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- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater creative freedom. Drunken Angel (1948) was the first film he made without extensive studio interference, and marked his first collaboration with Toshirô Mifune. In the coming decades, the two would make 16 movies together, and Mifune became as closely associated with Kurosawa's films as was John Wayne with the films of Kurosawa's idol, John Ford. After working in a wide range of genres, Kurosawa made his international breakthrough film Rashomon (1950) in 1950. It won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, and first revealed the richness of Japanese cinema to the West. The next few years saw the low-key, touching Ikiru (1952) (Living), the epic Seven Samurai (1954), the barbaric, riveting Shakespeare adaptation Throne of Blood (1957), and a fun pair of samurai comedies Yojimbo (1961) and Sanjuro (1962). After a lean period in the late 1960s and early 1970s, though, Kurosawa attempted suicide. He survived, and made a small, personal, low-budget picture with Dodes'ka-den (1970), a larger-scale Russian co-production Dersu Uzala (1975) and, with the help of admirers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, the samurai tale Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980), which Kurosawa described as a dry run for Ran (1985), an epic adaptation of Shakespeare's "King Lear." He continued to work into his eighties with the more personal Dreams (1990), Rhapsody in August (1991) and Madadayo (1993). Kurosawa's films have always been more popular in the West than in his native Japan, where critics have viewed his adaptations of Western genres and authors (William Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Maxim Gorky and Evan Hunter) with suspicion - but he's revered by American and European film-makers, who remade Rashomon (1950) as The Outrage (1964), Seven Samurai (1954), as The Magnificent Seven (1960), Yojimbo (1961), as A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and The Hidden Fortress (1958), as Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).Sanshiro Sugata (1943) Sugata Sanshirô
Ichiban utsukushiku (1944) The Most Beautiful
Zoku Sugata Sanshirô (1945) Sanshiro Sugata 2
Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi (1945) The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) Waga seishun ni kuinashi
One Wonderful Sunday (1947) Subarashiki nichiyôbi
Yoidore tenshi (1948) Drunken Angel
Shizukanaru kettô (1949) The Quiet Duel
Nora inu (1949) Stray Dog
Shûbun (1950) Scandal
Rashomon (1950) Rashômon
Hakuchi (1951) The Idiot
Ikiru (1952) To Live
Seven Samurai (1954) Shichinin no samurai
I Live in Fear: Record of a Living Being (1955) Ikimono no kiroku
Throne of Blood (1957) Kumonosu-jô
The Lower Depths (1957) Donzoko
The Hidden Fortress (1958) Kakushi-toride no san-akunin
The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru
Yojimbo (1961) Yôjinbô
Sanjuro (1962) Tsubaki Sanjûrô
High and Low (1963) Tengoku to jigoku
Red Beard (1965) Akahige
Dodes'ka-den (1970) Dodesukaden
Dersu Uzala (1975)
Kagemusha (1980)
Ran (1985)
Dreams (1990) Yume
Rhapsody in August (1991) Hachi-gatsu no kyôshikyoku
Madadayo (1993) Ο δάσκαλος- Director
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Coming from a lower class family Mizoguchi entered the production company Nikkatsu as an actor specialized in female roles. Later he became an assistant director and made his first film in 1922. Although he filmed almost 90 movies in the silent era, only his last 12 productions are really known outside of Japan because they were especially produced for Venice (e.g The Life of Oharu (1952) or Sansho the Bailiff (1954). He only filmed two productions in color: Yôkihi (1955) and Taira Clan Saga (1955).Tôkyô kôshinkyoku (1929) Tokyo March
Taki no shiraito (1933) The Water Magician / Cascading White Threads
The Downfall (1935) Orizuru Osen
Maria no Oyuki (1935) Oyuki, the Madonna
Gubijinsô (1935) The Field Poppy
Osaka Elegy (1936) Naniwa erejî
Gion no shimai (1936) Sisters of the Gion
Zangiku monogatari (1939) The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
Genroku Chûshingura (1941) The 47 Ronin
Miyamoto Musashi (1944)
Meitô bijomaru (1945) The Famous Sword Bijomaru
Saikaku ichidai onna (1952) The Life of Oharu
Shin Heike monogatari (1955) Taira Clan Saga / The Sacrilegious Hero- Director
- Actor
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Tomu Uchida was born on 26 April 1898 in Okayama, Okayama, Japan. He was a director and actor, known for Earth (1939), A Fugitive from the Past (1965) and Miyamoto Musashi VI (1971). He died on 7 August 1970 in Japan.Chiyari Fuji (1955) A Bloody Spear on Mount Fuji
Daibosatsu tôge (1957-9) Sword in the Moonlight 1 & 2 & 3
Hero of the Red Light District (1960) Yôtô monogatari: hana no Yoshiwara hyakunin-giri
A Fugitive from the Past (1965) Kiga kaikyô / Strait of Hunger
Miyamoto Musashi (1962-1971) 1-6- Director
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Inagaki's career in film began as an actor--a child actor, in fact, appearing in numerous silent films beginning at the very dawn of Japanese cinema. This is probably why he was promoted to director at the unusually (for Japan) young age of 22. Along with producer Mansaku Itami (later the father of another acclaimed director, Juzo Itami), Inagaki concerned himself with the genre of Japanese period films. He also wrote (under a pseudonym) similar films for the short-lived director Sadao Yamanaka. The work of Inagaki, Itami and Yamanaka, singly and together, directly influenced the likes of Kenji Mizoguchi later, and helped define the very genre of the period film. Inagaki would direct dozens of them over his career, including two versions of Chushingura, and the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film Samurai (1954, released in Japan as Miyamoto Musashi). For all his success, Inagaki grew more and more frustrated with his assignments over the years. Although proud of his final effort, Furin Kazan (Samurai Banners, 1969), he was unable to find financing in the increasingly conservative atmosphere of 1970s Japan. Once he had been at the top of his profession, second at Toho only to Akira Kurosawa; now, like Kurosawa, he was being cast aside as an old man whose time had passed, and whose kind of movie was now too expensive to produce. In his despair, Inagaki turned to alcohol, which helped contribute to his lonely and painful death. Of all the dozens of films he made, he often said, only a handful had he actually wanted to make: the Samurai trilogy (1954-6) and Furin Kazan. Whatever his opinion, much of his other work remains estimable, including Nippon Tanjo (1959) and Muhomatsu no Issho (The Life of Matsu the Untamed, 1958).Miyamoto Musashi (1954-1956)
The Rickshaw Man (1958) Muhomatsu no issho
Nippon tanjô (1959) The Birth of Japan / The Three Treasures
47 Samurai (1962) Chûshingura
Abare Gôemon (1966) Rise Against the Sword
Samurai Banners (1969) Fûrin kazan
Machibuse (1970) Incident at Blood Pass- Director
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Masaki Kobayashi was born on 14 February 1916 in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961). He died on 4 October 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.The Human Condition I, II, III (1959-1961)
Harakiri (1962) Seppuku
Kwaidan (1964) Kaidan
Samurai Rebellion (1967) Jôi-uchi: Hairyô tsuma shimatsu
Inochi bô ni furô (1971) Inn of Evil / At the Risk of My Life- Director
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- Visual Effects
Masahiro Shinoda was born on 9 March 1931 in Gifu, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Double Suicide (1969), Chinmoku (1971) and Ballad of Orin (1977). He has been married to Shima Iwashita since 1967. They have one child.With Beauty and Sorrow (1965) Utsukushisa to kanashimi to
Samurai Spy (1965) Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke
Double Suicide (1969) Shinjû: Ten no Amijima
Silence (1971) Chinmoku
Himiko (1974)
Ballad of Orin (1977) Hanare goze Orin
Gonza the Spearman (1986) Yari no gonza
Owls' Castle (1999) Fukuro no shiro- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Okamoto belonged to what one colleague called "the generation where most of them got killed": the leagues of university graduates who were drafted into and sacrificed to the last years of Japan's war in the South Pacific. Okamoto was drafted during the very worst of it, in 1943, but almost alone among his colleagues managed to survive. The experience helped shape his outlook on the nature of human conflict in general, and the Japanese war in particular: among his earliest successes (which led to a series) was Dokuritsugu Gurentai (1959), an acerbic story of island-bound soldiers that helped make Okamoto's reputation. Okamoto also made a name for himself as a director of equally cynical gangster pictures at Toho, including Boss of the Underworld (1959) and The Age of Assassins (1967). Kihachi Okamoto began his filmic training in 1945 under such estimable teachers as directors Mikio Naruse, Senkichi Taniguchi. and Ishiro Honda.Samurai Assassin (1965) Samurai
The Sword of Doom (1966) Dai-bosatsu tôge
Nihon no ichiban nagai hi (1967) Japan's Longest Day
Kill! (1968) Kiru- Director
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- Producer
Hideo Gosha was born on 26 February 1929 in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan (undisclosed). He was a director and writer, known for The Steel Edge of Revenge (1969), Yôkirô (1983) and Onimasa (1982). He died on 30 August 1992.Sanbiki no samurai (1964) Three Outlaw Samurai
Sword of the Beast (1965) Kedamono no ken
Tange Sazen Hien iaigiri (1966) The Secret of the Urn
Goyokin (1969) Goyôkin
Hitokiri (1969) Tenchu!
