Shochikuvolcano

The Shochiku Company, Limited (松竹株式会社, Shōchiku Kabushiki gaisha) (TYO: 9601) is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Sunrise (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all, anime films produced by Sunrise). Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada. It has also produced films by highly regarded independent and "loner" directors such as Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano, Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi and Taiwanese New Wave director Hou Hsiao-hsien.