KINEJAPAN digest 2867

[faith]

Sarah,
  Have you thought about trying to track down the whereabouts of these actors thru their stage rather than film careers?  A remarkable proportion of early Japanese film actors came from the stage, and tended to continue stage work and maintain their troupe affiliations all their lives;  even very
 small-time actors were recruited from the spear-carrying ranks of theatre troupes -- normally by a troupe senior actor starring in the film.  
  The troupes or actors' unions should still keep records of such actors on their books. Kabuki actors, usually recognizable by their surnames, are still handled by the Haiyu Kyokai, who are a friendly & helpful lot.  In my work with kabuki actors' photos I always went thru Haiyu Kyokai, who
 contact the actors directly for permission to publish.  Haiyu Kyokai should maintain records of all actors whoever worked on kabuki or shimpa stages.  Actors from shingeki might be found by contacting the troupe with which they were affiliated -- Bungei-za, Haiyu-za, etc-- which are still active
 and should keep records of all their actors.  Troupe affiliations will always be part of the official bios of actors, no matter how small-time they seem (many bit-part actors, as you seem to have found, were famous in their day).  I have found Nihon Eiga Jinmei Jiten [Kinema Jumpo] to be most
 reliable for bios, but there must also be a lot online.
  Japanese theatre is a tightly-knit community which still looks after its actors and their heirs;  legalities can sometimes be flexible, and if you get a nod from the right quarter, you are in business.  I think it is worth a try. 
  Good luck.
  FB
 
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