Shussho Iwai (1971) The Wolves
Onimasa (1982) Kiryûin Hanako no shôgai
Yôkirô (1983) The Geisha- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Takashi Miike was born in the small town of Yao on the outskirts of Osaka, Japan. His main interest growing up was motorbikes, and for a while he harbored ambitions to race professionally. At the age of 18 he went to study at the film school in Yokohama founded by renowned director Shôhei Imamura, primarily because there were no entrance exams. By his own account Miike was an undisciplined student and attended few classes, but when a local TV company came scouting for unpaid production assistants, the school nominated the one pupil who never showed up: Miike. He spent almost a decade working in television, in many different roles, before becoming an assistant director in film to, amongst others, his old mentor Imamura. The "V-Cinema" (Direct to Video) boom of the early 1990s was to be Miike's break into directing his own films, as newly formed companies hired eager young filmmakers willing to work cheap and crank out low-budget action movies. Miike's first theatrically distributed film was Shinjuku Triad Society (1995) (Shinjuku Triad Society), and from then on he alternated V-Cinema films with higher-budgeted pictures. His international breakthrough came with Audition (1999) (Audition), and since then he has an ever expanding cult following in the west. A prolific director, Miike has directed (at the time of this writing) 60+ films in his 13 years as director, his films being known for their explicit and taboo representations of violence and sex, as seen in such works as Bijitâ Q (2001) (Visitor Q), Ichi the Killer (2001) (Ichi The Killer) and the Dead or Alive Trilogy: Dead or Alive (1999), Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000) and Dead or Alive: Final (2002).Ichi the Killer (2001) Koroshiya 1
Kikuchi-jô monogatari - sakimori-tachi no uta / Kumamoto monogatari (2001) Kumamoto Stories
Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003) Gozu
13 Assassins (2010) Jûsan-nin no shikaku
Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011) Ichimei
Mugen no jûnin (2017) Blade of the Immortal- Writer
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yamada Yoji graduated Tokyo University in 1954, the year he joined Shochiku as an assistant director. In 1969, he launched the popular "Tora-san" series, the world's longest theatrical film series. "The Twilight Samurai" (The Twilight Samurai (2002)) marks his 77th film as well as his 41th year as a director since his first film in 1961: Nikai no Tanin (Stranger Upstairs).The Twilight Samurai (2002) Tasogare Seibei
The Hidden Blade (2004) Kakushi ken oni no tsume
Love and Honour (2006) Bushi no ichibun
About Her Brother (2010) Otôto- Director
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Hideyuki Hirayama was born on 18 September 1950 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. He is a director and assistant director, known for Begging for Love (1998), Family of Strangers (2019) and Turn (2001).Sword of Desperation (2010) Hisshiken torisashi- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
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Born in Takaoka, Toyama, Yojiro Takita came to international audiences' attention with the release of Okuribito ('Departures'), which won the Best foreign Language film awards at the Oscars in 2009. He had begun his directorial career in the 1980s with the 'chikan' ('molester') series depicting gropers in settings like trains. Still in the 'ping eiga' adult sub-genre he also completed the Serial Rape thriller in 1983. He diversified to comedy and TV serial work and, at the turn of the century, directed the mainstream Onmyoji. More recently he has been less prolific.When the Last Sword is Drawn (2003) Mibu gishi den
Okuribito (2008) Departures- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Takashi Koizumi was born on 6 November 1944 in Mito, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for After the Rain (1999), Hakase no aishita sûshiki (2006) and A Samurai Chronicle (2014).After the Rain (1999) Ame agaru
A Samurai Chronicle (2014) Higurashi no ki- Director
- Writer
Keishi Otomo is a film director and screenwriter. He is renowned in Japan for his genre-defying storytelling, human portrayal, and dynamic, wide-ranging visual expression. From the Epic Historical Taiga drama series, "Ryomaden" (2010), a poignant coming-of-age tale of an orphaned shogi (Japanese chess) master learning to connect with humanity "March Comes in Like a Lion" (2017) to the globally successful "Rurouni Kenshin" franchise, his works cross genres (from period pieces based on historical figures, dramas which delve into complex social issues, action, and mysteries) as well as being one of the few directors to attain both critical and commercial success in adapting famous Japanese manga series and novels.Rurouni Kenshin (2012) Rurôni Kenshin: Meiji kenkaku roman tan
Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno (2014) Rurôni Kenshin: Kyôto Taika-hen
Rurôni Kenshin: Densetsu no saigo-hen (2014) Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends
Rurôni Kenshin: Sai shûshô - The Final (2021) Rurouni Kenshin: Final Chapter Part I - The Final- Writer
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The director and screenwriter Sadao Yamanaka (1909-1938) is a key figure in the development of early Japanese cinema. Although he made 27 films over a six-year period, only three of them survived in nearly complete form: Sazen Tange and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo (1935), Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937), and Priest of Darkness (1936). These films represent the diversity of genres and elegant visual style Yamanaka chose. Moreover, he contributed to the establishment of the jidaigeki genre, or historical drama. After being drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army, Yamanaka tragically died of dysentery on the front in Manchuria aged 28.Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937) Ninjô kami fûsen- Director
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- Producer
Kon Ichikawa has been influenced by artists as diverse as Walt Disney and Jean Renoir, and his films cover a wide spectrum of moods, from the comic to the overwhelmingly ironic and even the perverse. Ichikawa began his career as a cartoonist, and this influence is apparent in his skillful use of the widescreen, and in the strong, angular patterns seen in many of his compositions. He has directed Mr. Pu (1953), a popular film based on Junichi Yokoyama's "Mr. Pu" comic strip. At various points in his career Ichikawa has shown that he is capable of appealing to a popular audience without compromising his artistry. A great visual stylist and perfectionist, Ichikawa excels at screen adaptations of literary masterpieces, including Sôseki Natsume's The Heart (1955), Yukio Mishima's Conflagration (1958), Jun'ichirô Tanizaki's Odd Obsession (1959) and I Am a Cat (1975) and Tôson Shimazaki's The Outcast (1962). He has also remade film classics, such as Yutaka Abe's Ashi ni sawatta onna (1926) (Ichikawa's version: 1952) and Teinosuke Kinugasa's Yukinojô henge: Daiippen (1935) (Ichikawa's version: 1963), transposing them to contemporary settings.
The West was first introduced to Ichikawa when his The Burmese Harp (1956) won the San Giorgio Prize at the 1956 Venice Film Festival. His epic documentary Tokyo Olympiad (1965) (released the following year) and Alone on the Pacific (1963) explore, with dignity and imagination, the limits of human endurance. He has also worked in the thriller genre, with The Hole (1957), The Inugami Family (1976) and The Devil's Island (1977). Ichikawa tends to present strongly etched, complex characters: the stuttering acolyte who desires to preserve the "purity" of the Golden Pavilion (ENJO); the elderly husband who resorts to injections and voyeurism in order to remain sexually active (KAGI); the member of a pariah class who tries to deny his identity and to "pass" in regular society (HAKAI). More recently, Actress (1987) is a tribute to the fiercely independent Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, who starred in many of Kenji Mizoguchi's films and was herself a director in later life. On the lighter side, Ichikawa's characters also include a 19th-century cat; a good-hearted, hapless teacher; and a baby who narrates how the world looks from his vantage point. He is especially adept at mixing comedy and tragedy within the same story. Until 1965, Ichikawa's close collaborator was his wife, screenwriter Natto Wada, with whom he produced most of his finest films.The Heart (1955) Kokoro
The Burmese Harp (1956) Biruma no tategoto
Enjô (1958) Conflagration / Flame of Torment / The Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Fires on the Plain (1959) Nobi
Younger Brother (1960) Otôto
Hakai (1962) The Outcast / The Broken Commandments / The Sin
An Actor's Revenge (1963) Yukinojô henge
The Makioka Sisters (1983) Sasame-yuki
Taketori monogatari (1987) Princess from the Moon
47 Ronin (1994) Shijûshichinin no shikaku- Director
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- Actor
Eiichi Kudô was born on 17 July 1929 in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Yaju-deka (1982), Maboroshi toro no onna (1961) and Sangyô supai (1968). He died on 23 September 2000 in Kyoto, Japan.Jûsan-nin no shikaku (1963) 13 Assassins
Ninja hicho fukuro no shiro (1963) Castle of Owls
The Great Killing (1964) Dai satsujin
Eleven Samurai (1967) Jûichinin no samurai- Director
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Influential Japanese film director born May 7th, 1911, often credited as being the father of Godzilla. His name is a combination of "I" (or Ino), meaning "boar", and "shirô," meaning fourth son in the family. Originally, the young Honda had aspirations of becoming an artist; however, as he entered into his teens, it was cinema that became his number 1 interest.
