Editing Masaki Kobayashi (section)

====Early films (1953-1959)====
Kobayashi's directorial debut was in 1952 with ''My Son's Youth''.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion">{{cite book |last=Prince |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Prince |date=November 16, 2017 |title=A Dream of Resistance: The Cinema of Kobayashi Masaki |chapter=Conjoining Spirit and World |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |pages=38-69 |isbn=978-0-8135-9235-0}}</ref> This film was part of an initiative by [[Shochiku]] to release short films, called "sister films", that were intended as introductions to new directors.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> On April 1, 1952, Kobayashi married Chiyoko Fumiya, an actress at Shochiku.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> In 1953, ''Sincerity'' was released, which was Kobayashi's first feature length film.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> The film was written by Kobayashi's mentor, [[Keisuke Kinoshita]].<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> Both ''My Son's Youth'' and ''Sincerity'' drew inspiration from Kobayashi's family and childhood, with some of the characters being modeled after members of his family.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/>

In 1953, Kobayashi finished filming ''[[The Thick-Walled Room]]'', about [[Japanese war crimes#Definitions|Class B and Class C war criminals]] being held in [[Sugamo Prison]].<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> The film was based on the diaries of real war criminals and was a substantial departure from the type of films Shochiku typically at that time.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> Shochiku initially refused to release ''The Thick-Walled Room'' without alteration, due to the Japan government's fear that the film's criticism of the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation of Japan]] would upset the [[United States]].<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/><ref name="Eclipse38">{{Cite web |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2738-eclipse-series-38-kobayashi-against-the-system |title=Eclipse Series 38: Kobayashi Against the System |last1=Koresky |first1=Michael |date=April 17, 2013 |website=The Criterion Collection |access-date=December 26, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241208000918/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2738-eclipse-series-38-kobayashi-against-the-system |archive-date=December 8, 2024}}</ref> Kobayashi refused to cut any content, so the film was not released until 1956.<ref name="Eclipse38"/> ''The Thick-Walled Room'' hurt Kobayashi's reputation within Shochiku, so he attempted to reestablish himself by making his next four films more similar to the typical style of Shochiku.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/>

In 1954, ''Three Loves'' was released.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> This film features scenes shot inside the same church that Kobayashi and Chiyoko Fumiya were married in.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> Later in 1954, ''Somewhere Under the Broad Sky'' was released.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> This film included the first appearance of [[Keiji Sada]] in a Kobayashi-directed film, who was close friends with Kobayashi and would go on to appear in 6 of Kobayashi's films.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/> In 1956, ''Fountainhead'' was released, which was the last of Kobayashi's films that strongly resembled the typical Shochiku style.<ref name="PrinceDreamPromotion"/>

In 1956, ''The Thick-Walled Room'' was released to the public.<ref name="Eclipse38"/> Later that year, ''[[I Will Buy You]]'' was released, about [[corruption]] in [[baseball]] [[Scout (sport)|scouting]].<ref name="PrinceDreamThorn">{{cite book |last=Prince |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Prince |date=November 16, 2017 |title=A Dream of Resistance: The Cinema of Kobayashi Masaki |chapter=A Sharp and Piercing Thorn |publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]] |pages=70-122 |isbn=978-0-8135-9235-0}}</ref> In 1957, ''[[Black River (1957 film)|Black River]]'' was released, about the crime and prostitution that arose around US bases in Japan during and after the American occupation.<ref name="PrinceDreamThorn"/> This was the first of Kobayashi's films to star [[Tatsuya Nakadai]] in a major role.<ref name="PrinceDreamThorn"/> Nakadai would become a mainstay of Kobayashi's film, starring in 9 of Kobayashi's next 13 films.<ref name="PrinceDreamThorn"/>