Japanese Movie Director (9): Kon Ichikawa

Kon Ichikawa (1915 - 2008)

It is difficult to describe the characteristics of Kon Ichikawa as a director. He directed so many movies of a broad variety of genres and subjects, which makes it almost impossible to judge Ichikawa by the genres or subjects he selected. In addition, Ichikawa usually appears to be not so emotionally involved with the characters of his movies, except for rare cases such as "The Burmese Harp" (1956), "Otôto" (1960), and "Hakai" (1962). In many cases, it seems that Ichikawa objectively observed and remotely controlled the characters in his movies, and, thus, the characters often appear to play a game rather than play a drama.

Technically, Ichikawa is characterized by his keen sense of composition and unique manner of editing, and he enjoyed, throughout his long career, devising unique or challenging techniques of composition, editing, sound-effect, delivery of dialogues, and so on.

Thus, some criticizes Ichikawa as heartless, frivolous, or artificial, arguing that Ichikawa was more interested in techniques than human. I agree such criticism in part. Indeed, Ichikawa's movies occasionally appear to be artificial. However, it is his style. So to speak, Ichikawa portrayed his movie's characters in a graphic manner using simple lines, rather than in a realistic manner using oil paints. You are free to say, "I like oil paintings better than line drawings". However, you should not say, "Oil paintings are superior to line drawings because I like oil paintings more". I like both.


(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status"(whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Most of Ichikawa's films are preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted except for titles whose complete version does not exist.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

(Filmography)
1948 Hana hiraku - Machiko yori
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1948 Sambyakurokujugo ya (365 Nights)
     Survival Status: Incomplete re-released version shorter than the original by approx. 20%   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Ningen moyô (Design of a Human Being)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese   
1949 Hateshinaki jônetsu (Endless Passion/Passion Without End)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Ginza Sanshirô (A Ginza Veteran/Sanshiro at Ginza)
     Survival Status: Incomplete re-released version shorter than the original by approx. 20%
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese       
1950 Netsudeichi (Heat and Mud)
     Survival Status: Incomplete re-released version shorter than the original by approx. 40%
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese       
1950 Akatsuki no tsuiseki (Pursuit at Dawn)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Ieraishan (Nightshade Flower)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Koibito (The Lover/The Sweetheart)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Mukokuseki-sha (The Man Without a Nationality)
     Survival Status: Lost
1951 Nusumareta koi (Stolen Love)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Bungawan soro (River Solo Flows)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Kekkon koshinkyoku (Wedding March)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Rakki-san (Mr. Lucky)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Wakai hito (Young Generation/Young People)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (incomplete version (73/117 min), I cannot recommend)
1952 Ashi ni sawatta onna (The Woman Who Touched the Legs)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Ano te kono te (This Way, That Way)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1953 Pu-san (Mr. Poo/Mr. Pu)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1953 Aoiro kakumei (The Blue Revolution)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1953 Seishun Zenigata Heiji (Youth of Heiji Senigata)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Aijin (The Lovers)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Watashi no subete wo (All About Me/All of Myself)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Okuman chôja (A Billionaire)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1955 Josei ni kansuru jûnishô (Twelve Chapters about Women)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1955 Seishun kaidan (Ghost Story of Youth)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1955 Kokoro (The Heart)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1956 Biruma no tategoto (The Burmese Harp)(*1)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1956 Shokei no heya (Punishment Room)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Nihonbashi (Bridge of Japan)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Manin densha (A Full-Up Train/Crammed Streetcar/The Crowded Train)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Tôhoku no zunmu-tachi (The Men of Tohoku)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1958 Ana (Hole in One/The Hole/The Pit)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1958 Enjô (Conflagration/The Temple of the Golden Pavilion) 
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese   
1959 Anata to watashi no aikotoba: Sayônara, konnichiwa (Goodbye - Good Day/Goodbye, Hello)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kagi (Odd Obsession/The Key)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Nobi (Fires on the Plain)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1960 Jokyô_"Mono o takaku uritsukeru onna"
      (A Woman's Testament_segment "A Woman Who Sell Dear")
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Bonchi
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Otôto (Younger Brother)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1961 Kuroi jûnin no onna (Ten Black Women)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Hakai (The Broken Commandments)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Watashi wa nisai (I Am Two Years Old)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Yukinojô henge (An Actor's Revenge/Revenge of a Kabuki Actor)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1963 Taiheiyô hitori-botchi (Alone Across the Pacific)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1964 Dokonjo monogatari - zeni no odori (Money Talks/The Money Dance)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1965 Tôkyô orinpikku (Tokyo Olympiad)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1967 Toppo Jîjo no botan sensô (Topo Gigio and the Missile War)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1968 Seishun (Youth)   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1968 Kyô (Kyoto)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (Compilation DVD: B001F055H2), USA
1970 Tsuru (A Crane)(*2)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Panpa no Bouken (The Adventure of Panpa)(*2)    
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1971 Ai futatabi (To Love Again)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1973 Matatabi (Errance/The Wanderers)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1973 Toki yo tomare, kimi wa utsukusii (Visions of Eight: segment "The Fastest")(*2)    
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA   
1975 Wagahai wa neko de aru (I Am a Cat)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Tsuma to onna no aida (Between Wife and Woman/Between Women and Wives)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1976 Inugamike no ichizoku (The Inugami Clan)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Akuma no temari-uta (Rhyme of Vengeance/The Devil's Ballad)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Gokumon-to (Guillotine Island/Hell's Gate Island)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1978 Joôbachi (Queen Bee)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1978 Hi no tori (Firebird/The Phoenix)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1979 Byôinzaka no kubikukuri no ie (The House of Hanging)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1980 Koto (Ancient City)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1981 Kôfuku (Happiness/Lonely Heart)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1983 Sasame-yuki (Fine Snow/The Makioka Sisters)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1984 Ohan
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1985 Biruma no tatekoto (The Burmese Harp)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1986 Rokumeikan (High Society of Meiji/The Hall of the Crying Deer)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1987 Eiga joyû (Actress/Film Actress)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1987 Taketori monogatari (Kaguya/Princess from the Moon)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1988 Tsuru (Crane)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1991 Tenkawa densetsu satsujin jiken (Noh Mask Murders)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1993 Kaettekite Kogarashi Monjiro (The Return of Kogarashi Monjiro)   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1994 Shijûshichinin no shikaku (47 Ronin)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1996 Yatsu haka-mura (The 8-Tomb Village)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2000 Shinsengumi
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
2001 Dora-heita (Alley Cat)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
2001 Kah-chan (Big Mama)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2007 Inugamike no ichizoku (The Inugami Clan)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2007 Yume jû-ya (Ten Nights of Dream) (second segment only)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (check Amazon video)

(*1) The first part (1710m) , which tells the first half of the story, was obliged to be released before completing filming in order to keep the release schedule. After completing filming, two versions were released simultaneously, one of which is the second part (2199m) which tells the last half of the story, and the other of which is the complete version (3196m) which tell the whole story.Only the first part and the complete version were edited by Ichikawa. The complete version was often referred to as "abridged version/condensed version" incorrectly.
(*3) Screened at Expo '70 (Osaka) in combination with live action.

