Koji Shima, born Takehiko Kagoshima in Nagasaki on 16 February 1901 and dead in September 1986, was a graduate of the first class of the Japan Film Actors School. He joined the Nikkatsu studio's Daishogun set as an actor in 1925, appearing in films by Tomu Uchida, Yutaka Abe, Kenji Mizoguchi and Tomotaka Tasaka. He turned to directing only at the age of thirty-eight, with The Skylark (1939). In 1940 his adaptations of Ishikawa Tatsuzo's A Collection of Fallen Poems, Ozaki Kazuo's Rosy Glasses and Miyazawa Kenji's Matasaburo of the Wind drew attention. During the war he made the serious war film All-out Attack on Singapore (1943) as well as the comedy Electrifying Duet (1941), built around the comic pairing of Sugi Kyojin and Todoroki Yukiko; after filming Twelve Hours Before Setting Out (1943) he was drafted. After the war he directed for Daiei, Toyoko Eiga and Shintoho, including I Thought It Was You (1946), Mr Todo (1947), Goodbye (1949) and the hit musical Ginza Cancan Girl (1949), moving toward more popular material. In 1953 he cast the newcomer Wakao Ayako in The Japanese Lady Chatterley's Lover, a controversial box-office success. Golden Demon (1954) won Best Film at the first Southeast Asia Film Festival, and his science-fiction film Warning from Space (1956) took prizes for colour cinematography and sound at the third Southeast Asia Film Festival. From 1969, under the name Shi Mashan, he directed for Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong, including Dear Murderer (1969), Tropicana Interlude (1969) and The Orchid (1970). His last production, Song of the South Sea, stopped when its lead Peter Chen Ho died and was remade as Love Song over the Sea (1970) by assistant director Kuei Chih-hung. In the 1970s he mainly directed promotional films.
A prolific Japanese director across the pre- and post-war eras, Shima won Best Film at the first Southeast Asia Film Festival and later brought Japanese studio craft to Hong Kong when he directed for Shaw Brothers under the alias Shi Mashan.
Achievements
- 1939 · Directed his first film, The Skylark, marking his move from actor to director.
- 1954 · Won Best Film at the first Southeast Asia Film Festival for Golden Demon.
- 1969 · Began directing for Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong under the name Shi Mashan, starting with Dear Murderer.