Shibata Tsunekichi (1850-1929) was one of Japan's first filmmakers. He worked for the photographer Asano Shiro and his Konishi Camera shop, the first in Japan to import a motion picture camera. Along with Shirai Kanzo, he took the earliest films in Japan, mostly of geisha, Ginza, and selections of scenes from popular plays. His first exhibition was at the Tokyo Kabuki-za in 1899. After that he focused mainly on Kabuki plays.