Background
Shibata Chujiro was born in Japan.
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Shibata Chujiro
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He was a trader in Yokohama and the first to import motion pictures to Japan. On one of his business trips to America he engaged an American engineer and bought a projector (1896). The next year he tried to show his films at the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo but failed due to opposition from Danjuro Ichikawa and Kikugoro Onoe.
He however, succeeded in securing the Einkikan Theater and held two performances a day backed with big publicity. Later he became an American citizen.