He attended Nippon University studying art, but was drafted by the Japanese military and spent nearly eight years in uniform. After a period of imprisonment in China as a P.O.W., he returned to Japan to join Toho Studios, where, soon afterward, he became acquainted with its special effects director, Eiji Tsuburaya. The two worked on a handful of films before collaborating on the ground-breaking epic monster film Godzilla (1954). Honda was also at the director's helm for such films as Rodan (1956), The Mysterians (1957) and its loose sequel Battle in Outer Space (1959), Mothra (1961), Matango (1963), and Destroy All Monsters (1968). Although the Japanese monster films had been derided by some U.S. critics, Honda was especially proud of his contribution to this rather unique aspect of the fantasy and science fiction genres.
Honda was a life-long friend of fellow Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and worked on several of his landmark films, including Stray Dog (1949), Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980) (a.k.a. "Kagemusha the Shadow Warrior"), and Ran (1985).
Honda died at the age of 81 on February 28th, 1993, with Kurosawa delivering the eulogy at his funeral.Gojira (1954-1977) & King Kong & Varan & Mothra
Chikyû Bôeigun (1957) The Mysterians
Bijo to ekitai ningen (1958) The H-Man
Uchû daisensô (1959) Battle in Outer Space
Gasu ningen dai 1 gô (1960) The Human Vapor
Yôsei Gorasu (1962) Gorath
Kaitei gunkan (1963) Atragon
Matango (1963)
Uchû daikaijû Dogora (1964) Dogora
Kaijû daisensô (1965) Invasion of Astro-Monster
Furankenshutain tai chitei kaijû Baragon (1966) Frankenstein Conquers the World
Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira (1966) The War of the Gargantuas
Ido zero daisakusen (1969) Latitude Zero
Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai no daikaijû (1970) Space Amoeba- Director
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Jun Fukuda would spend his childhood in Manchuria before attending Nihon University College of Art. His interests would lead him to filmmaking and in 1946 he joined Toho as an assistant director. In his tenure as an assistant director, he would work under filmmakers such as Hiroshi Inagaki and Ishirô Honda, leading to his first work in special effects filmmaking with Rodan (1956). His career as a full-fledged director would take off in 1959. His early work leaned more towards mystery but he began to expand into more action and comedic centric works by the mid-1960s. Around this time, Toho gave Fukuda the opportunity to direct a Godzilla film. Beginning with Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966), Fukuda would become Toho's go to director for special effects films after Ishiro Honda. Fukuda's films would develop a unique identity beginning with his his choice to replace series composer Akira Ifukube with Masaru Satô. His films would be full of colorful characters and vibrant action demonstrating his filmmaking craftsmanship. During his career he would direct five Godzilla films, along with espionage films and comedies. He would also write the un-produced screenplays of The Invisible Man and Invisible Man vs. the Human Torch. While Fukuda was known to harbor a disdain for his work, he would seem to develop an understanding of what his work met to people as fans would send him letters and messages during his final years. Fukuda would passed away from lung cancer on December 3, 2000, at the age of 77.Densô ningen (1960) The Secret of the Telegian
Gojira, Ebirâ, Mosura: Nankai no daiketto (1966) Ebirah, Terror of the Deep / Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster
Kaijûtô no kessen: Gojira no musuko (1967) Son of Godzilla
Chikyû kogeki meirei: Gojira tai Gaigan (1972) Godzilla vs. Gigan / War of the Monsters
Gojira tai Megaro (1973) Godzilla vs. Megalon
Gojira tai Mekagojira (1974) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla
Wakusei daisenso (1977) The War in Space- Director
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Kenji Misumi was born on March 2, 1921 in Kyoto, Japan. Misumi was the illegitimate child of a geisha mother and originally wanted to be a painter, but his father disapproved. Kenji attended Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. During this time Misumi met future Daiei studio head Kan Kikuchi, who gave Misumi a business card for a prominent studio executive. Kenji began his career at Daiei as a gofer before going on to become an assistant director. Moreover, after World War II Misumi spent about four years as an inmate at a prison of war camp in Siberia. Kenji directed his first film for Daiei in 1956 and worked profusely as a contract director for Daiei until the studio went bankrupt in 1971. In the wake of Daiei's collapse Misumi went on to direct several more movies that include four out of six entries in the hugely popular and successful "Lone Wolf and Cub" series. He died at age 54 on September 24, 1975.Momotarô-zamurai (1957) The Demon Crusader / Freelance Samurai / Demon Hunter Samurai
Satan's Sword (1960) Daibosatsu tôge / Satan's Sword: Great Buddha Pass
Satan's Sword II (1960) Daibosatsu toge: Ryujin no maki / Satan's Sword 2: The Dragon God
Shaka (1961) Buddha
Kiru (1962) Destiny's Son
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Shôbu (1964) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Adventure / Nemuri Kyoshiro: Victory
Ken (1964) The sword
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Enjôken (1965) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Fire / Nemuri Kyoshiro: The Swordsman and the Pirate
Daimajin ikaru (1966) Daimajin 2 The Return Of Giant Majin
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Buraiken (1966) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Villainy / The Sword That Saved Edo
Oni no sumu yakata (1969) Devil's Temple
Shirikurae Magoichi (1969) The Magoichi Saga
Kozure Ôkami (4)
Goyôkiba (1972) Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice
Okami yo rakujitsu o kire (1974) The Last Samurai
Shogun Assassin (1980)- Writer
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- Producer
Shoichi Mashiko is known for The Hovering Blade (2009), Luxurious Bone (2001) and Kyô no dekigoto (2003).The Hovering Blade (2009) Samayou yaiba- Director
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Nagisa Oshima's career extends from the initiation of the "Nuberu bagu" (New Wave) movement in Japanese cinema in the late 1950s and early 1960s, to the contemporary use of cinema and television to express paradoxes in modern society. After an early involvement with the student protest movement in Kyoto, Oshima rose rapidly in the Shochiku company from the status of apprentice, in 1954, to that of director. By 1960, he had grown disillusioned with the traditional studio production policies and broke away from Shochiku to form his own independent production company, Sozosha, in 1965. With other Japanese New Wave filmmakers, like Masahiro Shinoda, Shôhei Imamura and Yoshishige Yoshida, Oshima reacted against the humanistic style and subject matter of directors like Yasujirô Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi and Akira Kurosawa, as well as against established left-wing political movements. Oshima has been primarily concerned with depicting the contradictions and tensions of postwar Japanese society. His films tend to expose contemporary Japanese materialism, while also examining what it means to be Japanese in the face of rapid industrialization and Westernization. Many of Oshima's earlier films, such as A Town of Love and Hope (1959) and The Sun's Burial (1960), feature rebellious, underprivileged youths in anti-heroic roles. The film for which he is probably best-known in the West, In the Realm of the Senses (1976), centers on an obsessive sexual relationship. Like several other Oshima works, it gains additional power by being based on an actual incident. Other important Oshima films include Death by Hanging (1968), an examination of the prejudicial treatment of Koreans in Japan; Boy (1969), which deals with the cruel use of a child for extortion purposes, and with the child's subsequent escapist fantasies; The Man Who Left His Will on Film (1970), about another ongoing concern of Oshima's, the art of filmmaking itself; and The Ceremony (1971), which presents a microcosmic view of Japanese postwar history through the lives of one wealthy family. In recent years, Oshima has repeatedly turned to sources outside Japan for the production of his films. This was the case with In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Max My Love (1986). It is less well-known in the West that Oshima has also been a prolific documentarist, film theorist and television personality. He is the host of a long-running television talk show, "The School for Wives", in which female participants (kept anonymous by a distorting glass) present their personal problems, to which he responds from offscreen.Death by Hanging (1968) Kôshikei
In the Realm of the Senses (1976) Ai no korîda
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)- Writer
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- Art Director
Kaneto Shindô was born on 22 April 1912 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Postcard (2010), The Island (1960) and A Last Note (1995). He was married to Nobuko Otowa and Miyo Shindo. He died on 29 May 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan.Onibaba (1964)
Kuroneko (1968) Yabu no naka no kuroneko / A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove
Ichimai no hagaki (2010) Postcard- Writer
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- Producer
Terayama Shuji was born the only son of Terayama Hachiro and Terayama Hatsu in Hirosaki City, Aomori on December 10th, 1935; but his birth and name were officially registered on January 10th, 1936. His father, an officer in the "thought police", leaves for the Pacific War in early 1941. He dies in September of 1945 of dysentery on the Indonesian island of Celebes, one month after HIroshima and the end of the war. Terayama himself lived through the Aomori air raids that killed more than 30,000 people when he was 9 years old.
