Past Exhibitions
- July 26 - October 30, 2016
Forty Years of Kadokawa Pictures
Date: July 26 (Tue) – October 30 (Sun)
Location: Exhibition Gallery (7th floor)
Hours: 11:00am-6:30pm (admission until 6:00pm)
Closed: Mondays, Sep. 5-9
Admission: Single Ticket 210(Group Admission 100)/ University & College Students, Seniors (age 65 or over) 70(Group Admission 40)
*Free for High School Students and under 18; Persons with disability and one person accompanying each of them are admitted free or charge.
For more detailed information, please see the following page (in Japanese).
40 years ago, Kadokawa Pictures went against the convention that films are only produced by film companies, and instantly reshaped the power structure of the contemporary Japanese film world.
Its parent company, the publisher Kadokawa Shoten, entered film production and debuted with The Inugamis (1976), directed by master director Kon Ichikawa, which made a bestseller out of the original novel by Seishi Yokomizo, and they went on to make more films based on mystery novels or hard-boiled fiction. Led by president Haruki Kadokawa, their publicity strategy was a mixture of media involving film, the original novel, and the theme song, as with Proof of the Man (1977) and Virus (1980), which proved hugely successful at the box office. In the 1980s, they released films such as Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981) and The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (1983), starring idols such as Hiroko Yakushimaru, Tomoyo Harada, or Noriko Watanabe. They also moved into animation films and brought young audiences to the theaters, and in the mid-1990s the company was revitalized under new president Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, with films such as Lost Paradise (1997) or Ring (1998) catching the public’s imagination. Their filmmaking business continues to thrive in the present day.
This exhibition traces the history of this production through their colorful posters and press materials. We hope you enjoy revisiting these memorable titles, which caused nationwide sensations, and take this opportunity to reconsider contemporary Japanese films.
