The Greatest Japanese Directors

1. Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.

Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...

2. Akira Kurosawa

Writer | Kakushi-toride no san-akunin

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...

3. Yasujirô Ozu

Writer | Tôkyô monogatari

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 ...

4. Seijun Suzuki

Director | Tsigoineruwaizen

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 ...

5. Takashi Miike

Director | Jûsan-nin no shikaku

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, ...

6. Shin'ya Tsukamoto

Actor | Tetsuo

Shin'ya Tsukamoto was born on January 1, 1960 in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), Vital (2004) and Tokyo Fist (1995).

7. Kenji Mizoguchi

Director | Ugetsu monogatari

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 ...

8. Isao Takahata

Director | Hotaru no haka

Isao Takahata was born on October 29, 1935 in Ise, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Pom Poko (1994) and The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013). He died on April 5, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan.

9. Nagisa Ôshima

Director | Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

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 ...

10. Osamu Tezuka

Writer | Tenrankai no e

Tezuka Osamu was born on November 3, 1928 in Toyonaka, Japan as the first child of Fumiko & Yutaka Tezuka. At 5, he & his family moved to the village of Kohama in Hyogo prefecture (present day city of Takarazuka). When he was 7, he entered Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka. Due to his diminutive ...

11. Shôhei Imamura

Director | Kuroi ame

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....

12. Ishirô Honda

Director | Gojira

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 ...

13. Kon Ichikawa

Director | Inugami-ke no ichizoku

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 ...

14. Kinji Fukasaku

Director | Batoru rowaiaru

Kinji Fukasaku was born on July 3, 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 January 12, 2003 in Tokyo, Japan.

15. Mamoru Oshii

Director | Kôkaku kidôtai

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and screenwriter. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura (1981-1984), Angel's Egg (1985), Patlabor: The Movie (1989), Ghost in the Shell (1995), and Ghost in ...

16. Takeshi Kitano

Actor | Zatôichi

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 ...

17. Hiroshi Teshigahara

Director | Suna no onna

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 ...

18. Sadao Yamanaka

Writer | Kuchibue o fuku bushi

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...

19. Kenji Misumi

Director | Shogun Assassin

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, ...

20. Kore-eda Hirokazu

Director | Manbiki kazoku

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), ...

21. Masaki Kobayashi

Director | Seppuku

Masaki Kobayashi was born on February 14, 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 October 4, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.

22. Hiroshi Inagaki

Director | Wasurerareta kora

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...

23. Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Director | Tokyo Sonata

Kiyoshi Kurosawa was born on July 19, 1955 in Kobe, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Tokyo Sonata (2008), Pulse (2001) and Cure (1997).

24. Satoshi Kon

Writer | Tôkyô goddofâzâzu

Satoshi Kon was born in 1963. He studied at the Musashino College of the Arts. He began his career as a Manga artist. He then moved to animation and worked as a background artist on many films (including Roujin Z (1991) by 'Katsuhiro Otomo'). Then, in 1995, he wrote an episode of the anthology film ...

25. Hideo Nakata

Director | Honogurai mizu no soko kara

Born in Kinko-cho, Asakuchi-gun (present-day Asakuchi City), Okayama Prefecture. He is most familiar to Western audiences for his work on Japanese horror films such as Ring (1998), Ring 2 (1999) and Dark Water (2002). Several of these were remade in English as The Ring (2002), Dark Water (2005), ...

26. Teinosuke Kinugasa

Director | Jigokumon

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...

27. Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Writer | Akira

Katsuhiro Ôtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation.

In 1979, after writing multiple short-stories for the magazine Action, Otomo created his first science-fiction work, titled Fireball. ...

28. Mikio Naruse

Director | Ukigumo

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...

29. Hiroshi Shimizu

Director | Kanzashi

Hiroshi Shimizu was born on March 28, 1903 in Shizuoka, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Ornamental Hairpin (1941), Children in the Wind (1937) and Sono ato no hachi no su no kodomotachi (1951). He was married to Kinuyo Tanaka. He died on June 23, 1966 in Kyoto, Japan.

