 1948 | A Flower Blooms | | Hana hiraku | |
| 1948 | 365 Nights | | Sanbyaku-rokujūgoya | |
| 1949 | Human Patterns | | Ningen moyō | Also known as Design of a Human Being |
| 1949 | Passion Without End | | Hateshinaki jōnetsu | |
| 1950 | Sanshiro of Ginza | | Ginza Sanshirō | Also known as A Ginza Veteran |
| 1950 | Heat and Mud | | Netsudeichi | Also known as The Hot Marshland or Money and Three Bad Men |
| 1950 | Pursuit at Dawn | | Akatsuki no tsuiseki | Also known as Police and Small Gangsters |
| 1951 | Nightshade Flower | | Ieraishan | |
| 1951 | The Sweetheart | | Koibito | Also known as The Lover |
| 1951 | The Man Without a Nationality | | Mukokuseki-sha | |
| 1951 | Stolen Love | | Nusumareta koi | |
| 1951 | Bengawan Solo | | Bengawan Solo | |
| 1951 | Wedding March | | Kekkon kōshinkyoku | |
| 1952 | Mr. Lucky | | Rakkī-san | |
| 1952 | Young People | | Wakai hito | Also known as The Young Generation |
| 1952 | The Woman Who Touched Legs | | Ashi ni sawatta onna | Remake of Yutaka Abe's 1926 film of the same name |
| 1952 | This Way, That Way | | Ano te kono te | |
| 1953 | Mr. Pū | | Pū-san | Based on a comic book |
| 1953 | The Blue Revolution | | Aoiro kakumei | |
| 1953 | The Youth of Heiji Zenigata | | Seishun Zenigata Heiji | |
| 1953 | The Lover | | Aijin | |
| 1954 | All of Myself | | Watashi no subete o | Also known as All About Me |
| 1954 | A Billionaire | | Okuman chōja | |
| 1954 | Twelve Chapters About Women | | Josei ni kansuru jūnishō | |
| 1955 | Ghost Story of Youth | | Seishun kaidan | |
| 1955 | The Heart | こころ | Kokoro | |
| 1956 | The Burmese Harp | ビルマの竪琴 | Biruma no tategoto | |
| 1956 | Punishment Room | | Shokei no heya | |
| 1957 | Bridge of Japan | | Nihonbashi | |
| 1957 | The Crowded Street Car | | Man'in densha | Also known as A Full-Up Train or The Crowded Train |
| 1957 | The Men of Tohoku | | Tōhoku no zunmutachi | |
| 1957 | The Hole | 穴 | Ana | Also known The Pit or Hole in One |
| 1958 | Conflagration | 炎上 | Enjō | |
| 1959 | Goodbye, Hello | | Sayonara, konnichiwa | |
| 1959 | Odd Obsession | 鍵 | Kagi | Also known as The Key |
| 1959 | Fires on the Plain | 野火 | Nobi | |
| 1960 | A Woman's Testament | 女経 | Jokyō | Directed the second segment |
| 1960 | Bonchi | | Bonchi | |
| 1960 | Her Brother | おとうと | Otōto | |
| 1961 | Ten Dark Women | 黒い十人の女 | Kuroi jûnin no onna | |
| 1962 | The Broken Commandment | | Hakai | Also known as The Outcast or The Sin |
| 1962 | Being Two Isn't Easy | 私は二歳 | Watashi wa nisai | Also known as I Am Two |
| 1963 | An Actor's Revenge | 雪之丞変化 | Yukinojō henge | Also known as Revenge of a Kabuki Actor |
| 1963 | Alone Across the Pacific | 太平洋ひとりぼっち | Taiheiyō Hitori-botchi | Also known as My Enemy the Sea |
| 1964 | Money Talks | | Dokonjo monogatari: Zeni no odori | Also known as The Money Dance |
| 1965 | Tokyo Olympiad | 東京オリンピック | Tōkyō Orinpikku | Documentary |
| 1967 | Topo Gigio and the Missile War | トッポ・ジージョのボタン戦争 | Toppo Jîjo no botan sensō | Puppet film |
| 1968 | Youth: The 50th National High School Baseball Tournament | | Seishun | Documentary |
| 1968 | Kyoto: Heart of Japan | 京 | Kyōto | Short documentary |
