Koji Shima
Born as Takehiko Kagoshima in Nagasaki, Shima left for Tokyo after graduating from high school. He was in the first class of the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō and joined the Nikkatsu studio as an actor in 1925. Playing mostly romantic leads, he appeared in films directed by such masters as Tomu Uchida and Kenji Mizoguchi. He turned to directing in 1939, and quickly came to prominence with films such as Kaze no Matasaburō, an adaption of a Kenji Miyazawa story, and Jirō Monogatari. After the war, he directed such films as Ginza Kankan Musume and Jūdai no Seiten at Shintoho and Daiei Studios. He won a prize at the 1st Moscow International Film Festival for Unforgettable Trail. Some of his last films were made in Hong Kong for Shaw Brothers. He directed over 90 films as a director and appeared in over 90 films as an actor. He was once married to the actress Yukiko Todoroki.
Tokyo March
as uncreditedA classic melodramatic love tragedy addressing social inequality in Taishō-era Japan, The...
Movie pageThe Woman Who Touched The Legs
as DetectiveA twice-remade ironic comedy about a writer's encounter with a female thief.
Movie pageSweat
as Heizaemon KitayamaSweat (1929) is a slapstick riff on tendency-film themes, as a bored young millionaire has his...
Movie pageA Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring
as uncreditedDirected by Kenji Mizoguchi.
Movie pagePassionate Poet Ishikawa Takuboku - Hometown
as uncreditedFilm about poet Ishikawa Takuboku
Movie page