Daisuke Itō

was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who played a central role in the development of the modern jidaigeki and samurai cinema.

Career Born in Ehime Prefecture, Itō joined the actors school at Shochiku in 1920, but soon began writing screenplays under the recommendation of Kaoru Osanai. He made his directorial debut in 1924 at Teikoku Kinema with Shuchū nikki. He was criticized, however, for being more of a stylist than a thematically committed filmmaker. While being a director who was less successful after the coming of sound, Itō worked with many great jidaigeki stars, especially Denjirō Ōkōchi, Yorozuya Kinnosuke, Ichikawa Raizō VIII, and Tsumasaburō Bandō at studios such as Nikkatsu and Daiei, in a career that spanned nearly half a century.

In 1991, a partial print of A Diary of Chuji's Travels, long considered a lost film, was discovered and screened for the public.

Selected filmography Chōkon (長恨) (1926) A Diary of Chuji's Travels (忠次旅日記) (1927) Shinpan Ōoka seidan (新版大岡政談) (1928) Chikemuri Takadanobaba (血煙高田馬場) (1928) Zanjin zanbaken (斬人斬馬剣) (1928) Jirokichi the Rat (御誂治郎吉格子) (1931) Ōshō (王将) (1948) Five Men of Edo (大江戸五人男) (1951) Shunkin monogatari (春琴物語) (1954) Ôshô ihidai (王将-代) (1955) - First remake of Itō's Ōshō The Gay Masquerade (弁天小僧) (1958) Scar Yosaburo (切られ与三郎) (1960) Hatamoto Gurentai (旗本愚連隊) (1960) (screenplay) Hangyakuji (反逆児) (1961) The King (王将) (1962) - Second remake of Itō's Ōshō Bakumatsu (幕末) (1970)