was a Japanese filmmaker. He began his career during the era of
silent films
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
, 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 prominent themes of Ozu's work are family and marriage, and especially the relationships between generations. His most widely beloved films include ''
Late Spring'' (1949), ''
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) and ''
An Autumn Afternoon
is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Shochiku Films. It stars Ozu regular Chishū Ryū as the patriarch of the Hirayama family who eventually realises that he has a duty to arrange a marriage for his daughter Michiko (Shim ...
'' (1962).
Widely regarded as one of the world's greatest and most influential filmmakers, Ozu's work has continued to receive acclaim since his death. In the 2012 ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' poll, Ozu's ''Tokyo Story'' was voted the third-greatest film of all time by critics world-wide. In the same poll, ''Tokyo Story'' was voted the greatest film of all time by 358 directors and film-makers world-wide.
Biography
Early life
Ozu was born in the
Fukagawa district of
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, the second son of merchant Toranosuke Ozu and his wife Asae.
His family was a branch of the Ozu Yoemon merchant family from
Ise, and Toranosuke was the 5th generation manager of the family's fertilizer business in
Nihonbashi
is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, which sprung up around the bridge of the same name that has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...
.
Asae came from the Nakajō merchant family.
Ozu had five brothers and sisters. When he was three, he developed
meningitis
Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasion ...
, and was in a coma for a couple of days. Asae devoted herself to nursing him, and Ozu made a recovery.
He attended Meiji nursery school and primary school.
In March 1913, at the age of nine, he and his siblings were sent by his father to live in his father's home town of
Matsusaka in
Mie Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...
, where he remained until 1924.
In March 1916, at the age of 12, he entered what is now Ujiyamada High School.
[宇治山田高等学校] He was a boarder at the school and did judo.
He frequently skipped classes to watch films such as ''
Quo Vadis'' or ''
The Last Days of Pompeii
''The Last Days of Pompeii'' is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. The novel was inspired by the painting '' The Last Day of Pompeii'' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in ...
''. In 1917, he saw the film ''
Civilization
A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...
'' and decided that he wanted to be a film director.
In 1920, at the age of 17, he was thrown out of the dormitory after being accused of writing a love letter to a good-looking boy in a lower class, and had to commute to school by train.
In March 1921, Ozu graduated from the high school. He attempted the exam for entrance into what is now
Kobe University's economics department,
[神戸高商, Kobe Kosho] but failed. In 1922, he took the exam for a teacher training college,
[三重県立師範学校, Mie-ken ritsu shihan gakko] but failed it too. On 31 March 1922, he began working as a substitute teacher at a school in
Mie prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture an ...
. He is said to have traveled the long journey from the school in the mountains to watch films on the weekend. In December 1922, his family, with the exception of Ozu and his sister, moved back to Tokyo to live with his father. In March 1923, when his sister graduated, he also returned to live in Tokyo.
Entering the film business

With his uncle acting as intermediary, Ozu was hired by the
Shochiku Film Company, as an assistant in the cinematography department, on 1 August 1923, against the wishes of his father.
His family home was destroyed in
the earthquake of 1923, but no members of his family were injured.
On 12 December 1924, Ozu started a year of military service.
[Ozu's military service was of a special type called ''ichinen shiganhei'' (一年志願兵) where the usual two-year term of conscription was shortened to one year on condition that the conscriptee paid for himself.] He finished his military service on 30 November 1925, leaving as a corporal.
In 1926, he became a third
assistant director
The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...
at Shochiku.
In 1927, he was involved in a fracas where he punched another employee for jumping a queue at the studio cafeteria, and when called to the studio director's office, used it as an opportunity to present a film script he had written.
In September 1927, he was promoted to director in the ''
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 ...
'' (period film) department, and directed his first film, ''
Sword of Penitence'', which has since been lost. ''Sword of Penitence'' was written by Ozu, with a screenplay by
Kogo Noda, who would become his co-writer for the rest of his career. On September 25, he was called up for service in the military reserves until November, which meant that the film had to be partly finished by another director.
