was a Japanese

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

from

Saitama Prefecture is a Landlocked country, landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (January 1, 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 Square kilometre, km2 ( ...

. His representative works included '' Wataridori series'' starring

Akira Kobayashi is a Japanese actor and singer. His nickname is . Biography Kobayashi attended Meiji University but left before graduating. He became an actor at Nikkatsu and made his film debut with "Ueru Tamashii" directed by Yuzo Kawashima in 1956. He s ...

, ''Farewell to Southern Tosa''(1959) and ''Gazing at Love and Death''(1964). Saitō often worked with

Joe Shishido was a Japanese actor recognizable for his intense, eccentric yakuza film roles. He appeared in some 300 films but is best known in the West for his performance in the cult film ''Branded to Kill'' (1967). In Japan, he is also known by the nickna ...

and Sayuri Yoshinaga. After graduating

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

, he joined

Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...

Film and started working as an assistant director under

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese filmmaker. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in the 1930s. The most pr ...

and

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director with a short film in 1934, but, after being denied a promotion by head of the studio Shirō Kido, continued working ...

etc. In 1954, he transferred to

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

Film and made his director debut in the 1956 film ''Anesan no Oyomeiri''.

Selected filmography

Film

* '' Early Summer'' (1951) (Assistant director) * ''

The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice is a 1952 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. The screenplay concerns a wealthy middle-aged couple (played by Shin Saburi and Michiyo Kogure) who have marital difficulties, and their niece who uses the couple's troubles as her excuse for ...

'' (1952) (Assistant director) * ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama, about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international reco ...

'' (1953) (Assistant director) * '' Early Spring'' (1956) (Assistant director) * ''They Came of Age'' (1958) * ''Waterfront Outlaws'' (1959) * ''Farewell to Southern Tosa'' (1959) * ''

The Wandering Guitarist is a 1959 Japanese action and yakuza film directed by Buichi Saitō. It stars Akira Kobayashi. The Wandering Guitarist is the first film of Akira Kobayashi and Buichi Saitō's ''Wataridori series''. The film made Akira Kobayashi a star and he ga ...

'' (1959) * ''The Blue Beast'' (1960) * ''Naked Youth -A Story of Cruelty'' (1960) * ''Sword and Devotion'' (1960) * ''Joe of Aces-Gambling for a Living aka Rokudenashi Kagyo'' (1961) * ''Joe of Aces-Give and Take'7 (1961) * ''Tekaba Yaburi'' (1964) * '' Gazing at Love and Death'' (1964) * ''The Song of Love'' (1965) * ''Honemade Aishite'' (1967) * ''Hippie Love'' (1967) * ''The Sweet Interns'' (1968) * ''Akuoyabun tai Daitai'' (1971) * ''Kantō Kyōdai Jingi'' (1971) * ''The Valiant Red Peony Pt.8'' (1972) * ''Sannin no Onna Yoru no Chō aka Night Butterflies'' (1972) * '' Yakuza Wolf 2: Extend My Condolences'' (1972) * '' Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril'' (1972) * '' Ruten no umi'' (1990)

Television

* '' Lone Wolf and Cub series'' * ''

Oshizamurai Kiichihōgan also known as The Mute Samurai is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama, that was broadcast in 1973–1974. The lead star is Tomisaburo Wakayama, his younger brother Shintaro Katsu also appeared and directed episode 1. It is based o ...

'' (1973-74) * '' Unmeitōge'' (1974) * '' Amigasa Jūbei'' (1975)

References

External links

*
Buichi Saitō Films at Kinenote
Japanese film directors 1925 births 2011 deaths People from Chichibu, Saitama Yakuza film directors Waseda University alumni {{Japan-bio-stub