Isamu Kosugi

Career

Born in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, Kosugi first studied at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō before joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925. He came to prominence in tendency films such as Ikeru ningyō (1929). He was the lead player in a series of critically acclaimed realist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the 1930s, particularly Tomu Uchida's Jinsei gekijō (1936) and Tsuchi (1939) and Tomotaka Tasaka's war films, Gonin no sekkōhei (1938) and Mud and Soldiers (1939). In 1937, he starred in the German-Japanese co-production, Atarashiki tsuchi (aka Die Tochter des Samurai), directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami. He was renowned at the time as a skilled actor with an individual style.

After World War II, he moved into directing, working primarily at Nikkatsu, where he filmed comedy series and action films starring Jō Shishido, while still appearing in films as an actor. His son was the composer Taichirō Kosugi, who did the music for Cyborg 009.

As actor

As director