Yasujiro Shimazu

Yasujirō Shimazu (島津 保次郎 Shimazu Yasujirō?, 3 June 1897 – 18 September 1945) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who was one of the major creators of the shōshimingeki genre at the Shōchiku studios in pre-World War II Japan.

Born in Kanda, Tokyo, Shimazu entered the Shōchiku studio in 1920 after answering an advertisement and began training under Kaoru Osanai. He was recognized as a director from 1923 and began specializing in the films about the middle class (shōshimingeki) that were favored at Shōchiku's Kamata studio.He especially came into his own in the sound era, but eventually moved to the Tōhō studio. There he made some films in cooperation with the Manchuria Film Association. He died of lung cancer just after the war ended Many famous directors, such as Heinosuke Gosho, Shirō Toyoda, Kōzaburō Yoshimura, and Keisuke Kinoshita, trained under him.