 (My recommendations)
   In addition to the titles ranked in the Top_10_Movies, the movies Ichikawa directed for Daiei from 1956 to 1964 are generally worth watching. This Daiei period was Ichikawa's peak years, I think.

   Probably, Ichikawa's "artificial" style was most suitable for comedies. Ichikawa directed many comedies, romantic ones,cynical ones, or black comedies. Ichikawa was most active, as a director of comedies, in the period before he entered Daiei. Among the comedies in this period, I recommend the followings:
   "Nusumareta koi/Stolen Love"(1951);
   "Kekkon koshinkyoku/Wedding March" (1951);
   "Pu-san/Mr. Poo/Mr. Pu" (1953);
   "Seishun Zenigata Heiji/Youth of Heiji Senigata" (1953); and
   "Aijin/The Lovers" (1954) (My favorite).
   Ichikawa's style was also suitable for documentaries, which, for ichikawa, were showcases of techniques of editing. Needless to say, "Tôkyô orimpikku/Tokyo Olympiad" is Ichikawa's best in this genre. I also recommend "Kyô/Kyoto" (a documentary short).

   During the decade after "Tokyo Olympiad", Ichikawa's works were obviously inferior to his works in the previous decade. So was even "Matatabi/Errance/The Wanderers" (1973), which was Ichikawa's best in this period. Ichikawa recovered, to some extent, from his slump in mid-1970s, on and after "Inugamike no ichizoku/The Inugami Clan" (1976). Until around mid-1980s, Ichikawa's works were moderately successful, but could not reach the level of the works in the Daiei period. Among the movies in this period, I recommend "Inugami", "Kôfuku/Happiness/Lonely Heart" (1981), "Sasame-yuki/Fine Snow/The Makioka Sisters" (1983), and "Ohan" (1984).

   In 1990s and 2000s, Ichikawa continued to be active. Even in this period, Ichikawa showed flashes of his talents and skills.

Japanese Movie Director (8): Kenji Mizoguchi

Kenji Mizoguchi (1898 - 1956)

Kenji Mizoguchi is one of the most internationally well-known Japanese movie directors, so well-known that rather detailed information may be acquired through IMDB, Wikipedia and so on. There is little left for me to add.

(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are displayed in bold font.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your palyer, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

1923 Ai ni yomigaeru hi (The Resurrection of Love)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1923 Kokyo (Hometown/Native Country)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1923 Seishun no yumeji (Dream of Youth/The Dream Path of Youth)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1923 Joen no chimata (City of Desire/Harbour of Desire)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1923 Haizan no uta wa kanashi (Failure's Song Is Sad/The Song of Failure)    
     Survival Status: Lost   
1923 813 (The Adventures of Arsene Lupin)
     Survival Status: Lost
1923 Kiri no minato (Foggy Harbour/Harbour in the Fog)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1923 Haikyo no naka (Among the Ruins/In the Ruins)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1923 Yoru (The Night)
     Survival Status: Lost
1923 Chi to rei (Blood and Soul)
     Survival Status: Lost
1923 Toge no uta (The Song of the Mountain Pass)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1924 Kanashiki hakuchi (Song of the Sad Idiot/The Sad Idiot)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1924 Akatsuki no shi (Death at Dawn)            
     Survival Status: Lost
1924 Gendai no joô (The Queen of Modern Times)
     Survival Status: Lost
1924 Josei wa tsuyoshi (Strong Is the Female/Women Are Strong)
     Survival Status: Lost
1924 Jinkyo (This Dusty World)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1924 Shichimencho no yukue (The Trace of a Turkey/Turkeys in a Row/Where Turkey Has Gone)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1924 Samidare zoshi (A Chronicle of the May Rain)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1924 Kanraku no onna (A Woman of Pleasure)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1924 Kyokubadan no joô (Queen of the Circus)
     Survival Status: Lost
1925 Uchen-Puchan/Musen fusen (No Money, No Fight)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1925 Gakuso wo idete (Out of College)
     Survival Status: Lost
1925 Daichi wa hohoemu (The Earth Smiles: Part 1/The Smiling Earth)       
     Survival Status: Lost
1925 Shirayuri wa nageku (The White Lily Laments)       
     Survival Status: Lost
1925 Akai yuhi ni terasarete (Shining in the Red Sunset/Under the Crimson Sunset)
     Survival Status: Lost
1925 Furusato no uta (The Song of Home)
     Survival Status: Exist            
1925 Gaijo no suketchi (Street Scenes/Street Sketches)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1925 Ningen (The Human Being/The Man)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1925 Nogi taisho to Kumasan (General Nogi and Kumasan)   
     Survival Status: Lost
1926 Dôka-ô (The Copper Coin King)
     Survival Status: Lost
1926 Kaminingyo haru no sasayaki (A Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring)
     Survival Status: Lost
1926 Shin onoga tsumi (My Fault)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1926 Kyoren no onna shishô (The Love-Mad Tutoress/The Passion of a Woman Teacher)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1926 Kaikoku danji (Children of the Sea/The Boy from the Navy/The Boy of the Sea)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1926 Kane (Money)
     Survival Status: Lost
1927 Kôon (The Imperial Grace)       
     Survival Status: Lost
1927 Jihi shinchô (The Cuckoo)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: ningen banji kane no maki (A Man's Life: Money is Almighty)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: ukiyo ha tsuraine no maki (A Man's Life: The World is Full of Severeness)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hito no issyô: kuma to tora saikai no maki (A Man's Life : Reunion of Tora and Kuma )
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Musume kawaiya (My Lovely Daughter)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1929 Nihon bashi (The Nihon Bridge)    
     Survival Status: Lost
1929 Asahi wa kagayaku (The Morning Sun Shines)
     Survival Status: Exist (abridged version: 1/4 in length of the original version)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:            
1929 Tôkyô kôshin-kyoku (Tokyo March)
     Survival Status: Exist (abridged version: 1/5 in length of the original version)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1929 Tokai kokyogaku (Metropolitan Symphony)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1930 Furusato (Home Town/Home Village)
     Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version, shorter than the original by approx. 30%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:
1930 Tôjin Okichi (Mistress of a Foreigner)
     Survival Status: Lost (a fragment of few minutes survives)   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese (coupled with "Orizuru Osen")
1931 Shikamo karera wa yuku
      (And Yet They Go/Despite All They Advance/Nevertheless, They Go On)
     Survival Status: Lost
1932 Toki no ujigami (Man of the Moment)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1932 Manmo kenkoku no reimei (Dawn in Manchuria)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1933 Taki no shiraito
    (Cascading White Threads/The Water Magician/White Threads of the Waterfall)
     Survival Status: Exist (Incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 14%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1933 Gion matsuri (Gion Festival)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1934 Jinpu-ren (The Jinpu Group/The Kamikaze Group/The Shimpu Group)
     Survival Status: Lost
1934 Aizô tôge (The Mountain Pass of Love and Hate/The Pass of Love and Hate)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1935 Orizuru Osen (The Downfall/The Downfall of Osen/The Paper Cranes of Osen)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1935 Maria no Oyuki (Oyuki, the Madonna/Oyuki, the Virgin)
     Survival Status: Lost
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: French    
1935 Gubijinso (Poppies/Poppy)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: French    
1936 Naniwa ereji (Naniwa Elegy/Osaka Elegy/Woman of Osaka)
     Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 20%)
     DVD availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1936 Gion no shimai (Sisters of the Gion)
     Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 26%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more    
1937 Aien kyô (The Straits of Love and Hate)
     Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 16%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1938 Roei no uta (The Song of the Camp)
     Survival Status: Lost       
1938 Aa kokyô / Aa furusato (Ah, My Home Town)
     Survival Status: Lost
1939 Zangiku monogatari (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,UK,and more
1940 Naniwa onna (The Woman of Osaka)
     Survival Status: Lost
1941 Geido ichidai otoko (The Life of an Actor)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1941+1942 Genroku chushingura (47 Samurai/Chushingura/The 47 Ronin/The Loyal 47 Ronin)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,French    
1944 Danjuro sandai (Three Danjuros/Three Generations of Danjuro)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1944 Miyamoto Musashi (The Swordsman)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1945 Meitô bijomaru
      (The Famous Sword/The Famous Sword Bijomaru/The Noted Sword/The Sword)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,French
1945 Hisshôka (Victory Song)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1946 Josei no shôri (The Victory of Women/Women's Victory)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None   
1946 Utamaro wo meguru gonin no onna
       (Five Women Around Utamaro/Utamaro and His Five Women)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French
1947 Joyu Sumako no koi (The Love of Sumako the Actress)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French
1948 Yoru no onnatachi (Women of the Night)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,USA,French    
1949 Waga koi wa moenu (Flame of My Love/My Love Burns/My Love Has Been Burning)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Yuki fujin ezu (A Picture of Madame Yuki/Portrait of Madame Yuki)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, Italian    
1951 Oyu-sama (Lady Oyu/Miss Oyu)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,French    
1951 Musashino fujin (Lady Musashino/The Lady of Musashino)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,Italian    
1952 Saikaku ichidai onna (Diary of Oharu/The Life of Oharu)
     Survival Status: Exist (incomplete version shorter than the original by approx. 9%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more    
1953 Ugetsu monogatari (Tales of Ugetsu/Ugetsu)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1953 Gion bayashi (A Geisha)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1954 Sanshô dayû (Legend of Bailiff Sansho/Sansho the Bailiff)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1954 Uwasa no onna (The Crucified Woman/The Woman in the Rumor/The Woman of Rumour)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK    
1954 Chikamatsu monogatari (A Story from Chikamatsu/The Crucified Lovers)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK, French    
1955 Yôkihi (Empress Yank Kwei Fei/Princess Yang Kwei-fei)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK,French    
1955 Shin heike monogatari (Legend of the Taira Clan/New Tales of the Taira Clan)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, French    
1956 Akasen chitai (Street of Shame)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:  Japanese, USA, UK, and more

