was a Korean film director who worked in Japan. He was the president of the

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 an ...

Life and career

Sai was born on 6 July 1949 in

Nagano Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture ...

, Japan. His mother was Japanese and his father was

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

. Sai won the Best Screenplay award at the 11th

Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first festival, held on February 3, 1980, was a small affair by fans and film critics. In 1994, ...

for ''

A Sign Days is a 1989 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Sai. Awards 11th Yokohama Film Festival The is an annual awards ceremony held in Yokohama, Japan. Ten films are chosen as the best of the year and various awards are given to personnel. The first ...

''. In 1999, he shot ''The Pig's Retribution'', a film set in the lavish natural scenery of

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, inspired by the 1996

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

-winning eponymous novel by

Eiki Matayoshi is a contemporary Japanese writer. His novels are always set in the Okinawa archipelago, and he is considered one of the most important contemporary novelists from Okinawa. One of his earliest novels, ''Jōji ga shasatsu shita inoshishi'' (ジ� ...

. The film won the Don Quixote prize at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

in 1999. Sai directed ''

Blood and Bones is a Japanese film, directed by Yōichi Sai and starring Takeshi Kitano. It is based on the semi-autobiographical novel ''Chi to Hone'' by Zainichi Korean author Yan Sogiru (Yang Seok-il). The film opened in Japan on November 6, 2004. It was ...

'', a film starring

Takeshi Kitano , also known as in Japan, is a Japanese comedian, actor, and filmmaker. While he is known primarily as a comedian and TV host in his native Japan, he is better known abroad for his work as a filmmaker and actor as well as TV host. During hi ...

. He has also directed films such as ''Marks'', '' Doing Time'', ''

Quill A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, event ...

'', '' Soo'' and '' Kamui Gaiden''. As an actor, Sai appeared in

Nagisa Oshima is a Japanese name, Japanese given name used by either sex and is occasionally used as a surname. Written forms Nagisa can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *渚, "beach, strand" *汀, "water's edge/shore" *凪砂, "lu ...

's 1999 film ''

Taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'' and

Masahiko Nagasawa Masahiko Nagasawa (長澤雅彦 ''Nagasawa Masahiko'', born 28 February 1965 in Akita, Japan) is a Japanese film director. He was given a Best New Director award for his film ''Koko ni irukoto'' at the 2002 Yokohama Film Festival The is an ...

's 2003 film ''The Thirteen Steps''. Sai's 2004 film ''Blood and Bones'' won four

Japanese Academy Awards 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- ...

, including two for Sai himself, for Best Director and Best Screenplay. He had previously received two nominations in the same categories for '' All Under the Moon''. Sai died of bladder cancer at his home in Tokyo, on 27 November 2022, at the age of 73.

Filmography

As director

Film

* ''Mosquito on the 10th Floor'' (1983) * ''Sex Crime'' (1983) * ''Someone Will Be Killed'' (1984) * ''Let Him Rest in Peace'' (1985) * ''Kuroi Doresu no Onna'' (1987) * ''

Hana no Asuka-gumi! is a Japanese manga by Satosumi Takaguchi serialized in '' Monthly Asuka''. It was adapted into a television drama series, two live action films, two OVAs and two drama CDs. It is one of the series with delinquent girls (''sukeb ...

'' (1988) * ''

'' (1989) * ''Burning Dog'' (1991) * '' All Under the Moon'' (1993) * ''Marks'' (1995) * ''Heisei Musekinin Ikka: Tokyo Deluxe'' (1995) * ''Dog Race'' (1998) * ''The Pig's Retribution'' (1999) * '' Doing Time'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2004) * '' Soo'' (2007) * '' Kamui Gaiden'' (2009)

TV

* '' Pro Hunter'' (1981) (ep.15, 16 and 25)

As actor

* ''

'' (1999) * ''The Thirteen Steps'' (2003)

References

External links

* * 1949 births 2022 deaths Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year winners Korean film directors Korean screenwriters Korean people of Japanese descent People from Nagano Prefecture Deaths from cancer in Korea Deaths from bladder cancer Zainichi Korean filmmakers {{japan-film-bio-stub