Inabata Katsutaro

October 30, 1862 (age 86)

Kyoto, Kyōto Prefecture, Japan

After studying weaving and dying technology for eight years, Inabata returned to Japan in 1885 and, after teaching others about what he learned, started his own company, Inabata Senryōten (later Inabata & Company, Limited), in 1890. He later moved the company to Osaka and focused his business on dying military uniforms. A bronze statue of him still stands in front of the OCCI. Inabata was also instrumental in the founding of the Institut Franco-Japon du Kansai (currently l’Institut français du Japon – Kansai) in 1926. Interested in the business opportunity, Inabata returned to Japan with a cinematographe, fifty reels of film, and François-Constant Girel, a Lumière technician. They then offered "the first paid exhibition of what was then called "jido shashin" " at the Nanchi Enbujo Theater in Osaka on 15 February 1897. Although Thomas Edison"s kinetoscope had been presented in Kobe the previous year, that was not a device for projecting motion pictures, so Inabata"s screening is regarded as Japan"s "first projected film programme". Since the cinematographe could both project and shoot motion pictures, Inabata was also the first Japanese to be involved in the shooting of films, some of which featured him and his family. He soon found the film business distasteful, however, and handed it over to Einosuke Yokota, who later founded Yokota Shōkai, one of Japan"s first film studios.

Inabata Katsutaro

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稲畑勝太郎

Businessperson

Education

Born to a Kyoto family that ran a long-standing wagashi store, Inabata attended the Kyoto-fu Shihan Gakkō (now the Kyoto University of Education) and in 1877 earned a scholarship to attend the Louisiana Martinière technical school in Lyon.

Career

After studying weaving and dying technology for eight years, Inabata returned to Japan in 1885 and, after teaching others about what he learned, started his own company, Inabata Senryōten (later Inabata & Company, Limited), in 1890. He later moved the company to Osaka and focused his business on dying military uniforms. A bronze statue of him still stands in front of the OCCI. Inabata was also instrumental in the founding of the Institut Franco-Japon du Kansai (currently l’Institut français du Japon – Kansai) in 1926.

Interested in the business opportunity, Inabata returned to Japan with a cinematographe, fifty reels of film, and François-Constant Girel, a Lumière technician.

They then offered "the first paid exhibition of what was then called "jido shashin" " at the Nanchi Enbujo Theater in Osaka on 15 February 1897. Although Thomas Edison"s kinetoscope had been presented in Kobe the previous year, that was not a device for projecting motion pictures, so Inabata"s screening is regarded as Japan"s "first projected film programme".

Since the cinematographe could both project and shoot motion pictures, Inabata was also the first Japanese to be involved in the shooting of films, some of which featured him and his family. He soon found the film business distasteful, however, and handed it over to Einosuke Yokota, who later founded Yokota Shōkai, one of Japan"s first film studios.

Achievements

Achieving success, Inabata later served as president of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) from 1922 to 1934, and became a member of the House of Peers.

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Inabata Katsutaro

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