Japanese Movie Director (7): Kaneto Shindo

Kaneto Shindô (1912 - 2012)

Kaneto Shindo was a rare director. He had a very long career of more than 60 years as a director and more than 70 years as a screenwriter. Furthermore, Shindo directed most of his wowks as an independent director. Shindo established his production company, "Kindai Eiga Kyokai" in 1950, which has survived until today. Although around 1960, Shindo and his company faced severe financial difficulties, the international success of "The Naked Island" saved them. Shindo directed more than 40 movies, and wrote more than 200 screenplays and nearly 200 teleplays. He was an extraordinarily prolific writer. It is probable that Shindo's independence as a director and the finance of his company were at least partially supported by Shindo's income as a writer.

Shindo's style was based on realism from his debut in 1951. However, in 1950s, Shido's realism was not so different from that of other directors. In 1960s, his style changed so that Shindo had become a unique director. Shindo had come to often describe actions of the characters in his movies as motivated by instinct rather than feelings. In particular, Shindo described "love" as a feeling derived from sexual desire. From 1960s to 2000s, sexuality was Shindo's subject matter in many of his movies.  In such movies, Shindo intended to describe "love" in a more original/primitive form than usual, I suppose. When driven by instinct, a human acts like an animal. In this sense, heroes/heroines in Shindo's films are occasionally very brutal. which might make some audience feel unpleasant or irritated. Typical examples of such "brutal" characters are found in "Onibaba". Thus, it is quite reasonable that "Onibaba" is often referred to as Shindo's masterpiece.


(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Shindo's films are preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

(Filmography)
1951 Aisai monogatari (Story of a Beloved Wife)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Nadare (Avalanche)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Genbaku no ko (Children of Hiroshima)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (check Amazon video)
1953 Shukuzu (Microcosmo)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1953 Onna no issho (A Woma's Life)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1954 Dobu (Ditch)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Okami (Wolf)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Shirogane sinju (Double Suicide in Silver)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1956 Ryûri no kishi (A Shore of Exiles)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1956 Joyu (An Actress)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1957 Umi no yarodomo (Guys of the Sea)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1958 Kanashimi wa onna dakeni (Only Women Grieve)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1959 Daigo Fukuryu-Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi (The Best Bride in the World)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1960 Hadaka no shima (The Naked Island/The Island)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1962 Ningen (Human)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Haha (Mother)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1964 Onibaba (Devil Woman/The Demon/The Witch)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1965 Akutô (A Scoundrel)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1966 Honnô (Lost Sex)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1967 Sei no kigen (Libido)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1968 Yabu no naka no kuroneko (Kuroneko/A Black Cat in a Bamboo Grove)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1968 Tsuyomushi onna to yowamushi otoko (Strong Women, Weak Men)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1969 Kagerô (Heat Wave Island)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Shokkaku (Strange Affinity)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Hadaka no jûkyû-sai (Live Today, Die Tomorrow!)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1972 Kanawa (The Iron Crown)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1972 Sanka (Hymn)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1973 Kokoro (Love Betrayed)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1974 Waga michi (My Way)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1975 Aru eiga-kantoku no shogai (Kenji Mizoguchi:The Life of a Film Director)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1977 Chikuzan hitori tabi (The Life of Chikuzan)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Kosatsu (The Strangling)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1981 Hokusai manga (Edo Porn)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1984 Chihei-sen (The Horizon)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1986 Burakkubôdo (Black Board)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1986 Rakuyôju (Tree Without Leaves)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1988 Sakura-tai Chiru (The End of Sakura Party)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1992 Bokuto kidan (The Strange Story of Oyuki)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1995 Gogo no Yuigon-jo (A Last Note)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1999 Ikitai (Will to Live)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2000 Sanmon yakusha (By Player)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2004 Fukurô (Owl)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2008 Ishiuchi jinjô kôtô shôgakkô: Hana wa chiredomo (Teacher and Three Children)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
2010 Ichimai no hagaki (Postcard)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese

 (My recommendations)
  The three most internationally-known films:
    "Hadaka no shima/The Naked Island" (1960);
    "Onibaba" (1965);
    "Kuroneko" (1968).

    "Honnô/Lost Sex" (1966) as a good example of a movie in which "love" is described as derived from sexuality. This is an adult fable of a middle-aged-couple. The word "honnô" means "instinct".

    "Chikuzan hitori tabi/The Life of Chikuzan" (1977)
     In his peak years in 1960s and 1970s, Shindo had worked with the same cinematographer, Kiyomi Kuroda. This is their last collaboration and, according to Shindo, the best work of Kuroda, who died in 1978.

