The company began making films in 1920, about a decade after its main rival Nikkatsu. The company sought to break away from the prevailing pattern of "" and to emulate Hollywood standards. It was the first film studio to abandon the use of female impersonators and brought new ideas, including the star system and the sound stage to Japan. It built its main studio at , between Tokyo and Yokohama, and hired , a Japanese who had worked in Hollywood as an actor and cameraman to direct its first film, "Island Woman" ("Shima no Onna", 1920). It also hired the prominent theater director to head a school at the studio, which produced the film "" (1921), a film directed by which is considered "the first landmark film in Japanese history".