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Former Toei President Shigeru Okada Passes Away
posted on by Egan Loo
Shigeru Okada, a former president and the honorary chairman of the movie studio Toei, passed away due to pneumonia on Monday, May 9 at 5:55 p.m. in a Tokyo hospital. He was 87. He is survived by his wife Akiko and his son Yusuke.
Okada was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, and he graduated from the prestigious Tokyo Imperial University (later renamed as the University of Tokyo) in 1947. After graudation, he joined Toei Eiga, the predecessor to the modern-day studio Toei.
After producing his first work, Nihon Senpatsu Gakusei no Shuki: Kike, Wadatsumi no Koe, he steadily rose through the Toei ranks in a series of positions: head of the Kyoto Studios, head of the Tokyo Studios, head of the movie division, and finally president in 1971. He served as president for 22 years and as chairman for nine more years. He was also a board director of Toei Dōga (later Toei Animation) for almost four decades — from 1972 until his passing.
Okada's oldest son Yūsuke Okada is the current president of Toei.
Sources: Nikkan Sports, animeanime.biz via Riuichi Taniguchi, Tadashi Sudo
