About

Known credits:
85
Birthday:
1935-12-10
Place of birth:
Aomori, Japan
Website:
N/A

Shūji Terayama

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Shūji Terayama (December 10, 1935 – May 4, 1983) was an avant-garde Japanese poet, dramatist, writer, film director, and photographer. According to many critics and supporters, he was one of the most productive and provocative creative artists to come out of Japan. He was born December 10, 1935, the only son of Hachiro and Hatsu Terayama in Hirosaki city in the northern Japanese prefecture of Aomori. His father died at the end of Pacific War in Indonesia in September 1945. At the age of nine, his mother moved to Kyūshū to work at an American military base while he himself went to live with relatives in the city of Misawa, also in Aomori. At this same time, Terayama lived through the Aomori air raids that killed more than 30,000 people.

Terayama entered Aomori Prefectural Aomori High School in 1951, and in 1954 went to prestigious Waseda University's Faculty of Education to study Japanese language and literature. However, he soon dropped out because he fell ill with nephrotic syndrome. He received his education through working in bars in Shinjuku. His oeuvre includes a number of essays claiming that more can be learned about life through boxing and horse racing than by attending school and studying hard. Accordingly, he was one of the central figures of the "runaway" movement in Japan in the late 1960s, as depicted in his book, play, and film "Throw Away Your Books, Run into the Streets!

In 1967, Terayama formed the Tenjō Sajiki theater troupe, whose name comes from the Japanese translation of the 1945 Marcel Carné film "Les Enfants du Paradis", so can be translated as "children of heaven", however its correct translation is "Ceiling Gallery" and has a meaning similar to the English expression "Peanut Gallery". The troupe was dedicated to the avant-garde and staged a number of controversial plays tackling social issues from an iconoclastic perspective. Some major plays include "Bluebeard", "Yes", and "The Crime of Fatso Oyama", among others. Also involved with the theater were artists Aquirax Uno and Tadanori Yokoo, who designed many of the advertisement posters for the group. Musically, he worked closely with experimental composer J.A. Seazer and folk musician Kan Mikami.

He was also involved in poetry and at 18 was the second winner of the Tanka Studies Award.

Terayama experimented with ‘city plays’, a fantastical satire of civic life.

Also in 1967, Terayama started an experimental cinema and gallery called 'Universal Gravitation,' which is in fact still in existence at Misawa as a resource center. The Terayama Shūji Memorial Hall, which has a large collection of his plays, novels, poetry, photography and a great number of his personal effects and relics from his theatre productions, can also be found in Misawa. In 1976, he was a member of the jury at the 26th Berlin International Film Festival.

Terayama published almost 200 literary works, and over 20 short and full-length films.

He was married to Tenjō Sajiki co-founder Kyōko Kujō, but they later divorced, although they continued to work together until Terayama's death on May 4, 1983 from cirrhosis of the liver.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Shūji Terayama, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Known for

Acting
2017 Where is Tomorrow, Shuji Terayama Actor Himself (archive footage) N/A
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1983 Video Letter Actor Self 59
Average
1978 Children of the Gods Actor Himself N/A
N/A
1977 Catalog of Memory Actor himself N/A
N/A
1973 JRA CM Actor Himself N/A
N/A
1966 Pretty Devil Yoko Actor Imura 58
Average

Directing
1993 The Experimental Image World of Shuji Terayama Directing Director N/A
N/A
1984 Farewell to the Ark Directing Director 59
Average
1983 The Lemmings Directing Director N/A
N/A
1983 Video Letter Directing Director 59
Average
1981 Fruits of Passion Directing Director 58
Average
1981 100 Years of Solitude Directing Director N/A
N/A
1979 Private Collections Directing Director 58
Average
1979 Grass Labyrinth Directing Director 59
Average
1978 Les chants de Maldoror Directing Director 58
Average
1978 An Attempt to Describe the Measure of a Man Directing Director 58
Average
1978 Directions to Servants Directing Director N/A
N/A
1978 Shintokumaru Directing Director N/A
N/A
1977 The Reading Machine Directing Director 58
Average
1977 Boxer Directing Director 58
Average
1977 The Woman with Two Heads Directing Director 59
Average
1977 The Eraser Directing Director 58
Average
1977 Father Directing Director 59
Average
1975 The Trial Directing Director 59
Average
1975 Labyrinth Tale Directing Director 58
Average
1975 Smallpox Tale Directing Director 58
Average
1974 Pastoral: To Die in the Country Directing Director 61
Fair
1974 Butterfly Directing Director 58
Average
1974 Young Person's Guide to Cinema Directing Director 58
Average
1974 Laura Directing Director 59
Average
1973 JRA CM Directing Director N/A
N/A
1971 Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets Directing Director 60
Fair
1971 Emperor Tomato Ketchup Directing Director 58
Average
1971 The War of Jan-Ken-Pon Directing Director 59
Average
1964 The Cage Directing Director 59
Average
1960 Catology Directing Director N/A
N/A

Writing
2017 Ah, Wilderness: Part 2 Writing Novel 59
Average
2017 Ah, Wilderness: Part 1 Writing Novel 59
Average
2013 Lemming Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1994 On the Far Side of Twilight Writing Original Story N/A
N/A
1993 The Experimental Image World of Shuji Terayama Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1984 Farewell to the Ark Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1984 Our Age Comes Riding on a Circus Elephant Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1983 La Marie-vison Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1983 The Lemmings Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1983 Video Letter Writing Writer 59
Average
1983 The Hunchback of Aomori Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1981 Fruits of Passion Writing Writer 58
Average
1980 A Tale of Africa Writing Writer 59
Average
1979 Private Collections Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1979 Grass Labyrinth Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1978 Third Base Writing Writer 59
Average
1978 Les chants de Maldoror Writing Writer 58
Average
1978 An Attempt to Describe the Measure of a Man Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1978 Shintokumaru Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1978 Directions to Servants Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1977 The Reading Machine Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1977 Boxer Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1977 The Woman with Two Heads Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1977 The Eraser Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1975 The Trial Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1975 Smallpox Tale Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1974 Pastoral: To Die in the Country Writing Writer 61
Fair
1974 Butterfly Writing Writer 58
Average
1974 Young Person's Guide to Cinema Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1971 Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets Writing Writer 60
Fair
1971 Emperor Tomato Ketchup Writing Writer 58
Average
1971 The War of Jan-Ken-Pon Writing Writer 59
Average
1970 The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan Writing Writer 59
Average
1968 Nanami: The Inferno of First Love Writing Writer 59
Average
1964 The Cage Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1962 A Flame at the Pier Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1961 Epitaph to My Love Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1961 Killers on Parade Writing Writer 58
Average
1960 Get 'em All Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1960 Youth in Fury Writing Screenplay 59
Average

Production
1974 Pastoral: To Die in the Country Production Producer 61
Fair
1971 Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets Production Producer 60
Fair

Sound
1971 Emperor Tomato Ketchup Sound Music 58
Average

Crew
2021 海王星 Crew Creator 59
Average
1983 Video Letter Crew Cinematography 59
Average
1975 Labyrinth Tale Crew Script 58
Average
1967 Mothers Crew Poem 59
Average

Editing
1983 Video Letter Editing Editor 59
Average
1971 Emperor Tomato Ketchup Editing Editor 58
Average