Japanese Movie Director (6): Keisuke Kinoshita

Keisuke Kinoshita (1912 - 1998)

Keisuke Kinoshita's career has much in common with that of Akira Kurosawa. They made their debut in the same year (i.e., 1943), were most active in 1950s, were successful both commercially and critically in most cases, and directed movies only occasionally in and after middle 1960s. However, Kinoshita's style was regarded as contrasting or opposite to that of Kurosawa. While the latter has been often described with such words as "manly", "dynamic", and so on, Kinoshita's is generally considered to be characterized by lyricism or sentimentality. In other words, in most Kurosawa's movies, heroes (and few heroines) are ones who rages and fights against difficulties, while, in many of Kinoshita's, heroes and heroines endure hardships and sometimes fight a losing battle. Kurosawa described heroes of superior ability, while Kinoshita described ordinary people.
That is, Kinoshita stood for ordinary people without privileges, or the oppressed, and shared with them their joys and sorrows. However, Kinoshita never idealized them. Kinoshita had a keen insight for human nature, and well understood the cunning, cowardice, or cruelty of the ordinary people, which derive from their weakness. In spite of this understanding, Kinoshita loved "weak" ordinary people and cried for them. In fact, it is reported that Kinoshita himself often cried, and, also, the characters of his movies often cries. However, Kinoshita's keen insight prevented his movies from becoming a tearjerker.  

As for the visual style, Kinoshita was distinguished by his remarkable sense of composition. In Kinoshita's movies especially in 1950s, you can frequently find a composition full of scenery beauty and deliberately designed so that an atmosphere or emotion, which the director wanted, may be generated.


(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) All of Kinoshita's films are preserved, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check subtitles, as well as region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

1943 Hana saku minato (A Blooming Port)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1943 Ikite iru Magoroku (Magoroku Is Alive)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1944 Kanko no machi (Cheering Town)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1944 Rikugun (The Army)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1946 Osone-ke no ashita (Morning for the Osone Family)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1946 Waga koi seshi otome (The Girl I Love)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1947 Kekkon (Marriage)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1947 Fushichô (Phoenix)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Onna (Woman)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Shozo (The Portrait)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1948 Hakai (Apostasy)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Ojôsan kanpai (Here's to the Lady)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Yotsuya kaidan, Part I,Part II (Ghost of Yotsuya/The Yotsuya Ghost Story)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1949 Yabure-daiko (A Broken Drum)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1950 Konyaku yubiwa (An Engagement Ring)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Zemma (The Good Fairy)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Karumen kokyô ni kaeru (Carmen Comes Home)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1951 Shônenki (A Record of Youth)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Umi no hanabi (Fireworks Over the Sea)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Karumen junjô su (Carmen Falls in Love)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, German
1953 Nihon no higeki (A Japanese Tragedy)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, German
1954 Onna no sono (Woman's World)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1954 Nijushi no hitomi (Twenty-Four Eyes)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, FR
1955 Toi kumo (Distant Clouds)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Nogiku no gotoki kimi nariki (My First Love Affair/She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Yûyake-gumo (Flaming Sunset)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Taiyo to bara (The Rose on His Arm)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Yorokobi mo kanashimi mo ikutoshitsuki (The Lighthouse/Years of Joy and Sorrow)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1957 Fûzen no tomoshibi (Hanging by a Thread)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1958 Narayama bushikô (Ballad of Narayama)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, FR
1958 Kono ten no niji (The Eternal Rainbow/The Rainbow of This Sky )   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kazabana (Snow Flurry)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Sekishun-chô (The Bird of Springs Past)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Kyô mo mata kakute ari nan (Thus Another Day)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Haru no yume (Spring Dreams)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Fuefukigawa (The River Fuefuki)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1961 Eien no hito (Immortal Love)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR, German
1962 Kotoshi no koi (This Year's Love)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Futari de aruita iku shunju (The Days We Spent Together/The Years We Had Together)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Utae wakôdo-tachi (Sing, Young People!)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Shitô no densetsu (Legend of a Duel to the Death)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1964 Kôge (The Scent of Incense)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1967 Natsukashiki fue ya taiko (Eyes, the Sea and a Ball/Lovely Flute and a Drum)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Sri Lanka no ai to wakare (Love and Separation in Sri Lanka)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Shodo satsujin: Musuko yo (Impulse Murder/My Son! My Son!)   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1980 Chichi yo haha yo! (Oh Father! Oh Mother!)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1983 Kono ko wo nokoshite (Children of Nagasaki/These Children Survive Me)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, FR
1986 Shin yorokobimo kanashimimo ikutoshitsuki (Big Joys, Small Sorrows)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1988 Chichi (Dad/Father)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese

(Recommendations)
Kinoshita's films in 1950s are generally at a high level. In addition to the ones ranked in the "Top_10_Movies", "Shônenki" (1951), "Yûyake-gumo" (1956), and "Kazabana" (1959) are my recommendations.
In 1960s, Kinoshita gradually lost his sense of composition and keen insight. However, I recommend "Fuefukigawa" (1960) and "Eien no Hito" (1961). "Fuefukigawa" is a study on the stupidity of Japanese "ordinary people" who blindly obey to, and even die for, their "master".
Among the movies in 1940s, I recommend "Rikugun" (1944) produced during World War II. Its first 9 reels out of 10, "Rikugun" was a typical (and accordingly boring) war propaganda movie full of dialogues hypocritically praising the war and people's sacrifices for it. However, in the last reel, Kinoshita protests, "It's all a lie", in a visual manner, not by words. In this reel, there is only one dialogue. It is a name of a young soldier uttered by his mother.
In addition, "Yabure-daiko" (1949), as an example of Kinoshita's comedy movie, which is somewhat "Capra"-like.

Japanese Movie Director (5): Satsuo Yamamoto

Satsuo Yamamoto (1910 - 1983)

20 movies directed by Satsuo Yamamoto were ranked in Top_10_movies. Yamamoto was a close friend of Tadashi Imai, and they had a very similar career. They entered Toho in middle 1930s. They were members of Japanese Communist Party, and, therefore, were purged around 1950. Since then, Yamamoto worked as an independent movie director.
Yamamoto also selected subjects associated with social problems of the day, and their heroes or heroines were, in many cases, the poor, the oppressed, or the defeated, as Imai's.

(Director of "Battle" Movie)
However, Yamamoto is Yamamoto, and Imai is Imai. When Yamamoto treated a social problem in his movie, he, in many cases, dscribed a "battle" against the enemy who causes the problem (i.e., "battle" between the good and the bad). In contrast, Imai, in many cases, described a "struggle" for survival of the victims of the problem.
A "battle" movies causes a feeling of anger against the "enemy", and, if the "enemy" is defeated, you will feel pleasure. A "struggle" movie causes a feeling of pity for the victims (i.e., heartache), and, if the victims are relieved from the problem, you will be saved from the heartache.
Yamamoto was a skilled director of a "battle" movie, who could make, from even a political matter", a "battle" movie. Many of entertainment movies are action movies (including war movies, western movies, and so on), and most action movies are "battle" movies. Thus, Yamamoto was also a skilled director of entertainment movies, although he was a communist and made movies describing social problems from a left-wing viewpoint. Some called Yamamoto, "Red Cecil B. DeMille".