After the war, Terayama's mother was forced to leave Aomori to find work at an American army base in Kyushu. Terayama was left to live with relatives, where he was given a place to sleep behind the screen in a movie theater. In 1954 he entered Waseda University, but soon fell ill with nephrotic syndrome when he was 19 years old. He spends the time working on his own poetry and writings, as well as reading many Japanese and western classics; he was particularly impressed with Leutreamont's Les Chants de Maldoror.
Since 1959, he mainly earned his life as writer of broadcasts or theatric drama. In 1960, he married producer Eiko Kujo, and with her formed the theatre company "Tenjo Sajiki", or the Peanut Gallery in 1967. In 1964, he won the Prix Italia for his radio drama "Yamamba". In 1970 his first feature length film "The Emperor Tamato Ketchup" shocked the world with graphic images of a children's revolt along Nazi themes. He continued to write, produce, direct and generally create some of the worlds best avant-garde art until his death of the terminal illness that plagued him at age 49 on May 4th 1983. Prolific to the end, he published nearly 200 literary works, and over 20 shorts and full length films as well as untold works of theater with Tenjo Sajiki and others.
He has no children, but his art lives on with annual theatre events, and every 10 years a full summer festivals featuring his life and works.Pastoral Hide and Seek (1974) Den-en ni shisu- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Hiroshi Teshigahara was born the son of Sofu Teshigahara who was the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana (flower arrangement). In 1950, he graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in oil painting. In 1958, he became the director of Sogetsu Art Centre and took a leading role in avant-garde activities in many fields of art. Beginning in 1980, acting as movie director, he was the Iemoto (Headmaster) of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana.Pitfall (1962) Otoshiana
Woman of the Dunes (1964) Suna no onna
The Face of Another (1966) Tanin no kao- Director
- Cinematographer
- Editor
Ten Shimoyama was born on 6 March 1966. Ten is a director and cinematographer, known for Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005), Piece: Kioku no kakera (2012) and The Blue Hearts (2017).Shinobi: Heart Under Blade (2005) Shinobi- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Kinji Fukasaku was born on 3 July 1930 in Mito, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Battle Royale (2000), Fall Guy (1982) and Crest of Betrayal (1994). He was married to Sanae Nakahara. He died on 12 January 2003 in Tokyo, Japan.Kuro tokage (1968) Black Lizard
The Shogun's Samurai (1978) Yagyû ichizoku no inbô
Akô-jô danzetsu (1978) The Fall of Ako Castle
Makai tenshô (1981) Samurai Reincarnation
Legend of Eight Samurai (1983) Satomi hakken-den- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Matsumoto was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan and graduated from Tokyo University in 1955. His first short was Ginrin, which he made in 1955. His most famous film is Funeral Parade of Roses, featuring a transvestite trying to move up in the world of Tokyo Hostess clubs. Matsumoto published many books of photography and was a professor and dean of Arts at the Kyoto University of Art and Design. He was also president of the Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences. He lived in Tokyo until his death on April 12, 2017.Demons / Pandemonium (1971) Shura- Writer
- Director
Mitsuo Kurotsuchi was born on 3 March 1947 in Kumamoto, Japan. He is a writer and director, known for Semishigure (2005), Eiji (1999) and Traffic Jam (1991).The Samurai I Loved (2005) Semishigure- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shohei Imamura's films dig beneath the surface of Japanese society to reveal a wellspring of sensual, often irrational, energy that lies beneath. Along with his colleagues Nagisa Ôshima and Masahiro Shinoda, Imamura began his serious directorial career as a member of the New Wave movement in Japan. Reacting against the studio system, and particularly against the style of Yasujirô Ozu, the director he first assisted, Imamura moved away from the subtlety and understated nature of the classical masters to a celebration of the primitive and spontaneous aspects of Japanese life. To explore this level of Japanese consciousness, Imamura focuses on the lower classes, with characters who range from bovine housewives to shamans, and from producers of blue movies to troupes of third-rate traveling actors. He has proven himself unafraid to explore themes usually considered taboo, particularly those of incest and superstition. Imamura himself was not born into the kind of lower-class society he depicts. The college-educated son of a physician, he was drawn toward film, and particularly toward the kinds of films he would eventually make, by his love of the avant-garde theater. Imamura has worked as a documentarist, recording the statements of Japanese who remained in other parts of Asia after the end of WWII, and of the "karayuki-san"--Japanese women sent to accompany the army as prostitutes during the war period. His heroines tend to be remarkably strong and resilient, able to outlast, and even to combat, the exploitative situations in which they find themselves. This is a stance that would have seemed impossible for the long-suffering heroines of classical Japanese films. In 1983, Imamura won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for The Ballad of Narayama (1983), based on a Shichirô Fukazawa novel about a village where the elderly are abandoned on a sacred mountaintop to die. Unlike director Keisuke Kinoshita's earlier version of the same story, Imamura's film, shot on location in a remote mountain village, highlights the more disturbing aspects of the tale through its harsh realism. In his attempt to capture what is real in Japanese society, and what it means to be Japanese, Imamura used an actual 40-year-old former prostitute in his The Insect Woman (1963); a woman who was searching for her missing fiancé in A Man Vanishes (1967); and a non-actress bar hostess as the protagonist of his History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (1970). Despite this anthropological bent, Imamura has cleverly mixed the real with the fictional, even within what seems to be a documentary. This is most notable in his A Man Vanishes (1967), in which the fiancée becomes more interested in an actor playing in the film than with her missing lover. In a time when the word "Japanese" is often considered synonymous with "coldly efficient," Imamura's vision of a more robust and intuitive Japanese character adds an especially welcome cinematic dimension.Eijanaika (1981) Why Not?
Narayama bushikô (1983) The Ballad of Narayama
The Eel (1997) Unagi- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Born in Tokyo in 1962. Originally intended to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University in 1987 went on to become an assistant director at T.V. Man Union. Snuck off set to film Mou hitotsu no kyouiku - Ina shogakkou haru gumi no kiroku (1991). His first feature, Maborosi (1995), based on a Teru Miyamoto novel and drawn from his own experiences while filming August Without Him (1994), won jury prizes at Venice and Chicago. The main themes of his oeuvre include memory, loss, death and the intersection of documentary and fictive narratives.Soshite chichi ni naru (2013) Like Father, Like Son
Umimachi Diary (2015) Our Little Sister- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Isao Yukisada was born on 3 August 1968 in Kumamoto, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Go (2001), Parade (2009) and Crying Out Love in the Center of the World (2004).Go (2001)- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Tokyo-born Yasujiro Ozu was a movie buff from childhood, often playing hooky from school in order to see Hollywood movies in his local theatre. In 1923 he landed a job as a camera assistant at Shochiku Studios in Tokyo. Three years later, he was made an assistant director and directed his first film the next year, Zange no yaiba (1927). Ozu made thirty-five silent films, and a trilogy of youth comedies with serious overtones he turned out in the late 1920s and early 1930s placed him in the front ranks of Japanese directors. He made his first sound film in 1936, The Only Son (1936), but was drafted into the Japanese Army the next year, being posted to China for two years and then to Singapore when World War II started. Shortly before the war ended he was captured by British forces and spent six months in a P.O.W. facility. At war's end he went back to Shochiku, and his experiences during the war resulted in his making more serious, thoughtful films at a much slower pace than he had previously. His most famous film, Tokyo Story (1953), is generally considered by critics and film buffs alike to be his "masterpiece" and is regarded by many as not only one of Ozu's best films but one of the best films ever made. He also turned out such classics of Japanese film as The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952), Floating Weeds (1959) and An Autumn Afternoon (1962).