30. Kaneto Shindô

Writer | Ichimai no hagaki

Kaneto Shindô was born on April 22, 1912 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Postcard (2010), The Naked Island (1960) and A Last Note (1995). He was married to Nobuko Otowa and Miyo Shindo. He died on May 29, 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan.

31. Jûzô Itami

Writer | Osôshiki

A tragic end belies a life led with purpose. The son of a successful filmmaker, Juzo Itami made his name acting in television and films before making a late career shift into screenwriting and directing at age 50. Known to choose the subjects of his films through everyday observations, he often ...

32. Rintarô

Director | Metoroporisu

Rintarô was born on January 22, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a director, known for Metropolis (2001), Ninja Scroll (1993) and Neo Tokyo (1987).

33. Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Animation_department | Jûbê ninpûchô

Graduated from Yokohama High School in 1968. After a few years working as animator at Mushi Production Animation, the company went bankrupt in 1972 and he joined Madhouse Studio. In the 70s he was promoted to animation director and finally debuted as film director in 1984's "SF New Century Lensman"...

34. Tatsumi Kumashiro

Director | Bô no kanashimi

Tatsumi Kumashiro was born on April 24, 1927 in Saga, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Like a Rolling Stone (1994), Ichijo Sayuri: Nureta yokujo (1972) and Shiroi yubi no tawamure (1972). He died on February 24, 1995.

35. Yôji Yamada

Writer | Tasogare Seibei

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 ...

36. Tetsuya Nakashima

Director | Kokuhaku

Tetsuya Nakashima was born on September 2, 1959 in Fukuoka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Confessions (2010), Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006) and Kamikaze Girls (2004).

37. Yoshimitsu Morita

Writer | Kazoku gêmu

Yoshimitsu Morita was born on January 25, 1950 in Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for The Family Game (1983), Sorekara (1985) and Haru (1996). He was married to Misao Morita. He died on December 20, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

38. Yasuzô Masumura

Director | Daichi no komoriuta

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 ...

39. Mamoru Hosoda

Director | Samâ uôzu

Mamoru Hosoda is a Japanese film director and animator. Formerly employed at Toei Animation, he went to work at Madhouse from 2005 to 2011. Hosoda left Madhouse in 2011 to establish his own animation studio, Studio Chizu. He first came to public attention in the early 2000s with the first two films...

40. Ryûhei Kitamura

Director | The Midnight Meat Train

Ryûhei Kitamura was born on May 30, 1969 in Osaka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Midnight Meat Train (2008), Azumi (2003) and Versus (2000).

41. Hideo Gosha

Director | Goyôkin

Hideo Gosha was born on February 26, 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 August 30, 1992.

42. Kihachi Okamoto

Director | Nikudan

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 ...

43. Gakuryû Ishii

Director | Yume no ginga

Gakuryû Ishii was born on January 15, 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).

44. Sion Sono

Director | Ai no mukidashi

Shion Sono is a Japanese director, writer and poet. Born in Aichi Perfecture in 1961 he started his career working as a poet before taking his first steps in film directing. As a student he shot a series of short films in Super 8 and managed to make his first feature films in the late 80s and early...

45. Hitoshi Matsumoto

Writer | Dai-Nihonjin

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 ...

46. Shinji Aoyama

Director | Yurîka

A director known for the thematic and visual bleakness of his work, Aoyama often sets his films in the Kyushu region from which he hails. He graduated from Rikkyo University and became known in 1996, but it was Eureka in 2000, which won him prizes at the Cannes Film Festival. Aoyama would continue ...

47. Yoshihiro Nakamura

Director | Fisshu sutôrî

Yoshihiro Nakamura was born on August 25, 1970 in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for Fish Story (2009), A Boy and His Samurai (2010) and Dark Water (2002).