Yamamoto's "battle" movies were not, however, simple-minded propaganda movies. It is because Yamamoto did not describe the enemies as a fool (although they are occasionally caricatured too much). In Yamamoto's movies, important enemies are usually smart, lively, or vital, and appear to be characters of a "bigger-than-life" type. They are often more attractive than heroes or heroines. In this respect, Yamamoto was right and quite reasonable. If the enemy is a fool, the hero/heroine who cannot defeat the enemy easily is also a fool. A movie describing a "battle" between fools may not be enjoyable unless it is a comedy movie.

(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Most of Yamamoto's films are preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted except for titles whose complete version does not exist.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

(Filmography)
1937 Ojôsan (Young Lady)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None       
1937 Haha no kyoku (Mother's Song)
     Survival Status: Exist (Reissued version shorter than the original by approx. 40%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None       
1938 Den-en kokyogaku (Pastoral Symphony)   
     Survival Status: Exist (Reissued version shorter than the original by approx. 20%)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None           
1938 Katei nikki (Diary of a Family)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1939 Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekisyu-hen (Tange Sazen, New Series _ Episode of "One-armed")
     Survival Status: ?   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None           
1939 Uruwashiki shuppatsu (Beautiful Departure)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None       
1939 Machi (Street)    
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None           
1939 Ribon wo musubu fujin (Wife Wearing a Ribbon)    
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None           
1940 Soyokaze chichi to tomoni (With Father in Gentle Breeze) 
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None       
1940 Shimai no yakusoku (Promise of Sisters)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None   
1941 Utaeba tengoku (Sing, and You Are in Heaven)   
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1942 Tsubasa no gaika (A Triumph of Wings)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1943 Neppû (Hot Wind)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1947 Sensô to heiwa (War and Peace)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1949 Konna onna ni dare ga shita (Who Made me a Woman Like This)
     Survival Status: ?
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None   
1950 Boyoku no Machi (The City Dominated by Violence)   
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1952 Hakone fûunroku (Hakone Chronicle)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1952 Shinku chitai (Vacuum Zone)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1954 Hi no hate (Where the Sun Sinks)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1954 Taiyo no nai machi (The Street Without Sun)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1955 Ai sureba koso_segment 3 (Because I Love You/3rd Episode)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese       
1955 Ukikusa Nikki (The Traveling Players)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1956 Nadare (Avalanche)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None       
1956 Taifû sôdôki (Typhoon)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None       
1958 Akai jinbaori (The Red Jinbaori)    
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None   
1959 Niguruma no uta (A Song of a Cart)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1959 Ningen no kabe (Human Barrier)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1960 Buki naki tatakai (Battle without Weapons)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1961 Matsukawa-Jiken (Matsukawa Incident)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1962 Chibusa wo daku musume tachi (Girls Who Hold their Breasts)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1962 Shinobi no mono (Band of Assassins/The Ninja)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (Please check Amazon.video)
1963 Akai mizu (LT Red Water)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1963 Zoku shinobi no mono (The Ninja Part II)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA (Please check Amazon.video)
1964 Kizudarake no sanga (Destroyed Mountains and Rivers)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1965 Nippon dorobô monogatari (A Tale of a Japanese Thief)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1965 Shonin no isu (A Witness's Chair)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1965 Supai (Spy)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1966 Hyoten (Freezing Point )
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1966 Shiroi Kyotou (The Great White Tower)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1967 Nise keiji (The Bogus Policeman)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1967 Zatôichi rôyaburi (Zatoichi the Outlaw/Zatoichi Breaks Jail)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1968 Botan-dôrô (Peony Lantern Ghost Story)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1969 Vietnam
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1969 Tengu-tô (Blood End)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1970 Sensô to ningen: Unmei no jokyoku (Men and War)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1971 Sensô to ningen II: Ai to kanashimino sanga (Men and War, Part Two)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1973 Sensô to ningen III: Kanketsuhen (Man and War, Part III)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1974 Karei-naru ichizoku (The Family)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1975 Kinkanshoku (Annular Eclipse)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Fumô chitai (Wasted Land)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1976 Tenpo Suiko-den: Ohara Yugaku
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1978 Kotei no inai hachigatsu (August without the Emperor)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1979 Ah! Nomugi toge (Nomugi Pass/Oh! The Nomugi Pass)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1981 Asshii-tachi no machi (A Street of Assies)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1982 Ah! Nomugi toge - Shinryokuhen (Oh! The Nomugi Pass _ Episode of New Leaves)
     Survival Status: Exist   
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None   


My recommendations are as follows:
    1940 Soyokaze chichi to tomoni
   (Yamamoto started his career as an assistant of Mikio Naruse, as an example of "Naruse-like" movie);
    1952 Shinku chitai
   (a masterpiece, as the most powerful "battle" movie, here the "enemy" is war and army);
    1959 Niguruma no uta
   (another masterpiece, as the best "struggle" movie of Yamamoto);
    1964 Kizudarake no sanga
    1966 Shiroi Kyotou
   (as showpieces of a vital and lively enemy); and
    1970-73 Sensô to ningen
   (as the Yamamoto's largest-scale project).

Japanese Movie Director (4): Ozu Yasujiro

Yasujiro Ozu (1903 - 1963)

Yasujiro Ozu is one of the most internationally well-known Japanese movie directors, so well-known that rather detailed information may be acquired through IMDB, Wikipedia and so on. There is little left for me to add.

(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your player, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

