is a Japanese film and commercial director. He is President and CEO of Osaka-based film production firm Creators' Union and widely known for award-winning feature films such as ''Godai - The Wunderkind'' (2020), '' 125 Years Memory'' (2015), ''Blossoms Bloom'' (2014) and ''

Ask This of Rikyu is a 2013 Japanese biographical film directed by Mitsutoshi Tanaka and based on a novel by Kenichi Yamamoto. This film won the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th Montréal World Film Festival, the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osa ...

'' (2013). He has received numerous awards, including the

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

Readers' Choice Award for Best Japanese Director for his period drama ''Godai - The Wunderkind'' and the

Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

as Excellent Director for the Japanese-Turkish co-production ''125 Years Memory''.

Career

After graduating from the

Osaka University of Arts is a private arts university located in Kanan, Osaka, Kanan, Minamikawachi District, Osaka, Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The university was founded in 1945 as , changing its name to in 1957, and then to in 1964. The univers ...

Department of Visual Concept Planning in 1981, Tanaka worked with Dentsu Eigasha (now Dentsu Tec) and TV Man Union."田中光敏"
''researchmap''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. "会員名鑑田中光敏"
''

Directors Guild of Japan The is a trade union created to represent the interests of film directors in the film industry in Japan. It was founded in 1936, with Minoru Murata serving as the first president, and has continued to this day apart from a period between 1943 and ...

''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. He established Osaka-based film production firm Creators' Union in 1984 and has served as the company's President and CEO since that time."株式会社クリエイターズユニオン会社情報"
''Creators' Union''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. He was appointed Dean of the Osaka University of Arts Department of Visual Concept Planning in 2022 where he has been teaching as a professor since 2014.
''Creators' Union''. Retrieved on 13 December 2022. "映像学科"
''

''. Retrieved on 13 December 2022. He has been a visiting fellow with the Wakayama University Center for Tourism Research since 2017."CTR Visiting Fellows"
''

Wakayama University , or , is a national university located in Wakayama, Japan. It was founded in 1949 and is organized in four faculties. Organization The university is divided into the following four faculties. *Faculty of Education & Graduate School of Educatio ...

''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. As a commercial director he has been working in various areas such as promotional videos, TV commercials and music videos and has received many awards, including the All Japan Radio & Television Commercial Confederation Award, the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association Award and the Japan Industrial Film Competition Prize. His works include tourism promotion videos for Awara and Mihama municipalities, TV commercials for

Honda Motor is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

and

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

and music videos for Yi-Fang Wu and

The Pipettes The Pipettes were a British indie pop girl group formed in 2003 in Brighton by Robert "Monster Bobby" Barry. The group has released two albums, '' We Are The Pipettes'', and '' Earth vs. The Pipettes'' and released numerous singles to suppor ...

. He has directed several TV dramas, most notably the 1993 Japanese-Chinese co-production ''The Land of the Three Kingdoms'' for

TV Osaka is a television station affiliated with the TX Network in Osaka, Japan. The mascot character is "Takoru-kun" (たこるくん). History Television Osaka, Inc. was founded in 1981 as part of the reorganization of Tokyo Channel 12 Ltd (now TV T ...

. His first theatrical feature ''Kewaishi'' was released in 2001. The period drama was an official selection at the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nex ...

and won the Award for Best Screenplay at the

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

."14th Tokyo International Film Festival"
''

''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. He became widely known for award-winning works such as ''Godai - The Wunderkind'' (2020), '' 125 Years Memory'' (2015), ''Blossoms Bloom'' (2014), ''

'' (2013) and ''Castle under Fiery Skies'' (2009). He has received numerous awards, including the 94th

Readers' Choice Award for Best Japanese Director for his film ''Godai - The Wunderkind'', the 39th Japan Academy Film Prize as Excellent Director for ''125 Years Memory'', the Best Director Award at the 1st Asia International Film Festival in Taipei for ''Blossoms Bloom'' and the Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival for ''Ask This of Rikyu''.磯部正和
"三浦春馬さん「天外者」キネ旬読者選出日本映画１位に田中光敏監督「春馬くんの思い届いた」"
''CinemaToday'', 4 February 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. "２０２０年第９４回キネマ旬報ベスト・テン第一位作品＆個人賞発表"
''

'', 4 February 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. Wanibuchi, Tatsuko
"日本アカデミー賞監督賞受賞"
''Film Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka'', 19 March 2016. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. "第３９回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品"
''Japan Academy Film Prize Association''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. Tanaka, Mitsutoshi
"第２回アジア国際映画祭ｉｎ台湾"
''Film Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka'', 6 November 2017. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. "映画「サクラサク」台湾で一斉上映"
''Fukui Shimbun'', 1 August 2019. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. "過去の受賞者"
''Osaka Cinema Festival''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. Tanaka was appointed as Tourism Ambassador of his hometown

Urakawa, Hokkaido is a town located in Hidaka Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of September 2016, the town has an estimated population of 12,800 and a density of 18 persons per km2. The total area is 694.24 km2. Climate Urakawa has a humid continental ...

in 2010, Honorary Director of the Kushimoto Turkish Museum in 2016 and Tourism Ambassador of

Awara, Fukui is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 27,107 in 10,140 households and the population density of 232 persons per km². The total area of the city was . It is one of the few Hiragana cities in Jap ...

in 2017."田中光敏監督の貢献に感謝トルコ記念館名誉館長委嘱"
''The Kumano Shimbun'', 17 May 2016. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
'' Awara City'', 10 February 2017. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. In 2016 he received the Governor's Award of

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture ...

and the Mayor's Award of Kushimoto Municipality."「海難１８９０」田中監督らに２８年度知事表彰"
''Wakayama Shimpo'', 1 June 2016. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.

Feature films and film awards

2001: Kewaishi (化粧師) Period drama based on a manga by

Shotaro Ishinomori was a Japanese manga artist who became an influential figure in manga, anime, and , creating several immensely popular long-running series such as '' Cyborg 009,'' the ''Super Sentai'' series (later adapted into the ''Power Rangers'' series), ...

*Official selection at the 5th Shanghai International Film Festival *Best Screenplay Award at the 14th

2003: The Boat to Heaven (精霊流し, ''Shoro Nagashi'') Adaptation of

Masashi Sada is a Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, novelist, actor, and a film producer. Sada formed the folk duo Grape with Masami Yoshida in 1972, and they made their debut as recording artists a year afterward. The pair rose to fame owing to the hi ...

's autobiographical novel of the same name *21st Japanese Cinema Reconstruction and Promotion Award *46th Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor"作品のご紹介"
''Film Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. 2009: Castle under Fiery Skies (火天の城, ''Katen no Shiro'') Period drama based on Kenichi Yamamoto's novel of the same name * 33rd Japan Academy Film Prize for Excellent Art Direction"第３３回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品"
''Japan Academy Film Prize Association''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. 2013:

(利休にたずねよ, ''Rikyu ni Tazuneyo'') Period drama based on Kenichi Yamamoto's award-winning novel of the same name *Best Director Award at the 2014 Osaka Cinema Festival *Best Artistic Contribution Award at the 37th

Montréal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Internat ...

, ''

''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. * 37th Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Art Direction, Excellent Film, Excellent Leading Actor, Excellent Supporting Actress, Excellent Music, Excellent Cinematography, Excellent Editing, Excellent Sound Recording, Excellent Lighting"第３７回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品"
''Japan Academy Film Prize Association''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. *30th Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Award
''Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Foundation''. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. 2014: Blossoms Bloom (サクラサク, ''Sakura Saku'') Family drama based on

's short story of the same name *Official selection at the 38th Montréal World Film Festival *Awards for Best Director, Best Actress, Best Music at the 1st Asia International Film Festival in Taipei 2015: 125 Years Memory (海難１８９０, ''Kainan 1890'') A call for world peace based on two historical events *Canadian premiere screening at the 2016 Toronto Japanese Film FestivalAkalın, Can
"A Tale of Two Countries Bound by Tragedy and Heroism"
''Nikkei Voice'', 13 June 2016. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. * 39th Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Art Direction, Best Sound Recording, Excellent Film, Excellent Director, Excellent Leading Actor, Excellent Screenplay, Excellent Music, Excellent Cinematography, Excellent Editing, Excellent Lighting"第３９回日本アカデミー賞「海難１８９０」が１０部門で優秀賞受賞"
''NPO Ertuğrul Saves the World'', 21 January 2016. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. *VFX-JAPAN Award 2017 for Excellent Motion Picture"ＶＦＸ－ＪＡＰＡＮアワード２０１７優秀賞決定"
''VFX-Japan'', 26 December 2016. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
''CGWorld'', 22 March 2017. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. 2020: Godai - The Wunderkind (天外者, ''Tengaramon'') Biographical story of Tomoatsu Godai, the influential entrepreneur of the

Meiji era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

(starring

Haruma Miura was a Japanese actor and singer. He made his acting debut in the television drama ''Agri'' (1997) and rose to popularity after starring in the film '' Koizora'' (2007), winning Newcomer of the Year at the 31st Japan Academy Prize. In the foll ...

as Godai) *Official selection at the 24th

Tanaka, Mitsutoshi
"「天外者」そして上海へ"
''Film Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka'', 18 May 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021. *94th

Readers' Choice Award for Best Japanese Film, Best Japanese Director *13th

Tokyo Shimbun ''The Tokyo Shimbun'' (東京新聞, ''Tōkyō Shinbun'', literally ''Tokyo Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published by The Chunichi Shimbun Company. The group publishes newspapers under the brand name of The Tokyo Shimbun in the Tokyo Met ...

Film Award"「三浦春馬さんの代わりに感謝」東京新聞映画賞に「天外者」三浦翔平さんがあいさつ"
''

'', 16 March 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{IMDb name , nm1098764 , Mitsutoshi Tanaka Living people Japanese film directors 1958 births