48. Akihiko Shiota

Director | Dokomademo ikô

Akihiko Shiota was born on September 11, 1961 in Maizuru, Kyoto, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Don't Look Back (1999), Moonlight Whispers (1999) and Harmful Insect (2001).

49. Keisuke Kinoshita

Writer | Nijûshi no hitomi

Keisuke Kinoshita was born on December 5, 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 December 30, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan.

50. Masahiro Shinoda

Director | Shinjû: Ten no Amijima

Masahiro Shinoda was born on March 9, 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.

51. Kinuyo Tanaka

Actress | Joyû Sumako no koi

Tanaka Kinuyo was a highly regarded and prolific actress best known for her films with director Mizoguchi Kenji. She was immersed in the world of film having received her start in the world of entertainment at age fourteen, being a filmmaker herself, being the cousin of director Kobayashi Masaki ...

52. Koreyoshi Kurahara

Director | Nankyoku monogatari

Koreyoshi Kurahara was born on May 31, 1927 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. He was a director and writer, known for Antarctica (1983), Eight Below (2006) and Kaitei kara kita onna (1959). He was married to Yumiko Miyagino. He died on December 28, 2002 in Yokohama, Japan.

53. Shûji Terayama

Writer | Saraba hakobune

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 ...

54. Naoko Ogigami

Writer | Karera ga honki de amu toki wa,

After graduation from Chiba University's Image Science program, Naoko Ogigami went to the United States in 1994 to study film at the University of Southern California. During this period, she worked as an assistant for TV commercials, promotional videos, and films, and also created short films of ...

55. Tomu Uchida

Director | Tsuchi

Tomu Uchida was born on April 26, 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 August 7, 1970 in Japan.

56. Heinosuke Gosho

Director | Madamu to nyôbô

Heinosuke Gosho was born on January 24, 1902 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (1931), Once More (1947) and Ragpicker's Angel (1958). He died on May 1, 1981 in Japan.

57. Sachi Hamano

Director | Yurisai

Sachi Hamano aka Sachiko Hamano and Chise Matoba, is a Japanese film director . She is the most prolific pink film director and written about.

Sachi Hamano was born in Tokushima prefecture in March 1948. While in high school, she decided that she wanted to become a film director. She studied ...

58. Yasuharu Hasebe

Director | Sengoku rokku hayate no onnatachi

Yasuharu Hasebe was born on April 4, 1932 in Japan. He was a director and writer, known for The Naked Seven (1972), Sukeban Deka: Dirty Mary (1974) and A Gangster's Morals (1970). He was married to Takako Hasebe. He died on June 14, 2009 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.

59. Sumiko Haneda

Director | Yamanaka Tokiwa: Ushiwakamaruto tokiwa gozen hahato kono monogatari

Sumiko Haneda was born on January 3, 1926 in China. She is a director and writer, known for Into the Picture Scroll: The Tale of Yamanaka Tokiwa (2005), Onna tachi no shôgen - Rôdô undô no naka no senku teki josei tachi - (1996) and Hayachine no fu (1982).

60. Masato Harada

Writer | Waga haha no ki

Masato Harada was born on July 3, 1949 in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan. He is a writer and director, known for Chronicle of My Mother (2011), The Last Samurai (2003) and Bounce Ko Gals (1997).

61. Kôji Wakamatsu

Director | Jitsuroku Rengo Sekigun: Asama sanso e no michi

The pioneering Kôji Wakamatsu (born Ito Takashi) was a contemporary of Oshima Nagisa and equally controversial, yet not as famous. The man was born in Miyagi Prefecture in the north of Japan before dropping out of agricultural school, some say following a physical altercation, moving to Tokyo at ...

62. Ryûichi Hiroki

Director | Vaiburêta

Ryûichi Hiroki was born on January 1, 1954 in Kôriyama, Fukushima, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Vibrator (2003), Yawarakai seikatsu (2005) and Tôkyô gomi onna (2000).

63. Naomi Kawase

Director | An

Naomi Kawase was born on May 30, 1969 in Nara, Japan. She is a director and writer, known for Sweet Bean (2015), Still the Water (2014) and Suzaku (1997). She was previously married to Takenori Sentô.