1927 Zange no yaiba (Blade of Penitence)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Wakodo no yume (Dreams of Youth)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Nyobo funshitsu (Wife Lost)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Kabocha (Pumpkin)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Hikkoshi fufu (A Couple on the Move)
     Survival Status: Lost
1928 Nikutaibi (Body Beautiful)
     Survival Status: Lost
1929 Takara no yama (Treasure Mountain)
     Survival Status: Lost
1929 Wakaki hi (Days of Youth)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese,UK
1929 Wasei kenka tomodachi (Fighting Friends)
     Survival Status: Incomplete (abridged version: 1/5 of the original in length)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1929 Daigaku wa deta keredo (I Graduated But...)
     Survival Status: Incomplete (abridged version: 1/7 of the original in length)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1929 Kaishain seikatsu (The Life of an Office Worker)
     Survival Status: Lost
1930 Tokkan kozo (A Straightforward Boy) Exist
     Survival Status: Incomplete (abridged version: 1/2 of the original in length)(*1)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1930 Kekkongaku nyumon (Introduction to Marriage)
     Survival Status: Lost
1930 Hogaraka ni ayume (Walk Cheerfully)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:  Japanese, USA, UK
1930 Rakudai wa shita keredo (I Flunked But..)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:  Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1930 Sono yo no tsuma (That Night's Wife)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1930 Erogami no onryo (The Revengeful Spirit of Eros)
     Survival Status: Lost   
1930 Ashi ni sawatta koun (Lost Luck/Luck Touched My Legs)
     Survival Status: Lost
1930 Ojosan (Young Miss)
     Survival Status: Lost
1931 Shukujo to hige (The Lady and Her Favorite/The Lady and the Beard) 
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:  Japanese, UK
1931 Bijin aishu (Beauty's Sorrows)
     Survival Status: Lost
1931 Tokyo no korasu (Tokyo Chorus)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1932 Haru wa gofujin kara (Spring Comes from the Ladies)
     Survival Status: Lost           
1932 Umarete wa mita keredo (I Was Born, But...)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability:  Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1932 Seishun no yume imaizuko (Where Are the Dreams of Youth?)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1932 Mata au hi made (Until the Day We Meet Again)
     Survival Status: Lost
1933 Tokyo no onna (Woman of Tokyo)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1935 Hijosen no onna (Dragnet Girl)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1933 Dekigokoro (Passing Fancy)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1934 Haha wo kowazuya (A Mother Should Be Loved)
     Survival Status: Incomplete (originally 9 reels, with the first and last reels lost)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1934 Ukikusa monogatari (A Story of Floating Weeds)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1935 Hakoiri musume (An Innocent Maid/The Young Virgin)
     Survival Status: Lost
1935 Kikugoro no kagamijishi/Kagamijishi (Kikugoro in kagamijishi)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1935 Tokyo no yado (An Inn in Tokyo)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1936 Daigaku yoitoko (College Is a Nice Place/Tokyo Is a Nice Place)   
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1936 Hitori musuko (The Only Son)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1937 Shukujo wa nani o wasureta ka (What Did the Lady Forget? )
     Survival Status: Exist (*2)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1941 Todake no kyodai (The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family)   
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1942 Chichi ariki (There Was a Father)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK
1947 Nagaya shinshiroku (The Record of a Tenement Gentleman)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA
1948 Kaze no naka no mendori (A Hen in the Wind)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, UK
1949 Banshun (Late Spring)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1950 Munekata kyoudai (The Munekata Sisters)    
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1951 Bakushu (Early Summer)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1952 Ochazuke no aji (Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese
1953 Tokyo monogatari (Tokyo Story)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1956 Soshun (Early Spring)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1957 Tokyo boshoku (Tokyo Twilight/Twilight in Tokyo)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1958 Higanbana (Equinox Flower)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1959 Ohayo (Good Morning) (Bonjour)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1959 Ukigusa (Drifting Weeds/Floating Weeds)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1960 Akibiyori (Late Autumn)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, and more
1961 Kohayagawa-ke no aki (Autumn for the Kohayagawa Family/Early Autumn/The End of Summer)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more
1962 Sanma no aji (An Autumn Afternoon)
     Survival Status: Exist
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, and more

(Note) Many of the titles (in particular, titles of prewar era) are available only in Japanese DVD BOX-sets.

(*1) In 1988, an incomplete 9.5 mm print of an abridged version of this film was found. In 2015, another material of this film was found, which includes the lacking portion of the incomplete abridged version. These materials were merged into a nearly complete abridged version in 2016. The version currently available on Japanese DVD is the incomplete one. 
(*2) The currently available version is shorter than the original by 2 or 3 minutes. In middle 1980s, a version of this film including the portions which the currently available version lacks was broadcasted on a Japanese local TV channel. The print of the another version was probably a private collection item. I had expected, in vain, that the "complete" version would be screened, every time Ozu Retrospective was held on a large scale. The  privately-owned print might have been already deteriorated.

Japanese Movie Director (3): Tadashi Imai

Tadashi Imai (1912 - 1991)

Tadashi Imai was one of the most acclaimed directors in Japan until around the end of 1960s. 22 movies directed by Imai were ranked in Top_10_movies. However, Imai is not so highly praised today. Some would say "He was overestimated". It may be partially right, but, when you say so, you may underestimate Imai. Imai should not be overestimated, but must not be underestimated.

(Type)
Imai repeatedly said that he was deeply influenced by the directors of italian neorealism (especially, Rossellini and DeSica). He said, "one without a talent might reach the level of DeSica by making desoerate efforts, but could never reach the level of Rossellini, who was genius". This remark does not mean that Imai thought lightly of DeSica, I believe. Had someone asked Imai, "Of which type you are, DeSica-type or Rossellini-type?", Imai would have answered, "DeSica, of course". Indeed, Imai was not a director of a genius type.
Imai had been a director of realism after he met neorealism around 1950, but the nature of his realism changed in 1960s. In his films in 1950s, realism was mixed with humor and restrained sentimentality in a well-balanced manner. While watching such films, I occasionally feel as if a warm breeze passes through the screen (pardon my English). However, humor and sentimentality gradually disappeared, and Imai's realism had changed to very cold and stern one in 1960s. I prefer Imai's films in 1950s to those in 1960s, but I do not say that the former are superior to the latter. Imai made good movies in either style.

(Subjects)
Imai tended to select sublects that were associated with social problems of the day, which partially explains the reason why so many Imai's films were ranked in Top_10_movies from 1950s to 1970s. Especially in this period, among the critics and journalists who select Top_10_movies, there was a trend that movies treating with an important subject (i.e., social problem) were highly acclaimed because of the subject itself.

(Political Stand)
Imai was a member of Japanese Communist Party, but never a radical one. He was a humanitarian more than communist, as can be seen from his films, many of which show Imai's deep sympathy for the poor or the oppressed. Imai, as a communist, was purged in early 1950s, and, since then, Imai worked as an independent movie director. He worked in many independent production companies (including his own), or for major companies as a hired director.

Japanese Movie Director (2): Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa (1910 - 1998)

Akira Kurosawa is one of the most internationally well-known Japanese movie directors, so well-known that rather detailed information may be acquired through IMDB, Wikipedia and so on. There is little left for me to add.

(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title", "Survival Status" (whether or not negative or positive exists), and DVD/Blu-ray availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
(Note) Most of Kurosawa's films have been preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted except for titles whose complete version does not exist.
(Note) Some of the available DVD/Blu-ray titles are out of stock. Never fail to check region codes and format (NTSC or PAL) of the disc and your palyer, before purchasing DVD/Blu-ray discs.

1943 Sugata Sanshiro (Judo Saga/Judo Story)
     Survival status: Exist (incomplete version)(*1)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1944 Ichiban utsukushiku (Most Beautifully/The Most Beautiful)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more   
1945 Zoku Sugata Sanshiro (Judo Saga II/Judo Story II/Sanshiro Sugata Part Two)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1945 Tora no o wo fumu otokotachi
     (The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail/They Who Step on the Tail of the Tiger)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1946 Asu wo tsukuru hitobito (Those Who Make Tomorrow)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: None
1946 Waga seishun ni kuinashi (No Regrets for My Youth/No Regrets for Our Youth)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1947 Subarashiki nichiyobi (One Wonderful Sunday/Wonderful Sunday)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions
1948 Yoidore tenshi (Drunken Angel)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1949 Shizukanaru ketto (A Silent Duel/The Quiet Duel)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions   
1949 Nora inu (Stray Dog)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions
1950 Shubun - Sukyandaru (Scandal)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions
1950 Rashomon
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1951 Hakuchi (The Idiot)
     Survival status: Exist (imcomplete version) (*2)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions
1952 Ikiru (Doomed/Living/To Live)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1954 Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1955 Ikimono no kiroku (I Live in Fear/Record of a Living Being)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1957 Kumonosu jo (Throne of Blood/Cobweb Castle)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1957 Donzoko (The Lower Depths)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1958 Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (The Hidden Fortress)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1960 Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (The Bad Sleep Well)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more   
1961 Yojimbo (The Bodyguard)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1962 Tsubaki Sanjuro (Sanjuro)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1963 Tengoku to jigoku (High and Low)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1964 Akahige (Red Beard)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1970 Do desu ka den (Dodes'ka-den )
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK, French versions, and more
1975 Dersu Uzala (Derusu Uzara )
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1980 Kagemusha
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1985 Ran
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1990 Yume (Akira Kurosawa's Dreams/Dreams)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1991 Hachi-gatsu no kyoshikyoku (Rhapsody in August)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more
1993 Madadayo (Not Yet)
     DVD/Blu-ray availability: Japanese, USA, UK versions, and more

(*1) Originally 97min. Shortened to 79min when re-released (including a few minutes of description titles for omitted scenes). Recovered to 90 min recently (still including the titles).
(*2) Originally approx. 270min. The original version was not released. Shortly after Kurosawa's death, Kei Kumai (movie director) told that he confirmed that a positive of the original version is preserved, but it has not resurfaced yet.

(Trivial thoughts)
Many say that Kurosawa's style changed in 1960s. I agree. However, when and how? Many say that Kurosawa changed when he began to direct movies in color. Here, I do not agree.

Kurosawa's expressions are usually excessive, humid heat of summer in "Stray Dog", rain like a squall in "Rashomon", "Seven Samurai" and even in "Rhapsody in August" in his 80s, and too strong passion or obsession which possesses the characters. The excessiveness has been delicately balanced with reality, which has given Kurosawa movies power, fever and more truth than reality. When the balance broke, truth would be lost and the expression or performance would seem to be exaggerated or overacted.

Even in his fims in 1950s, the balance broke occasionally, but the damage was limited. In 1960s, Kurosawa's films gradually cooled down, and lost fever and truth, which was clearly found, in particular, in performance of players. Such performance appears not to be supported by a true passion, and, as a result, seems to be artificial, which gives cold impression. I feel such coldness already in "High and Low".

However, not all performances are cold in Kurosawa's films even after 1960s, and if such cold performances are found, they are not fatal. Kurosawa changed indeed, but changes are not always bad. For example, such cold performance was rather suitable for "Ran" in which Kurosawa instructed players to act in "noh"-style. "Ran" is a masterpiece, I believe, and is one of my favorite Kurosawa movies.

Japanese movie director (1): Yoji Yamada

Yôji Yamada (1931 - ) (age 85)

Yôji Yamada is the director whose films have been most frequently ranked in the Top_10_movies (27 times).

(Type) Yamada is not a director of a genius type, but a sincere and skilled artisan type. Yamada is one of the most well-known film director in Japan, mainly due to the popularity of "Tora-san" ("Otoko wa tsurai yo") series produced from 1961 to 1995 (48 titles, Yamada directed 46).

Yamada entered Shōchiku Company in 1954, had been trained in Shōchiku's studio system to become a director, and has worked in Shōchiku to this day. Thus, Yamada's style does not deviate from standards of Shōchiku (e.g., observation of moral of the middle class, avoidance of excessive violence or sexuality, faith in human goodness, and so on). In addition, Yamada's direction style seems to have conformed to the conventional rules of movie of pre-"Nouvelle Vague". As a result, Yamada has long been criticized as conservative, especially in 1970s and 1980s, mainly by leftish critics, although Yamada has supported Japan Communist Party and was a devoted union member.

(Career)
I think Yamada's career can be divided into three periods as follows:
(1) 1961 to 1969 _ from debut before "Tora-san":
(2) 1969 to 1995 _ "Tora-san" and occasional challenges: and
(3) 1995 to today _ after "Tora-san".
The filmography is to be provided for each period with short comments.

(Filmography)
The filmography provides the items "Production year", "Japanese title", "English title" (when no official English title exists, literal translation by the blog manager is shown in red), and DVD availability. Titles of the movies ranked in Top_10 are in bold font.
Yamada's films have been all preserved in a complete form, thus the item "Survival Status" is omitted).
The region code of Japanese version DVD is "2". No subtitle is available for Japanese version DVD, unless noted otherwise. European (French, German, Italian) version DVD is in Pal-format.Some of the available DVD titles are out of stock.

(Filmography 1: 1961 to 1969) From debut before "Tora-san"

 1961 Nikai no tanin (The Strangers Upstairs)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1963 Shitamachi no taiyô (Sun of Downtown)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1964 Iikagen baka  (Indeed a Stupid)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1964 Baka marudashi (Nothing but a Stupid)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1964 Baka ga tanku de yatte kuru (A Stupid on a Tank)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1965 Kiri no hata (Flag in the Mist)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1966 Un ga yokerya (With a Little Luck)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1966 Natsukashii furaibo (The Loveable Tramp)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1967 Ai no Sanka  (Song of Love)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1967 Kigeki: Ippatsu shôbu (It's a Game of All or Nothing)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1968 Fukeba tobuyona otokodaga (I'm a Mere Nobody, but...)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1968 Ippatsu daiboken (It's a Big Adventure)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available
 1969 Kigeki: ippatsu dai hisshou (It's a Big Win)
      DVD: Only Japanese version available

In this period, Yamada attracted attention of several critics as a talented director of comedy movies. In most of his comedy movies in this period, the character of the hero is vital, vulgar, violent, brutal, and sometimes even a criminal, but has not lost humanity. Yamada's sympathy for such a "good bad-guy" seems to be very strong, and, thus, I suppose Yamada is anarchistic rather than communistic.
In a good comedy movie, humor and pathos are well balanced. In Yamada's comedies, pathos is sometimes so strong that the movie ends as something like a tragedy. Such unbalanced "comedy" movies, which some may regard as failure, are, however, my favorites. Thus, from among Yamada's movies in this period, I recommend "Fukeba tobuyona otokodaga" (1968).

Japanese movie directors: Selected List

JAPANESE MOVIE DIRECTORS: Selected List

From today on, this blog is to provide information of Japanese film directors. Not all directors, of course, but the directors "recognized as important" ones or "my favorite" ones.

"My favorite" directors are ones who directed films which I want to recommend to other Japanese movie fans. I will select them on my own and according to my taste. Forgive me if your favorite director might not be selected.

The "recognized as important" ones cannot be selected according to my taste, but must be selected based on some objective standard. Thus, I select them based on Japanese Top_10_movies from 1926 to 2016 (i.e., based on the number of times their film was ranked in Top_10_movies).

The directors, whose films were ranked in Top_10_movies five times or more, are listed below (note: the number in parentheses is the number of films ranked in Top_10, and the directors whose name is displayed in red are alive and active today).

