Japan’s oldest motion-picture company is not a relic. It is a survivor. Nikkatsu has been around since 1912, though it didn’t start with that name. It began as the Japan Cinematograph Company.
Before it became a standalone entity, it was a pawn in a larger game. The Greater Japan Film Machinery Manufacturing Company, Ltd. tried to create a monopoly. They modeled it after the Motion Picture Patents Company in the United States. Nikkatsu broke away from that attempt. It went independent in 1912.
The results were immediate. By 1915, Nikkatsu held two-thirds of the viewing market. It wasn’t just about volume. It was about talent. The studio employed the first Japanese film star, Onoe Matsunosuke. It also backed the first prominent director, Makino Shōzō.
Innovation drove their early success. Nikkatsu was the first to experiment with night photography. They proved it with Ningenku in 1923. The film was titled Human Suffering. Decades later, they owned the best sound system in Japan. The Western Electric process gave them an edge in the early 1930s.
Then came the collapse.
Poor management drained their resources. Financial difficulties hit hard. In 1942, the government forced a consolidation. Nikkatsu’s production facilities were absorbed into Daiei Company. The studio was reduced to a theatre-holding chain. It lasted until 1954. That year, Nikkatsu resumed production.
The 1960s brought a cultural shift. Taiyo no Kisetsu and Kurutta Kajitsu exploded in popularity. Both films were based on novels by Ishihara Shintaro. They dealt with revolt against tradition. Audiences loved the rebellion. This success placed Nikkatsu among the leading studios again.
Throughout that decade, the studio specialized in stylized gangster films. These movies became cult favourites in the West. They defined the era. But the early 1970s changed everything.
Nikkatsu shifted its resources. It moved into roman poruno. These are low-budget adult films. They featured mainstream actors and actresses. The stories kept the anti-establishment streak that defined the studio’s heyday. It was a calculated pivot. The gangster films had peaked. The adult genre offered a new market.
The business landscape kept changing. Nikkatsu expanded into television broadcasting. The 2000s brought another ownership shift. In 2005, Index Holdings, a Japanese entertainment and communications conglomerate, made Nikkatsu a subsidiary. The cycle continued. Index Holdings agreed to sell its share to Nippon Television Network in 2009.
Nikkatsu is still here. It has changed names. It has changed owners. It has changed content. The machinery of cinema is brutal. You adapt or you disappear. Nikkatsu adapted. Whether that is a victory or just a survival tactic remains to be seen. The market moves on.