Ozu, who never married and lived with his mother all his life, died of cancer in 1963, two years after she passed.Ukikusa monogatari (1934) A Story of Floating Weeds
Banshun (1949) Late Spring
Tôkyô monogatari (1953) Tokyo Story
Sôshun (1956) Early Spring
Ukikusa (1959) Floating Weeds
Sanma no aji (1962) An Autumn Afternoon- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Kunio Watanabe was born on 3 June 1899 in Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Ikoku no oka (1949), Rajo no urei (1950) and Onna Sanshiro (1950). He died on 5 November 1981.The Loyal 47 Ronin (1958) Chûshingura
Nichiren to moko daishurai (1958) Nichiren and the Great Mongol Invasion
Futari no musashi (1960) The Two Musashis- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Shigemichi Sugita is known for The Last Ronin (2010), Rasutosongu (1993) and A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (2016).Saigo no Chûshingura (2010) The Last Chushingura- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Toshiya Fujita was born on January 16, 1932 in Pyongyang, Korea. Following graduation from Tokyo University Fujita joined the Nikkatsu studio in 1955. Toshiya initially worked at Nikkatsu as a publicist, screenwriter, and assistant director prior to directing his first film in 1967. His debut feature won Fujita the 1967 New Directors Award from the Directors Guild of Japan. Toshiya's films for Nikkatsu alternated primarily between youth dramas and Japanese soft-core Roman porno pink movies, with the acclaimed drama The Days of No Return (1978) in particular rating as a notable success that won Toshiya a Kinema Jumpo Award for Best Director in 1979. However, Fujita achieved his greatest cult cinema popularity outside Japan with the classic action thriller Lady Snowblood (1973) and its sequel Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974), which were two highly atypical departures for Fujita that were produced by an independent company while on hiatus from Nikkatsu. Toshiya continued directing films on a regular basis well into the late 1980's. In addition, Fujita also acted in a handful of movies. He died at age 65 from liver failure on August 30, 1997 in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.Lady Snowblood: Blizzard from the Netherworld (1973) Shurayukihime
Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) Shurayuki-hime: Urami koiuta- Director
- Special Effects
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
The son of a stage actor, Noriaki Yuasa himself became a child actor for some years before attending university. Upon graduation, realizing that he disliked the actor's life, he sought work on the other side of the camera, joining Daiei Studios in 1955. There he studied under such accomplished directors as Yuzo Kawashima, Koji Shima, and Umeji Inoue. In 1964 Daiei promoted him to director with the musical comedy Shiawasa nara te o tatake (If You're Happy, Clap Your Hands, 1964). He was tapped next to make Dai gunju Nezura (The Great Rat Swarm), which was to be made with real rats crawling over miniatures of cities. But the rats brought with them fleas, and the resulting epidemic rendered the product impractical. Since the miniatures were already built, however, Daiei had to think of something else to destroy them. Studio chief Masaichi Nagata had had a whimsical idea about a giant flying turtle; screenwriter Nisan Takahashi and director Yuasa fashioned it into Daikaiju Gamera (1965), a surprise smash hit whicch became the first real challenger to the primacy of Toho's Gojira character. Yuasa went on to direct all but one of the seven Gamera sequels through 1980 (he directed only the special effects for Gamera tai Barugon (1966)). As the series grew more juvenile, Yuasa actually enjoyed it more, as making entertainments for children appealed to him more than making more "serious" monster pictures. His favorite of his own movies was the first most obviously childish of all the sequels, Gamera tai uchu kaiju Bairasu (1968). Except for Uchu Kaiju Gamera (1980), Yuasa has directed only television work since Daiei's financial collapse in 1971.Gamera The Giant Monster (1965) Daikaijû Gamera
Daikaijû kûchûsen: Gamera tai Gyaosu (1967) Giant Monster Mid-Air Battle: Gamera vs. Gyaos
Hebi musume to hakuhatsuma (1968) The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kazuo Mori was born on 15 January 1911 in Matsuyama, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Suzakumon (1957), Vendetta of a Samurai (1952) and Nichiro senso shori no hishi: Tekichu odan sanbyaku-ri (1957). He died on 29 June 1989.Jirôchô Fuji (1959)
Hakuôki (1959) Samurai Vendetta
Shiranui kengyô (1960) Agent Shiranui
Zoku Jirocho Fuji (1960)
Daibosatsu toge: Kanketsu-hen (1961) Satan's Sword 3: The Final Chapter
Shin Genji monogatari (1961) New Tale of Genji / The Radiant Prince
Shin shinobi no mono (1963) Shinobi No Mono 3: Resurrection / Goemon Will Never Die
Shinobi no mono: Iga-yashiki (1965) The Ninja: Iga Mansion / Shinobi No Mono 6
Shinobi no mono: Shin kirigakure Saizô (1966) Shinobi No Mono 7
Daimajin gyakushû (1966) Daimajin 3 Majin Strikes Again / Wrath of Daimajin- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Tadashi Sawashima was born on 19 May 1926 in Kotou, Shiga, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Jigoku no kazeku-ruma (1960), Isshin Tasuke: The Man of Men (1959) and Gentle Breeze (1959). He died on 27 January 2018.Hibari no mori no ishimatsu (1960) Ishimatsu: The One-Eyed Avenger / Skylark forest
Shinsengumi (1969) Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hiroshi Noguchi is known for Toba no mesu neko (1965), Ginza Mite Guy - Kuromaku wa dareda (1959) and Gappa the Triphibian Monster (1967).Daikyojû Gappa (1967) Monster from a Prehistoric Planet / Gappa, the Triphibian Monster- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Known for his social realist films, the Japanese director Tadashi Imai was mostly interested in depicting the tragedies of human life. Often described as 'nakanai realism', or 'a realism without tears', Imai's films show the hard struggles of the poor. Among his most appreciated films are Nigorie (1953), focusing on women in the Meiji era, Night Drum (1958), co-scripted by Kaneto Shindô, and Bushido (1963), the latter two condemning the Samurai honor codex. Having similar choices of subject matter, Imai admired his contemporary Keisuke Kinoshita. Although lauded for his directorial skills, film historians criticize Imai's lack of a consistent style, and his tendency to focus more on consequences than analysis of his themes. Still, Imai remains a highly celebrated exponent of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.Bushidô zankoku monogatari (1963) Bushido
Adauchi (1964) Revenge- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Writer
Kazui Nihonmatsu was born on 9 April 1922 in Kakamura, Japan. He is an assistant director and director, known for Koibito yo (1964), The X from Outer Space (1967) and Chôshi no ii yatsu - Itazura no tensai (1965).Uchû daikaijû Girara (1967) The X from Outer Space- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Satsuo Yamamoto was born on 15 July 1910 in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Japan. Satsuo was a director and writer, known for Shiroi Kyotô (1966), Fumô chitai (1976) and The Battle of Manchuria (1970). Satsuo died on 11 August 1983 in Tokyo, Japan.Shinobi no mono (1962) Ninja, a Band of Assassins
Zoku shinobi no mono (1963) Shinobi No Mono 2: Vengeance
Botan-dôrô (1968) Peony Lantern / The Bride from Hell- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Kazuki Ômori was born on 3 March 1952 in Osaka, Osaka, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), Kinkyu yobidashi - Emâjenshî kôru (1995) and Asunimukattehashire nai! (1972). He died on 12 November 2022 in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.Gojira vs. Biorante (1989) Godzilla vs. Biollante
Gojira vs. Kingu Gidorâ (1991) Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Masato Harada was born on 3 July 1949 in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Chronicle of My Mother (2011), The Last Samurai (2003) and Bounce Ko Gals (1997).Ganheddo (1989) Gunhed
Nihon no ichiban nagai hi ketteiban (2015) The Emperor in August
Sekigahara (2017)- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Tokuzô Tanaka was born on 15 September 1925 in Osaka, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Rashomon (1950), Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963) and Zatoichi's Vengeance (1966). He died on 20 December 2007 in Kashihara, Nara, Japan.Ooe-yama Shuten-dôji (1960) The Demon of Mount Oe
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Sappôchô (1963) Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Chinese Jade / Enter Kyoshiro Nemuri the Swordman
Shinobi no mono: Kirigakure Saizo (1964) Shinobi No Mono 4: Siege
Daisatsujin orochi (1966) The Betrayal
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Onna jigoku (1968) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Hell Is a Woman / A Ronin Called Nemuri
Kaidan yukijorô (1968) The Snow Woman / Ghost Story of the Snow Fairy
Hiroku kaibyô-den (1969) The Haunted Castle / Secret Chronicles of the Ghost-Cat- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Kazuo Ikehiro was born on 25 October 1929 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a director and assistant director, known for Zatoichi's Pilgrimage (1966), The Phantom Samurai (1961) and Zatoichi's Flashing Sword (1964).Kutsukake Tokijirô (1961) The Gambler's Code
