Denjiro Okochi

Denjirō Ōkōchi (大河内 傳次郎, Ōkōchi Denjirō, February 5, 1898; Buzen, Fukuoka - July 18, 1962; Okochi Sanso Garden, Kyoto {age 64} ) is a Japanese film actor who is known for starring roles in Jidaigeki directed by leading Japanese filmmakers. His real name was Masuo Ōbe (大邊 男). His other stage names are Isamu Oogimachi (正親町 勇), Jiro Muromachi (室町 次郎), Dairoku Nishikataya (西方弥陀六) and Denjiro Okouchi (大河内 傳二郎). 
==Life and Career==
Grew up in Fukuoka, Ōkōchi entered Shinkokugeki (Eng: New National Theatre), training under Shōjirō Sawada (aka Sawasho). Sawada founded this new school of popular theatre in 1917 which had strong cultural impact by the early 1920s. Shinkokugeki was known for jidaigeki the period drama genre, particularly for its realistic sword fights (tate) or swordplay (kengeki). 
With this background, Ōkōchi entered the Nikkatsu studio in 1925 and soon came to fame in chanbara (sword-fighting) samurai films – a subgenre of jidaigeki emphasizing tate – playing characters such as Chūji Kunisada and Sazen Tange.
At his peak, he was one of the top jidaigeki stars alongside Tsumasaburō Bandō, Kanjūrō Arashi, Utaemon Ichikawa, Kazuo Hasegawa and Chiezō Kataoka. During World War II, he also appeared in a number of war films. 
He was directed by Akira Kurosawa, Daisuke Itō, Sadao Yamanaka, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Hiroshi Inagaki and Masahiro Makino. Ōkōchi had ceased acting by 1961, dying a year later on July 18, 1962 from stomach cancer at his Okochi Sanso Garden in Kyoto at the age of 64. 
==Filmography==
*All films on IMDb