Advanced search

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).

Tomisaburô Wakayama was born on 1 September 1929 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor and producer, known for Black Rain (1989), Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) and Shogun Assassin (1980). He died on 2 April 1992 in Kyoto, Japan.

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.

Hiroshi Shimizu was born on 28 March 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 23 June 1966 in Kyoto, Japan.

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.

Seizô Fukumoto was born on 3 February 1943 in Kami, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Last Samurai (2003), Uzumasa Limelight (2014) and 13 Assassins (2010). He died on 1 January 2021 in Kyoto, Japan.

Born on December 6 1943, Yuriko Hoshi was one of the younger members of the Toho stable of actors during the 1960s. She made a big impression in the Wakadasho (Young Guy) movies and was recognized for her youthful energy. Eventually she became more known for her roles in kaiju eiga films such as Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964) (Godzilla vs. The Thing) (1964) and _San daikaijû: Chikyu saidai no kessen (1964)_ (Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster) (1964).

Tatsuo Endô was born on 30 January 1928 in Kyoto, Japan. He was an actor, known for Audition (1999), Zatoichi's Flashing Sword (1964) and Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril (1972). He died on 7 July 2012 in Kyoto, Japan.

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.

Shigeru Kôyama was born on 16 January 1929 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was an actor, known for Black Rain (1989), Azumi 2: Death or Love (2005) and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995). He died on 3 January 2017 in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.

Jun'ichirô Tanizaki was born on 24 July 1886 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a writer, known for Naked Ambition (1970), By Rickshaw and Torawakamaru, the Koga Ninja (1957). He was married to Matsuko Morita, Tomiko Furukawa and Chiyoko Ishikawa. He died on 30 July 1965 in Kyoto, Japan.

Kôsaku Yamashita was born on 10 December 1930 in Akune, Kagoshima, Japan. He was a director and actor, known for Night Train (1987), Kuroi tsume (1964) and The Valiant Red Peony (1968). He was married to Tomoko Yamashita. He died on 6 December 1998 in Kyoto, Japan.

Tsumasaburô Bandô was born on 14 December 1901 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor and producer, known for Orochi (1925), Surônin makaritôru (1947) and Ijin musume to bushi (1925). He died on 7 July 1953 in Kyoto, Japan.

Kanjûrô Arashi was born on 8 December 1903 in Kyoto, Japan. He was an actor, known for Profound Desires of the Gods (1968), Umon torimonochô - Rokuban tegara (1930) and 13 Assassins (1963). He died on 21 October 1980 in Kyoto, Japan.

Hiromichi Horikawa was born on 28 November 1916 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Seven Samurai (1954), Ikiru (1952) and Throne of Blood (1957). He died on 5 September 2012 in Kyoto, Japan.

Takashi Kanda was born on 14 April 1918 in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for Shonen tanteidan: Tomei kaijin (1958), Akuma no temari-uta (1961) and Hyoryû shitaî (1959). He died on 13 July 1986 in Kyoto, Japan.

Hiroshi Yamauchi was born on 7 November 1927 in Kyoto, Kyoto, Empire of Japan [now Japan]. He was a producer and director, known for Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (2002), EarthBound Beginnings (1988) and Sin and Punishment (2000). He was married to Michiko Inaba. He died on 19 September 2013 in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.

Kokichi Takada was born Takeichi Kaijura in 1911. he began his film career with Shochiku Co. in 1926 and became a leading star in the mid-1930s. He oftend starred in historical films. Takada performed with a travelling trouope in post-war Japan before returning to the screen in 1954. He died in Kyoto of pneumonia at the age of 86 on May 19, 1998.

Satoru Iwata was born on 6 December 1959 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. He was a producer and actor, known for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006), Metroid Prime (2002) and Metroid: Zero Mission (2004). He was married to Kayoko Iwata. He died on 11 July 2015 in Kyoto, Japan.

Yasuhiro Takemoto was born on 5 April 1972 in Hyogo, Japan. He was a director, known for Full Metal Panic! (2002), Clannad (2007) and The SoulTaker (2001). He died on 18 July 2019 in Kyoto, Japan.

Kogan Ashiya was born on 4 December 1933 in Kyoto, Japan. He was an actor, known for Bakuchi uchi (1967), Shin kurama tengu: Gojôzaka no kettô (1965) and Kunoichi nimpoden: Mamono no yakata (2001). He died on 28 March 2025 in Kyoto City, Japan.

Yutaka Abe was born on 2 February 1895 in Miyagi, Japan. He was a director and actor, known for Ashi ni sawatta onna (1926), Taiyo no ko (1938) and Shôhin eiga-shû: Pan (1925). He died on 3 January 1977 in Kyoto, Japan.

Asao Sano was born on 13 August 1925 in Kanagawa, Japan. He was an actor, known for Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell Bastards! (1963), Black River (1957) and Fighting Elegy (1966). He died on 28 June 2022 in Kyoto, Japan.

Mansaku Itami was born on 2 January 1900 in Matsuyama, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Te o tsunagu kora (1948), Sengoku kitan: Kimagure kaja (1935) and Kentatsu's Vengeance (1932). He was married to Ikeuchi Kimi. He died on 21 September 1946 in Kyoto, Japan.

Yôichi Takabayashi was born on 29 April 1931 in Nishizin, Kyoto, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Gaki zôshi (1973), Death at an Old Mansion (1975) and Irezumi (1982). He died on 15 July 2012 in Kyoto, Japan.