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 ...

. He is well known for directing the ''

Zatoichi is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay ''Zatoichi Monogatari'', part of Shimozawa's '' ...

'' and ''

Nemuri Kyōshirō is a series of jidaigeki novels written by Renzaburō Shibata. The stories were originally serialized beginning in May 1956 in the ''Shūkan Shinchō''. The stories take place during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shogunate and the rules of ...

'' film series.

Biography

Tanaka graduated from

Kwansei Gakuin University , colloquially known as , is a private, non-denominational Christian coeducational university in Japan. The university offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees to around 25,000 students in almost 40 different disciplines across 11 underg ...

. In 1948, he joined the Daiei studio and started working as an assistant director under

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...

and

Kazuo Mori , also known by his street name , was a Japanese film director who primarily worked in popular genres like the jidaigeki. Mori directed over 100 films in his life. Career Born in Ehime Prefecture, Mori graduated from Kyoto University before join ...

etc. In 1958, Tanaka was promoted to director and debuted with ''Bakeneko Goyōda''. Tanaka received the Japan Directors Guild Special award for his '' Akumyō series films''. In 1971, he was released from his contract with Daiei and become a freelance director when the studio shut down film production. As a freelance director he directed a lot of

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

television dramas such as ''

Hissatsu series The is a long-running prime-time popular television Jidaigeki series about assassins in Japan, produced by ABC Television and Shochiku. '' Hissatsu Shikakenin'' is based on Shōtarō Ikenami's novel ''Shikakenin Fujieda Baian'', but its sequels ...

''. His final work was in the 2007 short film ''Shonen Kawachiondotori Monogatari''. In December 2007, he died of

Intracranial hemorrhage Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) refers to any form of Hemorrhage, bleeding Internal bleeding, within the Human skull, skull. It can result from trauma, vascular abnormalities, hypertension, or other medical conditions. ICH is broadly categorized ...

Selected filmography

Television

* ''

Ronin of the Wilderness is a Japanese television jidaigeki or period drama that was broadcast between 1972 and 1974. It was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's ''Sanjuro'' and the Western genre. The lead star is Toshiro Mifune. The complete DVD box was released in 2007. Plot ...

'' (1972-74) * ''

''(1972) (ep.2,4,13,14,19 and 20) * '' Hissatsu Shiokinin'' (1973) (ep.20) * '' Tasukenin Hashiru'' (1973-74) (ep.18,19,23,24,28,31 and 34) * '' Kurayami Shitomenin'' (1974) (ep.5,6,15 and 20) * ''

Kenkaku Shōbai is a series of popular historical novels written by Shōtarō Ikenami and one of the representative novels of Ikenami along with ''Onihei Hankachō'' and ''Shikakenin Fujieda Baian''. The stories were originally serialized in the monthly magazi ...

'' (ep.2,4,12 and 13) *'' Amigasa Jūbei'' (1974-75) (ep.1,2,16,17 and 18) * ''

Nagasaki Hangachōu , officially , is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Nagasaki became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th t ...

'' (1975) (ep.9,10 and 16) * ''

Hissatsu Shiokiya Kagyō is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was broadcast in 1975–1976. It is the 6th in the ''Hissatsu'' series. Kenji Misumi was hospitalized while directing episode 13 where he later died. Plot Nakamura Mondo retired from pr ...

'' (1975) (ep.24) * ''

'' (1974-78) Season One Episode 6,7,and 10 (1974) S2 Episode 9, 12 (1976) S4 Episode 20 (1979) * '' Akō Rōshi'' (1979) (ep.3,4,9,10 and 11) * ''

Hissatsu Shigotonin is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama, that was broadcast from 1979 to 1981. It is the 15th in the ''Hissatsu'' series. The drama was set to end after episode 26 with Nakamura Mondo's death, but won great popularity so the broa ...

'' (1979-81) (ep.19,21,28, 42,43,47,48,52,53,58,59,66,69,70,75,77 and 80) * ''

Shin Hissatsu Shigotonin is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was broadcast in 1981 to 1982. It is the 17th in the ''Hissatsu'' series. The drama is a sequel to '' Hissatsu Shigotonin''. Cast * Makoto Fujita as Mondo Nakamura * Kunihiko Mitamura ...

'' (1981-82) (ep.3,9,10,14,15,20,29,30,35,37,43,47,52 and 53) * '' Hissatsu Shigotonin III'' (1982-83) (ep.1,3,6,12,16,24,25 and 32) * '' Hissatsu Watashinin'' (1983) (ep.1,2 and 6) * '' Hissatsu Shigotonin IV'' (1983-84) (ep.1,2,4,8,9,15,21,29,32 and 38) * ''

Hissatsu Shikirinin is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was broadcast in 1984. It is the 22nd in the Hissatsu series, ''Hissatsu'' series. Cast * Machiko Kyō as Okuni * Akira Onodera as Shinkichi * Midori Nishizaki * Gannosuke Ashiya as Ka ...

'' (1984) (ep.13 and 15) * ''

Hissatsu Shigotonin V is a Japanese television ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was broadcast in 1985 to 1986. It is the 23rd in the ''Hissatsu'' series. Isuzu Yamada made her final appearance in the ''Hissatsu'' series. Plot Kumihimoya no Ryu is a maker of cords ...

'' (1985) (ep.3,6 and 11) *'' Hissatsu Shigotonin V Gekitouhen'' (ep.5) * '' Hissatsu Shigotonin V Senpuhen'' (1986-87) (ep. 3,6 and 9) * ''

'' (1989) (TV Movie) * ''

Abare Hasshū Goyō Tabi was a network prime-time television ''jidaigeki'' series in Japan from 1991 to 1994. It starred Teruhiko Saigō. The series began in 1991 in the 9:00 p.m. time slot on the TV Tokyo network. Saigō created the role of Tōdō Heihachirō. The c ...

'' (1990-91) (Season1, ep.1,3 and 6), (Season2, ep.10,12,22 and 23)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Tokuzō 1920 births 2007 deaths People from Osaka Japanese film directors Samurai film directors Yakuza film directors