Yoshi Hijikata

Director. Real name Hisayoshi. Born in Tokyo on April 16, 1898, as the eldest grandson of Count Hisamoto Hijikata. When he was three months old, his father Hisaaki shot himself with a pistol. In 1916 (Taisho 5), he formed the Tomodachiza with a classmate from Gakushuin High School, and the following year, he directed his first play, "A Happy Death." In 1918, on the eve of his grandfather's death, he married Umeko Mishima, and inherited her title. In 1922, after graduating from the Department of Japanese Literature at Tokyo Imperial University, he traveled to Europe, studying the theory and practice of directing in Paris and Berlin, but returned to Japan the following year after hearing of the Great Kanto Earthquake. In 1921, he recruited Kaoru Osanai and invested his own money to found the Tsukiji Little Theater, Japan's first new theater company with its own theater, and his achievements are immortal. After that, he supported the company's management, directed many domestic and foreign plays, and trained new theater artists. In 1929 (Showa 4), he founded the Shintsukiji Theater Company. He became increasingly socialist, and in 1958 he went to Moscow and became a member of the International Revolutionary Theatre Union's secretariat, but because of his actions and words he became the first aristocrat in history to be stripped of his title. In 1962 he was ordered to leave the country and lived in France, but he found himself unable to make ends meet and returned to Japan in 1966. He was immediately arrested by the Special Higher Police and imprisoned until October 1945 (Showa 20) after the end of the war. After his release in January 1946 he joined the Communist Party and worked as a freelance director for the Shinkyo Theater Company and the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, where he trained the next generation of actors. He appeared as Shimamura Hogetsu in the film "Actress" (1947) directed by Kinugasa Teinosuke. He died on June 4, 1959.

[Shoji Sobue]

"The Way of the Director: A Collection of Dramatic Essays by Hijikata Yoshi" (1969, Miraisha) "Hijikata Umeko Autobiography" (1976, Hayakawa Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

演出家。本名久敬(ひさよし)。明治31年4月16日、伯爵土方久元の嫡孫として東京に生まれる。生後3か月のとき父久明はピストル自殺。1916年（大正5）学習院高等部の同級生と友達座を結成、翌年『陽気な死』を初演出。18年、祖父の死の前夜三島梅子と結婚、爵位を継ぐ。22年、東京帝国大学国文科卒業後渡欧、パリ、ベルリンで演出の理論と実際を学ぶが、関東大震災の報で翌年帰国。24年、小山内薫(おさないかおる)を擁し、私財を投じて日本最初の、劇場をもつ新劇団、築地(つきじ)小劇場を創設した功績は不朽である。以後、経営を支えつつ数多くの内外戯曲を演出、新劇人を養成した。29年（昭和4）新築地劇団を創設。社会主義的傾向を強め、33年モスクワに赴き、国際革命演劇同盟書記局員となるが、その言行のため華族史上初の爵位剥奪(はくだつ)処分を受けた。37年、国外退去を命じられフランスに住むが、生活に行き詰まり41年帰国。ただちに特高に逮捕され、終戦後の45年（昭和20）10月まで入獄。釈放後の46年1月、共産党に入党、フリーで新協劇団や東京芸術劇場の演出で活躍し、後進の育成にあたった。衣笠貞之助(きぬがさていのすけ)監督の映画『女優』（1947）に島村抱月(ほうげつ)に扮(ふん)して出演している。昭和34年6月4日没。

［祖父江昭二］

『『演出者の道――土方与志演劇論集』（1969・未来社）』▽『『土方梅子自伝』（1976・早川書房）』

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