is a Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

(born 8 August, 1934) known for his work in

yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of ''bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Hood-li ...

s and

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—''Portrait of Hel ...

Career

Born in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

, he attended

Hibiya High School is a Japanese high school founded in 1878 as the . It was well known in the 1950s and 1960s for the large proportion of graduates who gained admission to the prestigious University of Tokyo; though it suffered a decline in the 1970s, as of 2005 ...

and then the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

before joining the Tōei studio in 1959. Working at Tōei's Kyoto studio, he served as an assistant director under such directors as

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). Career Masa ...

Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for Social realism, social realist filmmaking informed by a Left-wing politics, left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life ...

, and

Tomotaka Tasaka was a Japanese film director. Career Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 193 ...

. He made his directorial debut in 1964

Kunoichi ninpō is a 1964 Japanese erotic film directed by Sadao Nakajima in his directorial debut. It is based on Futaro Yamada's novel of the same title. Plot In the Siege of Osaka, five female ninjas who pregnanted with Toyotomi Hideyori's child escape fro ...

and won the

Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award The is given annually by the Directors Guild of Japan to a new director of a film released that year who is considered the most "suitable" for the award. The winner is selected by a committee formed of DGJ members. All formats—feature film, docum ...

in 1966 for '' Yakuza (893) gurentai'', the first gendaigeki shot at Tōei's Kyoto studio. He directed such popular film series as ''Kogarashi Monjirō'' and ''Nihon no don'', and also worked on television. His 1985 film '' Seburi monogatari'' was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival. From 1987 to 2008 he served as a professor of 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 ...

. He has directed over 60 films in his career.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (くノ一忍法) (1964) * ''

Kunoichi Keshō also known as ''The Spying Sorceress''is a 1964 Japanese comedy ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Sadao Nakajima. Nakajima himself did the casting and Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Kō Nishimura and Masumi Harukawa were cast from Shohei Imamura's film Unholy ...

'' (くノ一化粧) (1964) * '' Yakuza (893) gurentai'' (893愚連隊) (1966) * ''Memoir of Japanese Assassinations'' (日本暗殺秘録, Nihon ansatsu hiroku) (1969) * ''

Kogarashi Monjirō is the main character and title of a Japanese novel by Saho Sasazawa, probably best known in the televised version broadcast during prime-time in 1972–1973, directed by Kon Ichikawa. In 1993, the drama was made into a film, titled '' Kaettekita ...

'' (1972) * '' Aesthetics of a Bullet'' (鉄砲玉の美学, Teppōdama no bigaku) (1973) * ''Girl Boss: Escape From Reform School'' (女番長感化院脱走, Sukeban: Kankain Dassô) (1973) * ''Tokyo-Seoul-Bangkok Drug Triangle'' (1973) * ''Bohachi Bushido Saburai'' (1974) -Script * ''Crazed Beast'' (狂った野獣, Kurutta yajû) (1976) * ''Yakuza sensō: Nihon no Don'' (やくざ戦争日本の首領) (1977) * ''

Sanada Yukimura no Bōryaku is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Sadao Nakajima. The film deals Sanada Yukimura and Siege of Osaka. Cast *Hiroki Matsukata as Sanada Yukimura *Chiezō Kataoka as Sanada Masayuki *Tatsuo Umemiya as Sanada Nobuyuki *Teruhiko Aoi as Sanada Ten B ...

'' (1979) * ''Conquest'' (1982) * ''

Theater of Life is a 1983 film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, Sadao Nakajima and Junya Satō. Cast *Keiko Matsuzaka *Toshiyuki Nagashima * Kie Nakai *Hiroki Matsukata *Aiko Morishita *Hideo Murota *Morio Kazama *Kō Nishimura * Toshiro Mifune *Kantarō Suga *Yuri ...

'' (人生劇場, Jinsei gekijō) (1983) co-directed with

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

and Jun'ya Satō * ''

Appassionata Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (colloquially known as the ''Appassionata'', meaning "passionate" in Italian) is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the ''Waldstein'', Op. 53 ...

'' (序の舞, Jo no mai) (1984) * '' Seburi monogatari'' (1985) * ''

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

'' (武田信玄) (1988) (TV Movie) * ''

Shogun's Shadow is a 1989 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. Plot Takechiyo, the eldest son of shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu, is threatened by attacks from assassins. The attempts on his life are the result of a conflict for the succession for the shogunate. U ...

'' (1989) (Screenplay) * '' Nemuri Kyoshiro: The Man with No Tomorrow'' (1996) (TV Movie) * ''Chambara: The Art of Japanese Swordplay'' (2015) * ''Love's Twisting Path'' (2019)

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Sadao 1934 births Living people Japanese film directors Japanese screenwriters Samurai film directors Yakuza film directors People from Chiba Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni