, born 15 August 1958, is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, best known for

low-budget A low-budget film or low-budget movie is a motion picture shot with little to no funding from a major film studio or private investor. Many independent films are made on low budgets, but films made on the mainstream circuit with inexperienced or ...

parody film A parody film or spoof film is a subgenre of comedy film that parodies other film genres or films as pastiches, works created by imitation of the style of many different films reassembled together. Although the subgenre is often overlooked by cri ...

s featuring

surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surrea ...

and traditional practical effects. Kawasaki began his career with mostly self-financed work, including the ''Den-Ace'' short films, featuring a parody of kyodai-style Japanese superheroes, before working on Tsuburaya Production's ''

Ultraman Tiga is a Japanese tokusatsu TV drama and the twelfth show in the Ultra Series. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, ''Ultraman Tiga'' had aired at 6:00pm and aired between September 7, 1996 to August 30, 1997, with a total of 52 episodes with five mo ...

'' (1996-1997). He had his first hit with '' The Calamari Wrestler'' (2004), about a wrestler who inexplicably becomes a

giant squid The giant squid (''Architeuthis dux'') is a species of deep-ocean dwelling squid in the family Architeuthidae. It can grow to a tremendous size, offering an example of abyssal gigantism: recent estimates put the maximum size at around Trace ...

. He followed this up with ''Executive Koala'' (2005), about an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

salaryman In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...

who may or may not have murdered his wife, and '' Kabuto-O Beetle'' (also 2005), another wrestling-themed movie, this time with a giant

stag beetle Stag beetles are a family of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, currently classified in four subfamilies.Smith, A.B.T. (2006). A review of the family-group names for the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with corrections ...

. In 2006, he released '' The World Sinks Except Japan'', a spoof of

Shinji Higuchi is a Japanese filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is one of the most successful Japanese filmmakers and the top ''tokusatsu'' film director. Higuchi became known for his work on '' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'', for which he won the Specia ...

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of ''

Japan Sinks is a disaster novel by Japanese writer Sakyo Komatsu, published in 1973. Komatsu took nine years to complete the work. It was published in two volumes, both released at the same time. The novel received the 27th Mystery Writers of Japan Award ...

'', and ''Crab Goalkeeper'' (also 2006), a film Kawasaki describes as being his ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and ...

'' (1994). Kawasaki has also directed 2008's '' Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit'', a sequel to the 1967

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

film ''

The X from Outer Space is a 1967 Japanese science fiction '' kaiju'' film that was directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu and stars Eiji Okada and Toshiya Wazaki. Guilala returned in a 2008 Shochiku sequel of sorts called '' Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit''. Plot ...

''. While the original, made during the height of Japan's "Kaiju Boom" (1966-1967), is played straight, the sequel is another parody. He has since directed two more kaiju films: ''Kaiju Mono'' (2016) and ''

Monster Seafood Wars is a 2020 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Minoru Kawasaki. The film is loosely based on an unmade film featuring a giant octopus proposed by Eiji Tsuburaya prior to production of the original 1954 ''Godzilla'' film. Plot Yuta Tanuma, a f ...

'' (2020).

Filmography

As director

* '' The Calamari Wrestler'' (2004) * '' Kabuto-O Beetle'' (2005) * ''Executive Koala'' (2005) * ''Crab Goalkeeper'' (2006) * '' The World Sinks Except Japan (2006)'' * ''The Rug Cop'' (2006) * '' Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008)'' * (2008) * ''Outer Man'' (2015) * ''

Kaiju Mono is a 2016 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Minoru Kawasaki. Plot A giant monster appears from the ground, after the eruption of Mt. Myojin. In the meantime, Japanese government asks help from the scientist Dr. Saigo and his daughter Miwa ...

'' (2016) * ''

'' (2020) *''

Planet Prince 2021 is a 2021 Japanese tokusatsu science fiction superhero film directed by Minoru Kawasaki. It is a reboot of Toei's ''Planet Prince'' franchise and the second theatrical film adaptation of the series. Premise 200 years after his spaceship crash ...

'' (2021)

References

Nipponconnection.de 2006: Minoru KawasakiFilm Threat: Fantasia marches into its final week
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawasaki, Minoru 1958 births Living people Japanese film directors