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Joyôken (1964) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Sword of Seduction / Nemuri Kyoshiro: The Passionate Sword
Shinobi no mono: Zoku Kirigakure Saizô (1964) Shinobi No Mono 5
Waka oyabun (1965) Young Boss Takeshi
Shinsho: shinobi no mono (1966) The Ninja: A New Beginning / Shinobi No Mono 8
Nemuri Kyôshirô burai-hikae: Mashô no hada (1967) Sleepy Eyes of Death: A Trail of Traps
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Akujo-gari (1969) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Castle Menagerie / Hunt for the Wicked Woman- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tai Katô was born on 24 August 1916 in Kobe, Japan. Tai was a director and writer, known for Rashomon (1950), Nihon kyôka den (1973) and Jinsei gekijô (1972). Tai died on 17 June 1985.Bakumatsu zankoku monogatari (1964) Brutal Story at End of the Tokugawa Shogunate
Miyamoto Musashi (1973) Sword of Fury- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Writer
Takao Okawara was born on 20 December 1949 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an assistant director and director, known for Yukai (1997), Godzilla 2000 (1999) and Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980).Gojira vs. Mosura (1992) Godzilla and Mothra: The Battle for Earth
Gojira vs. Mekagojira (1993) Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II
Yamato Takeru (1994) Orochi: The Eight Headed Dragon
Gojira vs. Desutoroiâ (1995) Godzilla vs. Destoroyah
Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999) Godzilla 2000- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yasuto Hasegawa is known for Ninja Chushingura (1965), Ukyonsuke's Reverse Ichimonji Cut (1964) and Jû nana-ri no ninja (1963).Jushichinin no Ninja (1963) Seventeen Ninja- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Actor
Kenshô Yamashita was born on 8 July 1944 in Kagoshima, Japan. He was an assistant director and director, known for Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994), 19 (1987) and The Return of Godzilla (1984). He died on 16 August 2016 in Japan.Gojira vs. Supesugojira (1994) Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
Kazuaki Kiriya was born on 20 April 1968 in Asagiri, Japan. He is a director and producer, known for Casshern (2004), Goemon (2009) and Last Knights (2015). He was previously married to Hikaru Utada.Casshern (2004)
Goemon (2009)
Last Knights (2015)- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Daisuke Itô was born on 13 October 1898 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Zoku ôoka seidan mazohe daiichi (1930), The Conspirator (1961) and Chuji Tabinikki Daisanbu Goyohen (1927). He died on 19 July 1981 in Japan.Nitôryû kaigen (1943) Miyamoto Musashi: Duel at Kongo-in Temple
Benten kozô (1958) Benten Boy / The Gay Masquerade- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shusuke Kaneko (born June 8, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter. Kaneko began his career at Nikkatsu and would serve as a writer for film and anime. Establishing himself as an up and coming director, Kaneko would win accolades at various film festivals. His film, Summer Vacation 1999, would garner him his first award for best director at the Yokohama Film Festival. As a lifelong Godzilla fan, Kaneko was chosen as the director for Daiei's revival of the Gamera franchise. Kaneko's work on the Gamera films were met with unprecedented critical acclaim. He would be honored with the Director's Award at the 17th Yokohama Film Festival for his work on Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. This film would also go one to top Kinema Junpo's best films of the year list and earn Blue Ribbon awards for best Director and best supporting actress. Kaneko would go on to direct the most successful Godzilla film of the millennium series as well as the live action adaptations of Death Note. Kaneko has also contributed to various documentaries on kaiju films, championing their artistry and imagination.Gamera daikaijû kuchu kessen (1995) Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
Gamera 2: Region shurai (1996) Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion
Gamera 3: Jashin kakusei (1999) Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
Gojira, Mosura, Kingu Gidorâ: Daikaijû sôkôgeki (2001) Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005)- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Kunio Miyoshi is known for Chouseishin Gransazer (2003), Rebirth of Mothra II (1997) and Jishin rettô (1980).Mosura 2: Kaitei no daikessen (1997) Rebirth of Mothra 2: The Undersea Battle- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ryosuke Kanesaki is known for Metal Samurai (2008), Metaru-zamurai dai-ni-kan (2008) and Metaru-zamurai dai-san-kan (2009).Miyamoto Musashi (2014– ) 2 episodes- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Mosura (1996) Rebirth of Mothra
Mosura 3: Kingu Gidora raishu (1998) Rebirth of Mothra III: King Ghidora Attacks- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Ryuta Tasaki was born on 19 April 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a director and assistant director, known for Seiju Sentai Gingaman (1998), Kamen Rider W (2009) and Denji Sentai Megaranger (1997).Chiisaki yûsha-tachi: Gamera (2006) Gamera the Brave- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Born in Yamanashi, Japan, Yasuzô Masumura would become known as a maverick director whose main legacy was films portraying and promoting individualism, which was the opposite of the norm in Japanese society. He earned a law degree towards the end of World War II from Tokyo University, yet joined Daiei Studio as an assistant director in 1950. He pursued a second degree at Tokyo University as a literature and philosophy double major. He was the first Japanese to study at Rome, Italy's Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia. He returned to Japan in 1953 and worked as assistant to Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa. Masumura's own lead directorial debut came in 1957 with Kuchizuke, which was a commercial success and also won praise from director Oshima Nagisa. Masumura went on to become a prolific director who also continued writing on Japanese cinema. A 1996 ten-day retrospective on Masumura in Rome was attended by Michaelangelo Antonioni who was an admirer.Kyojin to gangu (1958) Giants and Toys
Karakkaze yarô (1960) Man of the Biting Wind / Afraid to Die
Koshoku ichidai otoko (1961) A Lustful Man
Heitai yakuza (1965) The Hoodlum Soldier
Irezumi (1966) Tatouage
Shin heitai yakuza: Kasen (1972) Hoodlum Soldier: Rebel in the Army / Gangster / New Yakuza Troops / Return of the Soldier
Goyôkiba: Kamisori Hanzô jigoku zeme (1973) Hanzo the Razor: The Snare- Director
- Actor
- Cinematographer
Buntarô Futagawa was born on 18 June 1899 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and actor, known for Orochi (1925), Shisen ni tateba (1924) and Ekisutora gâru (1925). He was married to Nobuko Suzuki. He died on 28 March 1966 in Japan.Orochi (1925) Serpent- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Actor
Masaaki Tezuka was born on 24 January 1955 in Tochigi, Japan. He is an assistant director and director, known for Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003), Sora e: Sukui no tsubasa resukyû uingusu (2008) and Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 (2005).Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jî shômetsu sakusen (2000) Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
Gojira X Mekagojira (2002) Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla
Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S. (2003) Godzilla: Tokyo SOS- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Ryûhei Kitamura was born on 30 May 1969 in Osaka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Midnight Meat Train (2008), Azumi (2003) and Versus (2000).Aragami (2003)
Azumi (2003)
Gojira: Fainaru uôzu (2004) Godzilla: Final Wars- Director
- Additional Crew
Shigeo Tanaka was born on 7 January 1907 in Komikado, Chiba, Japan [now Narita, Chiba, Japan]. He was a director, known for Gamera vs. Barugon (1966), Typhoon Reporter (1963) and Sanshiro Sugata (1955). He died on 18 January 1992 in Japan.Daikaijû kettô: Gamera tai Barugon (1966) The Great Monster Duel: Gamera vs. Barugon- Additional Crew
- Director
- Actor
Seijun Suzuki was born in Nihonbashi, Tôkyô, on May 24, 1923. In 1943, he entered the army to fight at the front. In 1946, he enrolled in the film department of the Kamakura Academy and passed the assistant director's exam. For the next few years, he worked as an assistant director at several studios. In 1958, he directed his first film, Victory Is Ours (1956), and from then on he directed three to four films each year. With Branded to Kill (1967), he came into conflict with Hori Kyusaku, who was the president of Nikkatsu Studios at the time. Because of this, he was forced to work in television the next ten years. In 1977, A Tale of Sorrow (1977), his return to theatrically-released films, was released.Kagerô-za (1981) Heat-Haze Theatre- Special Effects
- Director
- Make-Up Department