| 1970 | Japan and the Japanese | | Nihon to Nihonjin | Short documentary, also known as Mt. Fuji |
| 1971 | To Love Again | 愛ふたたび | Ai futatabi | |
| 1972–1973 | Kogarashi Monjirō | 木枯し紋次郎 | Kogarashi Monjirō | Television series |
| 1973 | The Wanderers | 股旅 | Matatabi | |
| 1973 | Visions of Eight | | | Documentary, segment: "The Fastest" |
| 1975 | I Am a Cat | | Wagahai wa neko de aru | |
| 1976 | Between Women and Wives | | Tsuma to onna no aida | |
| 1976 | The Inugami Family | 股旅 | Inugami-ke no ichizoku | Also known as The Inugamis; first film starring Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi |
| 1977 | The Devil's Bouncing Ball Song | | Akuma no temari-uta | Also known as Rhyme of Vengeance; second film starring Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi |
| 1977 | Island of Horrors | | Gokumontō | Also known as Hell's Gate Island or The Devil's Island; third film starring Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi |
| 1978 | Queen Bee | 女王蜂 | Joōbachi | fourth film starring Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi |
| 1978 | Phoenix | 火の鳥 | Hi no Tori | |
| 1979 | The House of Hanging | 病院坂の首縊りの家 | Byōinzaka no kubi kukuri no ie | Fifth film starring Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi |
| 1980 | Ancient City | 古都 | Koto | Also known as The Old Capital |
| 1981 | Lonely Heart | 幸福 | Kōfuku | Also known as Happiness |
| 1983 | The Makioka Sisters | 細雪 | Sasame-yuki | |
| 1984 | Ohan | おはん | Ohan | |
| 1985 | The Burmese Harp | ビルマの竪琴 | Biruma no tategoto | Remake of The Burmese Harp |
| 1986 | The Adventures of Milo and Otis | 子猫物語 | Koneko Monogatari | Associate director |
| 1986 | The Hall of the Crying Deer | | Rokumeikan | Also known as High Society of Meiji |
| 1987 | Actress | | Eiga joyū | Also known as Film Actress |
| 1987 | Princess from the Moon | 竹取物語 | Taketori Monogatari | |
| 1988 | Crane | | Tsuru | |
| 1991 | Noh Mask Murders [jp] | | Tenkawa densetsu satsujin jiken | |
| 1993 | The Return of Monjirō Kogarashi | 帰って来た木枯し紋次郎 | Kaettekita Kogarashi Monjirō | Based on the 1972 television series |
| 1994 | 47 Ronin | 四十七人の刺客 | Shijūshichinin no shikaku | |
| 1996 | The 8-Tomb Village [jp] | | Yatsuhaka-mura | |
| 2000 | Shinsengumi [jp] | | Shinsengumi | |
| 2000 | Dora-heita | | Dora-heita | Also known as Alley Cat |
| 2001 | Kah-chan [jp] | かあちゃん | Kah-chan | |
| 2006 | Ten Nights of Dreams | | Yume jûya | Segment: "The Second Dream" |
| 2006 | The Inugamis | 犬神家の一族 | Inugami-ke no ichizoku | Sixth film starring Kōji Ishizaka as Kosuke Kindaichi; remake of The Inugami Family |

## Style and themes

Ichikawa's films are marked with a certain darkness and bleakness, punctuated with sparks of humanity.
It can be said that his main trait is technical expertise, irony, detachment and a drive for realism married with a complete spectrum of genres. Some critics class him with Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu as one of the masters of Japanese cinema.

## Legacy

The Kon Ichikawa Memorial Room, a small museum dedicated to him and his wife Natto Wada displaying materials from his personal collection, was opened in Shibuya in 2015, on the site of his former home.