Born in 1934. His first feature length film was the documentary The Okinawa Islands (1969). His next film Yasashii Nipponjin (1971) won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award, and Third (1978) won the Ministry of Education Award for Artistic Excellence (New Talent Award), the Kinema Jumpo Director’s Award, and the Blue Ribbon Award, establishing his prominence. In the following years he gained a reputation as a director of “women’s films,” through such films as No More Easy Life (1979), starring Momoi Kaori; Shiki Natsuko (1980), starring Karasuma Setsuko; and Keshin (1986), starring Kuroki Hitomi. His River with No Bridge (1992) won best director awards from the Mainichi Film Awards, the Hochi Film Awards, and the Nikkan Sports Film Awards. Village of Dreams (1996) won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Ministry of Education Award for Artistic Excellence, and many other awards in Japan and abroad. Recent films include The Crossing (2000), My Grandpa (2003), Crying Wind (2004), and Wandering Home (2010), Somebody’s Xylophone(2016).
Filmography
1969
Okinawa Islands ("Okinawa Retto"), Higashi Productions
1971
The Gentle Japanese ("Yasashii Nipponjin), Higashi Productions
1978
A Boy called third base ("Third"), Gentosha/ATG
1979
No More easy going ("Mo hozue wa tsukanai), Angle/ATG
1992
The River with no bridge ("Hashi no nai kawa"), Galeria/Seiyu Co.
1995
The Village of dreams ("E no naka no boku no mura), Siglo Ltd.
2000
The Crossing ("Boku no ojisan"), Siglo Ltd.
2003
My Grandpa（"Watashi no grampa"） TV Asahi Corporation/Horipro Inc./Siglo Ltd./Toei Video Co., Ltd.
2004
The Crying Wind ("Fuon"), Siglo Ltd.