Since May 12, 2002
Jushiro Konoe, forever!
Jushiro Konoe(1914-1977) was born to be a samurai movie actor.
Since the age of 20 when he got his first starring role,
he had fascinated many chambara (=sword play) movie fans
in more than 200 movies and TV dramas.
His chambara is unique. Powerful, speedy, yet beautiful.
He was drafted twice for service in his late 20's and early 30's
and had to be away from the movie industry for 10 years.
But his talent and passion for chambara had always been with him.
Starting from a small part all over again when he was 36,
his chambara soon became essential in many movies.
In '60s when the movie industry produced less chambara movies,
Konoe found his new frontier in TV.
The TV drama'Suronin Tukikage Hyogo (Samurai Vagabond)'('65)
became a top-rated hit and this series continued to cover
prime time until '74 with a total of 284 comical chambara stories!
Sadly, he died in 1977 at the age of 63
less than a year after his dear wife who had always assisted him passed away.
Most of us still keep his chambara and/or comical talks in our mind.
In fact, the more time passes, the more we miss his works.
Let me have a chance to share his footage with you here.
Juyotsu
Jushiro Konoe in the movie
"Kyoraku Yukyo Den"
(March '39)
"Kaiketsu Beni Tokage"
(November '39)