Sakuya: yôkaiden (2000) Sakuya: Slayer of Demons- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Jun Awazu is known for Planzet (2010), Negadon: The Monster from Mars (2005) and When the Stars Align.Wakusei daikaijû Negadon (2005) Negadon: The Monster from Mars- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Hitoshi Matsumoto and his childhood friend Masatoshi Hamada teamed up as comedy duo Downtown. When they had their own TV shows in late 80s, they became phenomenal pop culture among young Japanese people. Unlike other comedy duos in Japan, they are still together, and they dominate prime time TV shows in Japan. They are most notably famous for their yearly "batsu" TV special aired on New Years Eve from 18:30 - 00:00 that has been running for 10 consecutive years which gained a large following internationally via YouTube.Dai-Nihonjin (2007) Big Man Japan- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Minoru Kawasaki was born on 15 August 1958 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Monster SeaFood Wars (2020), Chikyû bôei Girls P9 (2011) and Planet Prince (2021).Girara no gyakushû: Tôya-ko Samitto kikiippatsu (2008) The Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
After starting at Toho in 1942, Matsubayashi's career, like that of so many others, was stalled by the Second World War. After serving in the Imperial Navy, to which he was fiercely loyal, Matsubayashi returned to the industry via the Shintoho studio in 1946. Shintoho gave him his first directorial job, Tokyo Dimples, in 1952. After returning to Toho in 1955, Matsubayashi specialized in salaryman comedies such as the Shacho (Boss) series. He directed more of that series (23 entries) than any other filmmaker. Due to Matsubayashi's wartime patriotism, greater than that of many of his contemporaries, Toho often entrusted him with their big-budget, special effects-laden war pictures from the 1960s up through the early 1980s. His best known movie outside Japan is probably Sekai Daisenso (aka The Last War, 1961).Hawai Middowei daikaikûsen: Taiheiyô no arashi (1960) Hawaii-Midway Battle of the Sea and Sky: Storm Over the Pacific / I Bombed Pearl Harbor- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
- Producer
Koji Hashimoto was born on 21 January 1936 in Tochigi, Japan. He was an assistant director and director, known for The Return of Godzilla (1984), Godzilla 1985 (1985) and King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963). He died on 9 January 2005 in Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan.Sayônara, Jûpetâ (1984) Bye Bye Jupiter
Gojira (1984) Godzilla 1985- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mitsuo Murayama was born on 1 April 1920 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Gui men guan (1970), Dai Chûshingura (1971) and Tokyo Crime Map (1956). He died in 1978.Tômei ningen to hae otoko (1957) The Invisible Man vs. The Human Fly- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Teruo Ishii was born on 1 January 1924 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Gensen-Kan Inn (1993), Female Yakuza Tale (1973) and The Great Villain's Strategy (1966). He died on 12 August 2005 in Tokyo, Japan.Yakuza keibatsu-shi: Rinchi - Shikei! (1969) Yakuza Law / Yakuza Torture History - Lynching- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Considered a major figure of Japan's 'golden age of cinema', Mikio Naruse was a filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed 89 films in the period 1930 to 1967. Although Naruse's work is lesser known in the twenty-first century than those of his contemporaries Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi, and Yasujirô Ozu, his films remain unique in the way they give a central place to female characters. While neither Naruse or his audiences would have identified themselves as 'feminist', these films tend to challenge the rigid gender norms of Japanese society. Among Mikio Naruse's most noted films, of which many can be described as bleak social drama (or shomin-geki = ordinary people drama), are Sound of the Mountain (1954), Late Chrysanthemums (1954), Floating Clouds (1955).Sanjûsangen-dô, tôshiya monogatari (1945) A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo
Bara kassen (1950) Battle of Roses
Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki (1960) When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Midareru (1964) Yearning- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Keisuke Kinoshita was born on 5 December 1912 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), The Ballad of Narayama (1958) and The Garden of Women (1954). He died on 30 December 1998 in Tokyo, Japan.Nijûshi no hitomi (1954) Twenty-Four Eyes
Narayama bushikô (1958) The Ballad of Narayama
Fuefukigawa (1960) The River Fuefuki- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Yoshio Inoue was born on 8 September 1926 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a director and assistant director, known for Onna wa yogiri ni nureteiru (1962), Woman Gambling Expert: Stakes of a Game of Chance (1970) and Woman Gambling Expert: Tainted Dice (1969).Goyôkiba: Oni no Hanzô yawahada koban (1974) Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold?- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Kôji Ohta is known for Invasion of the Neptune Men (1961), Lubang tô no kiseki: Rikugun Nakano gakkô (1974) and Tokubetsu kidô sôsatai (1963).Uchû Kaisokusen (1961) Invasion of the Neptune Men- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Actor
Junji Kurata was born on 18 January 1930 in Yokohama, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Ninja in Moonshade (1963), Maboroshi kurozukin - yami ni tobu kage (1967) and Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977). He died on 21 January 2002 in Kyoto, Japan.Kyôryû kaichô no densetsu (1977) Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Umetsugu Inoue was a director of over a hundred films in a wide variety of genres; working with all six major Japanese film production companies over his 35 year career. He was first noticed early on at Nikkatsu Studios for establishing a new genre of high action musical films, charged with the impulsive energy of the young Jazz culture of 1950s Japan. Just after the war, these 'Nikkatsu Action' films created by Inoue, catapulted Yujiro Ishihara into becoming the most popular singing film star in Japan. As a scriptwriter, Inoue wrote 101 screenplays and the original story for five films.Kurotokage (1962) Black Lizard- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Former female impersonator who entered films in 1917 as an actor, turned to directing in 1922 and made some of the most formally brilliant Japanese films of the following decades. The few of Kinugasa's early works to have reached the West betray a highly mature, sophisticated talent. His best-known silent films are _Kurutta Ippeji (1926)_, an old print of which was found by Kinugasa in his attic and re-released in the 1970s, and Crossroads (1928), the first Japanese film to be commercially released in Europe. Both have been hailed for their inventive camera work, which has been compared to that of the celebrated German expressionist films being made during the same period. (It was not until 1929 that Kinugasa himself traveled abroad and encountered European directors and their films.) In the 1950s and 60s Kinugasa made a number of period dramas noted for their sumptuous color and imaginative use of the wide screen; Gate of Hell (1953) was named best film at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and won an Oscar for best foreign film.Jigokumon (1953) Gate of Hell
Shin, Heike monogatari: Yoshinaka o meguru sannin no onna (1956) Three Women Around Yoshinaka
Naruto hichô (1957) Secret of Naruto / A Fantastic Tale of Naruto
Midaregami (1961) Blind Devotion / Dishevelled Hair- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Born in Kyoto, Nakagawa was early on influenced by proletarian literature and wrote amateur film reviews for the Kinema Junpo film magazine. He joined Makino Film Productions in 1929 as an assistant director and worked under Masahiro Makino. When that studio went bankrupt in 1932, he switched to Utaemon Ichikawa's production company and made his debut as a director in 1934 with Yumiya Hachiman Ken. He later moved to Toho, where he made comedies starring Enoken and even documentaries during the war. It was at Shintoho after the war that he became known for his cinematic adaptations of Japanese Kaidan, especially his masterful version of Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan in 1959.
To Western audiences, his most famous film is Jigoku (1960), which he also co-wrote. The film was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2006.
He also filmed many Kaidan for television. His last film was 1982's Kaidan: Ikiteiru Koheiji.Kaii Utsunomiya tsuritenjô (1956) The Ceiling at Utsunomiya / Ghost of Hanging in Utusunomiya
Kaidan Kasane-ga-fuchi (1957) The Depths / The Ghosts of Kasane Swamp
Dokufu Takahashi Oden (1958) Poisonous Woman Takahashi O-Den / Wicked Woman Odon Takahashi
Bôrei kaibyô yashiki (1958) Black Cat Mansion / The Mansion of the Ghost Cat
Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan (1959) The Ghost of Yotsuya / The Tokaido Yotsuya Ghost Story
Onna shikeishû no datsugoku (1960) Death Row Woman
Jigoku (1960) Hell
Kaidan hebi-onna (1968) Snake Woman's Curse / Ghost Story of the Snake Woman
Yôen dokufu-den: Hitokiri Okatsu (1969) Quick-draw Okatsu
Yôen dokufu-den: Okatsu kyôjô tabi (1969) Okatsu the Fugitive- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Takeshi Kitano originally studied to become an engineer, but was thrown out of school for rebellious behavior. He learned comedy, singing and dancing from famed comedian Senzaburô Fukami. Working as a lift boy on a nightclub with such features as comic sketches and striptease dancing, Kitano saw his chance when a comedian suddenly fell ill, and he went on stage in the man's place. With a friend he formed the comic duo "The Two Beat" (his artist's name, "Beat Takeshi", comes from this period), which became very popular on Japanese television.