64. Susumu Hani

Director | Kanojo to kare

Tokyo native Susumu Hani was one of the earlier directors involved in what later became known as Nuberu Bagu ('nouvelle vogue' or 'new wave') cinema of Japan. He unusually begun work outside the Japanese studio system and was employed by Iwanami Eiga, the film unit of a publishing company, before ...

65. Kazuo Hara

Director | Yuki yukite, shingun

Kazuo Hara was born on June 8, 1945 in Yamaguchi, Japan. He is a director and cinematographer, known for The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987), A Dedicated Life (1994) and Sennan Asbestos Disaster (2016).

66. Toshio Matsumoto

Director | Dogura magura

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 ...

67. Ryosuke Hashiguchi

Writer | Gururi no koto

Hashiguchi Ryosuke directed 8mm-films while still at secondary school. In 1989 his short film "A Secret Evening" won the grand prix at the Pia Film Festival. In 1992 he made his first feature "The Slight Fever of a 20-year old", which was screened in Berlin and broke box-office records at one of ...

68. Shunji Iwai

Writer | Love Letter

Having received his education at Yokohama National University, Shunji Iwai started out in the entertainment industry by directing music videos and television dramas, including the likes of Maria, Lunatic Love and Fireworks, for which he received the award for Best Newcomer from the Japanese ...

69. Kaizô Hayashi

Director | Yumemiru yôni nemuritai

Kaizô Hayashi was born on July 15, 1957 in Kyoto, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for To Sleep So as to Dream (1986), The Most Terrible Time in My Life (1993) and Nijisseiki shônen dokuhon (1989).

70. Jun Ichikawa

Director | Tonî Takitani

Jun Ichikawa was born on November 25, 1948 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Tony Takitani (2004), Byôin de shinu to iu koto (1993) and Tôkyô yakyoku (1997). He died on September 19, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan.

71. Takahiko Iimura

Director | De Sade

Takahiko Iimura was born on February 20, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for De Sade (1962), Onan (1963) and Japanese Erotica: Five Films on Love and Sex from the Japanese Underground of the Experimental Cinema (1967). He was married to Akiko Iimura. He died on July 31, ...

72. Gorô Miyazaki

Director | Kokuriko-zaka kara

Graduated from Shinshu University, Faculty of Agriculture, Goro Miyazaki started his career as a construction consultant, and he designed parks and public institutions. To avoid to be compared to his father, the world-famous filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, he initially didn't want to work on anything ...

73. Akio Jissôji

Director | Shirubâ Kamen

Akio Jissôji was born on March 29, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Silver Mask (2006), This Transient Life (1970) and Shirubâ kamen (1971). He was married to Chisako Hara. He died on November 29, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan.

74. Tadashi Imai

Director | Kome

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 (...

75. Shinji Imaoka

Director | Chikan densha: Kanjiru iboibo

Shinji Imaoka was born on October 6, 1965 in Sakai, Osaka, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Chikan densha: Kanjiru iboibo (1996), Tamamono (2004) and Gushonure hitozuma kyôshi - Seifuku de idaite (1999).

76. Katsuhito Ishii

Director | Cha no aji

Katsuhito Ishii was born on December 31, 1966 in Niigata, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for The Taste of Tea (2004), Naisu no mori: The First Contact (2005) and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003).

77. Takahisa Zeze

Director | Akai jôji

Takahisa Zeze was born on May 24, 1960 in Matama, Ôita, Japan [now Bungotakada, Ôita, Japan]. He is a director and writer, known for Akai jôji (1996), Kindan no sono: Za seifuku rezu (1992) and Owaranai sekkusu (1995).

78. Teruo Ishii

Director | Gensen-Kan Shujin

Teruo Ishii was born on January 1, 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 August 12, 2005 in Tokyo, Japan.

