is a Japanese filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is one of the most successful Japanese filmmakers and the top ''

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...

'' film director. Higuchi became known for his work on '' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'', for which he won the Special Technology Award at the 19th Japan Academy Film Prize. In 2005, he made his feature directorial debut on '' Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean''. His second feature film, ''

Sinking of Japan is a 2006 Japanese ''tokusatsu'' disaster film directed by Shinji Higuchi. It is an adaptation of the novel ''Japan Sinks'' and a remake of its earlier film adaptation '' Tidal Wave'', both released in the year 1973. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, ...

'' (2006), was second place at the

Bunshun Kiichigo Awards The Bunshun Kiichigo Awards (文春きいちご賞 - ''Bunshun Kiichigo Shou''), or ''Bunshun Raspberry Awards'', is an award presented in recognition of the worst in film. It was founded in 2005 by the Japanese publication company Bungeishunj� ...

. His 2015 live-action two-part film adaptation of

Hajime Isayama is a Japanese manga artist. His first series, ''Attack on Titan'' (2009–2021), became one of the best-selling manga series of all time with 110 million copies in circulation as of September 2022. Biography Isayama was born in Ōyama, Ōita ...

's manga series, ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to as ...

'', won the Excellence in Theatrical Live Action Film award at the 2016 VFX-JAPAN Awards. In 2017, Higuchi and

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

won the Director of the Year award at the 40th Japan Academy Film Prize, for their work on the 2016 ''kaiju'' film, ''

Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and visual effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the 31st film in the '' ...

.'' His 2022 film, ''

Shin Ultraman is a 2022 Japanese superhero ''kaiju'' film directed by Shinji Higuchi and written, co-produced, and co-edited by Hideaki Anno. A reimagining of ''Ultraman'', the film is a co-production between Toho Studios and Cine Bazar, and presented by ...

'', was a major success in Japan, and has received generally positive reviews from critics internationally.

Biography

Early life

Higuchi was born on September 22, 1965, in

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan. When Higuchi was in

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

, his aunt took him on a tour of

Toho Studios is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...

, where she worked on commercials. Upon watching Toho's special effects crew at work, Higuchi became inspired and frequently visited the filming sets.

Early career

Higuchi entered the Japanese film industry in 1984, working as an assistant modeler on ''

The Return of Godzilla is a 1984 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Koji Hashimoto, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. The film features the fictional monster character Godzilla. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is th ...

''. Two years later, he directed the special effects for Daicon's ''

'' fan film '' Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū''. As a key Daicon/Gainax member, he played an important part in the creation of one of the most popular anime series, ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion ...

'' (1995). He was a writer and art director/storyboarder for the series. He was also the namesake for the show's protagonist, Shinji Ikari. He later voice-acted a musician modeled after himself in two episodes of '' Karekano''. Higuchi made his directorial debut in 1992 with the

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/ terrorist attacks or global catastrophes s ...

''The Day the Sun Fissured: The Great Tokyo Earthquake'' which he produced for

Tokyo Fire Department The Tokyo Fire Department (TFD) (Japanese: 東京消防庁, Tokyo Shōbōchō) is a fire department headquartered in Ōtemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Higuchi, Shinji 1965 births Living people Japanese film directors Japanese animated film directors Science fiction film directors Gainax Japanese animators Tokusatsu Special effects people Japanese storyboard artists