M. Pathe

M. Pathe (M・パテー商会, M. Patē Shōkai) was a Japanese film studio active in the early years of cinema in Japan.

Background

M. Pathe was founded in 1906 by Shōkichi Umeya, a businessman who had distributed films first in Malaysia and Singapore and then in Japan.^[1] He took the name "M. Pathe" from the French Pathé Frères from which he imported films, although the companies had no official connection.^[1]: 46 Umeya built a studio in Ōkubo near Shinjuku, Tokyo.^[2]

Purportedly based on Sun Yat-sen's suggestion to use cinema for the public benefit, Umeya sought to connect film to the development of science, industry, and education.^[3]: 46 As a result, in 1906, M. Pathe imported more than 120 educational and scientific films form Europe.^[3]: 46

An ambitious man, Umeya sent cameramen to Antarctica to record Nobu Shirase's expedition, and thus create one of Japan's first feature-length documentaries.^[4] He put on a high-class show, with pretty usherettes and high ticket prices,^[5] while also using his money to help fund Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Revolution.^[6]

M. Pathe documented the success of the Chinese revolution beginning with the Wuchang uprising and leading to Sun's inauguration, producing three documentary films that covered the revolution.^[7]: 1

Merger

It was under Umeya's instigation that Yoshizawa Shōten, Yokota Shōkai, and Fukuhōdō merged with M. Pathe to form Nikkatsu in 1912.^[4] His plan was to sever himself from M. Pathe's difficult financial straits by creating a trust that emulated the Motion Picture Patents Company.^[8]

References

1. Komatsu, Hiroshi (2005). "M. Pathe". In Richard Abel (ed.). Encyclopedia of Early Cinema. Routledge. p. 404. ISBN 0-415-23440-9.
2. Suzuki, Sadao. "Saijō Yaso to Shinjuku (2)". Shinjuku rekishi yomoyama-banashi (in Japanese). Shinjuku Hōjinkai. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
3. Qian, Ying (2024). Revolutionary Becomings: Documentary Media in Twentieth-Century China. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231204477.
4. Nagasaki, Hajime. "Umeya Shōkichi". Asahi Nihon rekishi jinbutsu jiten. Asahi Shinbun Shuppan. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
5. Anderson, Joseph L.; Donald Richie (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (expanded ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 28.
6. Kosaka, Ayano (2009). Kakumei o purodyūsushita Nihonjin (in Japanese). Kōdansha. ISBN 978-4-06-215883-1.
7. Qian, Ying (2024). Revolutionary Becomings: Documentary Media in Twentieth-Century China. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231204477.
8. Anderson, Joseph L.; Donald Richie (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (expanded ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 30.