79. Masaru Konuma

Director | Nagisa

Masaru Konuma was born on December 30, 1937 in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Beach (2000). He died on January 22, 2023.

80. Koreyoshi Kurahara

Director | Nankyoku monogatari

Koreyoshi Kurahara was born on May 31, 1927 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. He was a director and writer, known for Antarctica (1983), Eight Below (2006) and Kaitei kara kita onna (1959). He was married to Yumiko Miyagino. He died on December 28, 2002 in Yokohama, Japan.

81. Satoshi Miki

Writer | Ore ore

Satoshi Miki was born on August 9, 1961 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He is a writer and director, known for It's Me, It's Me (2013), Adrift in Tokyo (2007) and What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? (2022).

82. Sabu

Director | Mandei

Japanese director/writer/actor whose often kinetic, cyberpunk style is much imitated. He expressed appreciation over the similarity of the international hit German film "Run Lola Run" (1998) to his first film as a director/writer, "Dangan Runner" (1996). When asked at the Chicago International Film...

83. Yoshihiro Nishimura

Make_up_department | Tôkyô zankoku keisatsu

Yoshihiro Nishimura was born on April 1, 1967 in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. He is a producer, known for Tokyo Gore Police (2008), Meatball Machine Kodoku (2017) and The ABCs of Death (2012).

84. Kan Mukai

Director | Dôsôkai

Kan Mukai was born on October 16, 1937 in Dalian, Liaoning, China. He was a director and producer, known for Dôsôkai (2004) and Modern Female Ninja: Flesh Hell (1968). He died on June 9, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan.

85. Miwa Nishikawa

Writer | Dia dokutâ

Miwa Nishikawa was born on July 8, 1974 in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan. She is a writer and director, known for Dear Doctor (2009), Sway (2006) and Wild Berries (2003).

86. Makoto Shinozaki

Director | Okaeri

Makoto Shinozaki was born in 1963 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Okaeri (1995), Wasurerarenu hitobito (2000) and Die! Directors, Die! (2011).

87. Norifumi Suzuki

Director | Torakku yarô: Goiken muyô

Norifumi Suzuki was born on November 26, 1933 in Shizuoka, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Truck Rascals (1975), Kantô Tekiya ikka: Goromen himatsuri (1971) and Girl Boss Revenge: Sukeban (1973). He died on May 15, 2014 in Tokyo, Japan.

88. Yuki Tanada

Director | Hyakuman-en to nigamushi onna

Yuki Tanada was born on August 12, 1975 in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. She is a director and writer, known for One Million Yen Girl (2008), Mourning Recipe (2013) and Moru (2001).

89. Noboru Tanaka

Yôjinbô

Noboru Tanaka was born on August 15, 1937 in Nagano, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Yojimbo (1961), The Watcher in the Attic (1976) and Rape and Death of a Housewife (1978). He died on October 4, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan.

90. Kôzaburô Yoshimura

Director | Anjô-ke no butôkai

Kôzaburô Yoshimura was born on September 9, 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 November 7, 2000 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.

91. Noriaki Tsuchimoto

Director | Aru kikanjoshi

Noriaki Tsuchimoto was born on December 11, 1928 in Toki, Gifu, Japan. He was a director and editor, known for Aru kikanjoshi (1964), Arishihi no Kabul Hakubutsukan - 1988nen (2003) and Mouhitotsu no Afuganisutan: Kabûru nikki 1985 nen (2003). He died on June 24, 2008 in Minami-Boso, Chiba, ...

92. Mitsuo Yanagimachi

Director | Ai ni tsuite, Tokyo

Mitsuo Yanagimachi was born on November 2, 1945 in Ibaraki, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Ai ni tsuite, Tokyo (1992), Jukyusai no chizu (1979) and Farewell to the Land (1982).

93. Yutaka Tsuchiya

Director | Peep 'TV' Show

Yutaka Tsuchiya was born in 1966. He is a director and editor, known for Peep 'TV' Show (2004), GFP Bunny (2012) and Atarashî kamisama (1999).