Yamashiro Shingo

[Aaron Gerow]

The papers and TV are reporting that Yamashiro Shingo passed away on  
the 12th at the age of 70. He had long been suffering from diabetes.  
Yamashiro came to fame during the heyday of Toei jidaigeki, starring  
in such series as Hakuba doji (on TV and film) and Yagyu bugeicho, He  
easily made the shift to yakuza movies and was a featured player in  
the Battles without Honor and Humanity series. He later became very  
popular on TV as a host and panel member on many variety shows. He was  
married twice to the actress Hanazono Hiromi, but the relationship was  
apparently strained enough that their daughter, also an actress, was  
not even with him when he died.

Two things, I think, made Yamashiro stand out. First was his love of  
film. Yamashiro penned a number of books of film criticism and hosted  
a TV movie show, as well as directed nearly a dozen films, including  
one of the bigger budget Nikkatsu Roman Porno movies, Meneko (1983).  
The second was his dedication to the cause of burakumin, the outcast  
caste in Japan that has suffered much discrimination. He often spoke  
about the entertainment community's discrimination against that caste  
and other minorities.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com