Kitano soon embarked on an acting career, and when the director of Violent Cop (1989) (aka "Violent Cop") fell ill, he took over that function as well. Immediately after that film was finished he set out to make a second gangster movie, Boiling Point (1990). Just after finishing Getting Any? (1994), Kitano was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that almost killed him. It changed his way of life, and he became an active painter. This change can be seen in his later films, which are characterized by his giving more importance to the aesthetics of the film, such as in Fireworks (1997) and Kikujiro (1999).Sono otoko, kyôbô ni tsuki (1989) Violent Cop
Sonatine (1993)
Brother (2000)
Autoreiji (2010) The Outrage
Autoreiji: Biyondo (2012) Outrage Beyond- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Yoshihiro Ishikawa was born on 23 March 1925 in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Japan. He is a writer and assistant director, known for Dogô suru kyodan (1960), Yôen dokufu-den: Han'nya no Ohyaku (1968) and Nangô Jirô tantei-chô: Kage naki satsujinsha (1961).Yôen dokufu-den: Han'nya no Ohyaku (1968) Legends of the Poisonous Seductress Volume 1 - Female Demon Ohyaku- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yûzô Kawashima was born on 4 February 1918 in Tanabu, Aomori, Japan [now Mutsu, Aomori, Japan]. He was a director and writer, known for The Temple of Wild Geese (1962), Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (1957) and The Balloon (1956). He died on 11 June 1963 in Tokyo, Japan.Gan no tera (1962) The Temple of the Wild Geese- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Special Effects
Yoshiyuki Kuroda was born on 4 March 1928 in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Mirrorman (1971), Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974) and Tabiwa Oiroke (1961). He died on 22 January 2015.Yôkai daisensô (1968) Yokai Monsters: Spook Warfare / Big Ghost War
Kozure Ôkami: Jigoku e ikuzo! Daigorô (1974) Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell
Hattori Hanzô: Kage no Gundan (1980-1985) Shadow Warriors- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kôzaburô Yoshimura was born on 9 September 1911 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Anjô-ke no butôkai (1947), A Night to Remember (1962) and Clothes of Deception (1951). He died on 7 November 2000 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.Genji monogatari (1951) The Tale of Genji
Ôsaka monogatari (1957) An Osaka Story- Director
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Keigo Kimura was born on 19 June 1903 in Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Utau tanuki goten (1942), Sen-hime (1954) and Gun's Bloody Mire (1961). He died on 20 January 1986 in Japan.Hatsuharu tanuki goten (1959) Enchanted Princess- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Katsuhiko Tasaka was born on 28 May 1914 in Numata Higashimachi, Mihara City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Kojiro's Turning Swallow Cut (1961), Yagyû renyasai: hidentsuki kageshô (1956) and Matashiro's Fighting Journey (1956). He died on 29 September 1979 in Japan.Hana no Byakkotai (1954) The Great White Tiger Platoon
Yagyû renyasai: hidentsuki kageshô (1956) Yagyu Renyasai's Secret Moonlight Chronicle / Hidden Story of the Yagyu Clan- Director
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- Actor
Born in Chiba in 1934, Nakajima joined Toei in 1959, and was promoted to director there in 1964. He has never directed outside the studio since, and has been well regarded there as one of Toei's most prolific and dependable hitmakers. In the 1960s, Nakajima concentrated on samurai films, but found his true metier in the 1970s with the explosion of second-generation yakuza movies. These so-called jitsuroku (true record) stories were far more violent than their yakuza movie counterparts of the 1950s and 60s, and none more so than Nakajima's. Rape, torture, gunplay, nothing was off-limits in a typical Nakajima scenario, such as the fitful, hysterically violent Bakamasa Horamasa Toppamasa (1976) and the amazingly raw and passionate Riot at Shimane Prison (Bodo Shimane Keimusho, 1975), which actually caused a controversy in Japan for its realistic portrayal of prison brutality. The violence in Nakajima's work is often accompanied by a deep-running sentimentalism: he is considered by Japanese critics to be a "wet" director, as compared to the "dry", cynical style of fellow Toei yakuza-helmer Kinji Fukasaku. Exemplary among his pictures which balance sudden explosions of violence with moments of startling sentimentality is his 1979 hit Sochiyo no Kubi, a lengthy meditation on the end of an era (the yakuza immediately before Japan's war in China broke out and escalated into World War II). As his career moved on, Nakajima's work grew increasingly more elegiac: his 1985 movie Seburi's Story was selected by the Berlin Film Festival, and several of his more recent films have examined the plights of women among the yakuza, a theme usually ignored in his hypermacho work in the 1970s. Despite the often sordid nature of his pictures, Nakajima has managed to work with much of the top acting and technical talent in Japan, and has garnered much of the best work of their respective careers from Toei's top stars Hiroki Matsukata and Tsunehiko Watase.Sanada Yukimura no bouryaku (1979) The Shogun Assassins / Death of the Shogun / Renegade Ninjas- Born in Tokyo in 1911 Yasuda Kimiyoshi died in the capital city in 1983. In-between, however, the director was in charge of 88 films most of which were of the jidaigeki genre. Kimiyoshi's first film was 1944's Ouma Wa Nanajyunana Mangoku. Beginning with 1964 the director began working on TV movies as well. His better-known works remain his run of Zatoichi films. Kimiyoshi was known for his specific and scrupulous style of shooting and, being good at drawing, illustrating his own storyboards in advance of the commencement of shooting.Nemuri Kyôshirô: Engetsugiri (1964) Sleepy Eyes of Death: Full Circle Killing / Exploits of Kyoshiro Nemuri, the Swordsman
Daimajin (1966) Daimajin 1 Monster Of Terror
Nemuri Kyôshirô: Hitohada gumo (1968) Sleepy Eyes of Death: In the Spider's Lair / The Human Tarantula - Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Akira Inoue was born on 10 December 1928 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Zatoichi's Revenge (1965), Showdown at Night's End (1964) and Tokyo Bodyguards (1965). He died on 9 January 2022 in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.Nemuri Kyôshirô: Tajôken (1966) Sleepy Eyes of Death: The Mask of the Princess
Nemuri Kyoshiro: The Man with No Tomorrow (1995)- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shirô Moritani was born on 28 September 1931 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Yojimbo (1961), Hakkodasan (1977) and High and Low (1963). He died on 2 December 1984.Nippon chinbotsu (1973) Tidal Wave / Submersion of Japan- Visual Effects
- Director
- Special Effects
Chohatsu Daikaiju Gehara (2009) Gehara: The Dark & Long Hair Monster- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Gakuryû Ishii was born on 15 January 1957 in Hakata, Fukuoka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Labyrinth of Dreams (1997), Enjeru dasuto (1994) and Electric Dragon 80.000 V (2001).Gojô reisenki: Gojoe (2000) Gojoe: Spirit War Chronicle
Panku-zamurai, kirarete sôrô (2018) Punk Samurai Slash Down- Director
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- Producer
Yasuo Tsuruhashi is known for Black Widow Business (2016), Ai no rukeichi (2007) and Flea-picking Samurai (2018).Genji monogatari: Sennen no nazo (2011) The Tale of Genji: A Thousand Year Enigma- Taiji Inoue is known for Kiba Bugyo ga Yuku (1995).Kiba Bugyo ga Yuku (1995) Magistrate Mayuzumi
- Riki Okamura is known for 1 Litre of Tears (2005).Ichi ritoru no namida (2005) 1 Litre of Tears
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- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Buichi Saitô was born on 27 January 1925 in Chichibu, Saitama, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Nangoku Tosa o ato ni shite (1959), Diamonds of the Andes (1968) and Kekkon no Joken (1963). He died in January 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.Kozure Ôkami: Oya no kokoro ko no kokoro (1972) Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril
Kozure ôkami (1973-)- Director
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- Editor
Kanchiku Yuri is a former film student with an idealized approach to film and cinema. She is a child of the early eighties and was born in 1982. Kanchiku attended Nihon University College Of Art where she studied film. She graduated in 2006. She focuses on lights and composition and cites Iwai Shunji and Miyagawa Kazuo as influences. She had been the assistant to the former man while working in radio and studied under him. Her feature film debut, My Rainy Days, was based on a mobile phone novel and has gained cult status. The film premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Ironically, she became quiet since its release and sporadically worked on an AKB48 girl group video and a short. The latter work was shot in South Korea. Ms. Kanchiku has been keeping busy working on a second feature length film and shooting commercials and music videos. She divides her time between Tokyo and Yamanashi to the west of Tokyo.agheamiTenshi no koi (2009) My Rainy Days