Biography
Shinkichi Noda (野田 真吉) was a Japanese documentary filmmaker, producer and writer. He joined the PCL studio (later Toho) in 1937 after studying French literature at Waseda University and made his directorial debut in 1939 with the short Postal Worker. After wartime service and involvement in the post-war Toho labour disputes, he worked as a freelance director on educational, industrial and social-issue documentaries.
His notable works include Marine Snow: The Origin of Oil (1960), films on labour struggles such as The Matsukawa Incident: Seeing the Truth Through the Wall (1954), and later ethnographic pieces on Japanese festivals and folk traditions, including The Feast of the Gods on a Winter’s Night: Toyama’s Shimotsuki Festival (1970). He co-founded film and documentary associations and contributed to criticism and programming. Noda also appeared as the Street Restaurant Owner in Nagisa Ōshima’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976).