(6 directors ranked 20 times or more)
Yôji Yamada (27), 

Akira Kurosawa (25),
Tadashi Imai (22),
Yasujirô Ozu (20),
Keisuke Kinoshita (20),
Satsuo Yamamoto (20)

(17 directors ranked 10 times or more)
Kaneto Shindô (19),           Kenji Mizoguchi (18),
Kon Ichikawa (18),             Mikio Naruse (16),
Shôhei Imamura (15),         Daisuke Itô (13),
Tomu Uchida (13),             Tomotaka Tasaka (13),
Heinosuke Gosho (12),      Nagisa Ôshima (12),
Masaki Kobayashi (11),      Shirô Toyoda (11),
Kinji Fukasaku (11),           Kôzaburô Yoshimura (11),
Yasujirô Shimazu (10),      Teinosuke Kinugasa (10),
Junji Sakamoto (10), 

(34 directors ranked 5 times or more)
Hiroshi Inagaki (9),   Takeshi Kitano (9),   Masahiro Shinoda (9),
Nobuhiko Ôbayashi (9),   Sadao Yamanaka (8),   Kei Kumai (8),
Kazuo Kuroki (8),   Hayao Miyazaki (8),   Masahiro Makino (7),
Tatsumi Kumashiro (7),   Jun Ichikawa (7),   Shinji Sômai (7),
Atsuhiro Yamashita (7),   Yutaka Abe (6),   Kihachi Okamoto (6),
Yôichi Sai (6),   Hiroshi Teshigahara (6),   Yoshitarô Nomura (6),
Yôichi Higashi (6),   Yoshishige Yoshida (6),   Hirokazu Koreeda (6),
Minoru Murata (5),   Kiyohiko Ushihara (5),   Hiroshi Shimizu (5),
Minoru Shibuya (5),   Hisatora Kumagai (5),   Kirio (Kirirô) Urayama (5),
Susumu Hani (5),   Toshiya Fujita (5),   Kiyoshi Kurosawa (5),
Yoshimitsu Morita (5),   Kazuyuki Izutsu (5),   Masato Harada (5),
Hideyuki Hirayama (5)

From tomorrow, this blog will provide information of individual directors, including the filmography, DVD availability and/or survival status of the films, and so on.

Overview: Japanese movies from 2001 to today

Overview: Japanese movies from 2001 to today

Recovery (?)

In this period, the number of theaters (screens) has largely increased to approx. 3300 to 3400.

The number of attendance has varied in a range of 140 to 170 millions.

The number of distributed productions has also increased largely: in 2004, approx. 310 (including approx. 100 porn movies); from 2005 to 2010, approx. 400 to 450 (including approx. 80 to 40 porn movies); and, from 2012 on, more than 500 (including approx. 40 porn movies).

Quantity guarantees quality. I myself feel that the level of Japanese movies has risen in 21st century, when compared with that in the bottom period of 1990s.

The same directors have been found in the Top_10_movies list regularly (e.g., Hirokazu Koreeda, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Miwa Nishikawa, and more). It is because the current conditions of Japanese movie industry enables directors, who has been once recognized as talented or skilled, to get offers of directing a movie regularly.

As the data above shows, the number of productions and that of the theaters (screens) have increased at a similar rate. However, the number of attendance has not (i.e., it is probable that total profit of the industry has not increased so much). It means that the number of commercially distributed movies that could not recover the cost has largely increased in this period.

I'm afraid that some or many of such movies were produced by people who were aware that they would lose money and whose goal was not to get profit which enable them to produce the next movie, but to get a chance of screening of their works. For such people, movie production is not a profession, but an expensive hobby? If so, they are amateur movies, commercially distributed amateur movies.
What becomes of the directors of such movies? Few of them might become a professional one, and many of them might not direct his/her next film.

Quantity guarantees quality. However, what guarantees the quantity of Japanese movie today? It is something unsound, I think. Thus, I cannot be so optimistic about the future of Japanese movie industry.

Overview: Japanese movies in 1990s

Overview: Japanese movies in 1990s

The number of movie theaters in Japan, after having decreased to approx. 1730 in 1993, began to increase mainly due to the increase of multiplex movie theaters. The number of theaters (screens) had reached approx. 2500 in 2000.

The number of attendance decreased to all-time low of less than 110 millions in 1996, and then remained in a range of 130 to 150 millions.

The yearly number of productions had increased from approx. 240 to approx. 280 in this period. The number of porn movies gradually decreased.
In 2000, it is presumed that the Top_10_movies were selected out of approx. 200 titles.

In this period, about a half of the box-office top 10 movies were animation movies, many of them being based on a popular TV animation program.

In this period, most active movie production companies were TV broadcasting companies. Terrestrial/satellite television broadcasting companies were associated with nearly 40% of the Top_10_movies in 1990s.
Thus, TV broadcasting companies had come to support Japanese movie industry both in quantity and quality. This trend has continued until today.

In 2000, Shochiku closed its shooting studio and sold the site. Around 2000, all the Japanese major movie companies had become a movie distribution company that might occasionally produce a movie.

Overview: Japanese movie in 1986 to 1990

Nikkatsu withdrew from movie production business in 1988.

In this period, homeownership rate of video player/recorder increased rapidly in Japan. The fans of porn movies naturally preferred to watching adult video software (hardcore) privately at home to watching porn movies (softcore) in a movie theater, which made Nikkatsu roman porn movies less profitable.

Thus, in 1988, Nikkatsu stopped producing porn movies and changed its program to non-porn double feature one. This challenge was a disastrous failure. In the same year, Nikkatsu declared to stop movie production.

As a result, the total number of Japanese movies had decreased to 240 in 1990 from 310 in 1986.

In 1990, 2/3 of Japanese movies were cheap porn movies, which were produced under far more severe conditions than Nikkatsu roman porn movies and whose quality was, in most cases, out of the question.
Accordingly, it can be said that, around 1990, the Top_10_movies were selected from among 100 or less movies. It was quite natural that the quality of the top 10 out of 100 movies in this period is far inferior to the top 10 out of 500 around 1960.

2016 Japanese Top_10_Movies

(01) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (In This Corner of the World)
        Director: Sunao Katabuchi
        DVD Availability : Not yet

(02) Shin Gojira (Shin Godzilla/Godzilla Resurgence)
        Director: Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi
        DVD Availability : Japan_code: B01MXXRMBQ (release date is March 22nd)

(03) Fuchi ni tatsu (Harmonium)
        Director: Kôji Fukada
        DVD Availability : UK_code: B01NAI5DE0

(04) Disutorakushon beibiizu (Destruction Babies)
        Director: Tetsuya Mariko
        DVD Availability : Japan_code: B01KJ38DME

(05) Nagai iiwake (The Long Excuse)
        Director: Miwa Nishikawa
        DVD Availability : Not yet

(06) Rippu Van Winkuru no hanayome (A Bride for Rip Van Winkle)
        Director: Shunji Iwai
        DVD Availability : Japan_code: B01H19MIVG

(07) Yu wo wakasuhodo no atsui ai (Her Love Boils Bathwater)
        Director: Ryôta Nakano
        DVD Availability : Not yet

(08) Kuriipii: Itsuwari no rinjin (Creepy)
        Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
        DVD Availability : Japan_code: B01KFLVYT4, USA_code: B01N1VNGB7,
                                  UK_code: B01KZWB948

(09) Oobaa fensu (Over the Fence)
        Director: Nobuhiro Yamashita
        DVD Availability : Japan_code: B01MYXHKAY (release date is March 10th)

(10) Ikari (Rage)
        Director: Sang-il Lee
        DVD Availability : Not yet

(*) Japanese DVDs are not subtitled (unless noted otherwise), French DVDs are French-subtitled.
(*) The region code of Japanese, UK's or French DVD is "2".
(*) The format of UK's or French DVD is "PAL".