Biography
Masaichi Nagata was a Japanese film producer and studio executive. He joined Nikkatsu studio in 1925, worked as a location manager and rose to head of production at its Kyoto studio. He left in 1934 to help form Daiichi Eiga and later played a key role in establishing Daiei Motion Picture Company, serving as its president from 1947 until 1971 (apart from a brief period during the Allied Occupation).
Nagata produced or executive-produced numerous films for Daiei, including Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954), and Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953). Under his leadership Daiei also produced series such as Zatoichi and the Gamera kaiju films. He was additionally involved in baseball as owner of the Daiei Stars team.
