Abstract

He went to school, was called up for military service, was defeated in the war, was repatriated, joined a union, and joined the Red Purge. He joined Toei, worked in the Educational Film Department, and was a producer at the Tokyo Studio. This is "Watashi's Showa History," which describes his many films and their transformations.
The story of a film producer who lived through the turbulent Showa era and produced many masterpieces for the world, leaving his life story to his family.
In addition to his Toei colleagues Tomonori Imada and Ryotoku Watanabe, he also worked with Koichi Akagawa, Toshio Matsumoto, Shinkichi Noda, Hisashi Iwasa, Keita Toyoda, Kou Horiuchi, Keiji Hasebe, Nagisa Oshima, Tomotaka Tasaka, Shuji Terayama, Kobo Abe, Keinosuke Uekusa, Kosei Otsuka, Noboru Ando, Junya Sato, and Yasuo Furuhata. The book is full of stories of interactions with people and their secrets.

From the recommendation
"When I first read this book, I thought it was a glimpse of Japanese films and filmmakers as depicted by Mr. Kuriyama's remarkable eye. There are episodes scattered throughout, like Chekhov's short stories, that have been omitted from the canonical history of Japanese cinema. (Non-fiction writer Shin'ichi Sano)

Author’s Information

Born in Kushikino, Kagoshima Prefecture in 1923.
Spent his childhood and adolescence in Seoul (Gyeongseong), Korea. He was drafted into the army, and the war ended in Jeju Island. After repatriation, he spent time in Kagoshima, but returned to Tokyo to work for Nippon Nitrogen (now Chisso), his former workplace in Korea. Retired after the red purge as union secretary general.
In 1951, he joined Toei, which had just been established, and worked in the Foreign Affairs Division.
In 1954, he became a planning producer when the Educational Film Department was established.
In 1954, upon the establishment of the Educational Film Department, he became a planning producer and planned such films as "Children of Kujukurihama," "The Swan Story," "Sakichi Toyoda the Younger," and "Children of the Coal Mine. He was awarded the Ministry of Education's Special Prize and the Minister of Education's Prize.
In 1964, he became deputy director of the planning department and producer at the Tokyo Film Studio.
Worked on such films as "Delinquent Girl Yoko," "Organized Violence," "Journey" and "13,000 Suspects.
In 1969, he left Toei to become the producer of "Akebono in the High-rise".
Ltd. and produced independent films with Gakken Pictures, Kyoritsu Pictures and Kyozai. He also worked as a producer for Toei Video, and was in charge of "Shonan Bakuzoku" and "Captain Future".
He is a member of the Motion Picture and Television Producers Association of Japan.