In 1928, Shiro Kido, the head of the Shochiku studio, decided that the company would concentrate on making short comedy films without star actors. Ozu made many of these films. The film ''Body Beautiful'', released on 1 December 1928, was the first Ozu film to use a low camera position, which would become his trademark.
After a series of the "no star" pictures, in September 1929, Ozu's first film with stars, ''
I Graduated, But...'', starring and
Kinuyo Tanaka
was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...
, was released. In January 1930, he was entrusted with Shochiku's top star,
Sumiko Kurishima, in her new year film, '. His subsequent films of 1930 impressed Shiro Kido enough to invite Ozu on a trip to a hot spring. In his early works, Ozu used the pseudonym "James Maki"
[ヂェームス・槇] for his screenwriting credit. His film ''Young Miss'', with an all-star cast, was the first time he used the pen name James Maki, and was also his first film to appear in film magazine ''
Kinema Jumpo'' "Best Ten" at third position.
In 1932, his ''
I Was Born, But...'', a comedy about childhood with serious overtones, was received by movie critics as the first notable work of
social criticism
Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general.
Social criticism of the Enlightenment
The origin of modern ...
in Japanese cinema, winning Ozu wide acclaim.
In 1935, Ozu made a short documentary with a soundtrack: ''Kagami Jishi'', in which Kikugoro VI performed a
Kabuki
is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
dance of the same title. This was made by request of the Ministry of Education.
Like the rest of Japan's cinema industry, Ozu was slow to switch to the production of
talkie
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...
s: his first film with a dialogue sound-track was ''
The Only Son'' in 1936, five years after Japan's first talking film,
Heinosuke Gosho
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first successful sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shōshimin-eiga (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his ...
's ''
The Neighbor's Wife and Mine''.
Wartime
On 9 September 1937, at a time when Shochiku was unhappy about Ozu's lack of box-office success, despite the praise he received from critics, the thirty-four-year-old Ozu was conscripted into the
Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
. He spent two years in China in the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
. He arrived in Shanghai on 27 September 1937 as part of an infantry regiment which handled chemical weapons.
He started as a corporal, but was promoted to sergeant on 1 June 1938.
From January until September 1938, he was stationed in
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
, where he met
Sadao Yamanaka, who was stationed nearby. In September, Yamanaka died of illness.
In 1939, Ozu was dispatched to
Hankou
Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...
, where he fought in the
Battle of Nanchang and the
Battle of Xiushui River. In June, he was ordered back to Japan, arriving in Kobe in July, and his conscription ended on 16 July 1939.
Some of Ozu's published diaries cover his wartime experiences between 20 December 1938 and 5 June 1939.
Another diary from his wartime years () he expressly forbade from publication. In the published diaries, reference to his group's participation in chemical warfare (in violation of the
Geneva Protocol
The Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, usually called the Geneva Protocol, is a treaty prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons in ...
, though Japan had withdrawn from the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
in 1933) can be found, for example, in various entries from March 1939. In one passage, he reflects on the systemic manipulation of Chinese soldiers, comparing them to insects in a way that illustrates their perceived loss of individuality due to propaganda.
Although operating as a military squad leader, Ozu retains his directorial perspective, once commenting that the initial shock and subsequent agony of a man as he is hacked to death is very much like its depiction in period films.
Ozu's writings also offers a glimpse into the Japanese military's use of
comfort women
Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...
. In a letter sent to friends in Japan on 11 April 1938, from
Dingyuan County
Dingyuan County () is a county of Anhui, Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Chuzhou city.
History
The ancestral home of Li Keqiang, the former Premier of the People's Republic of China, was Dingyuan.
Human activity in Ding ...
in China's
Anhui Province
Anhui is an inland province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiangxi to the south, Hub ...
, Ozu writes about the comfort station protocol in lightly coded terms.
In a 13 January 1939 diary entry, Ozu writes more openly about his group's upcoming turn for use of a comfort station near
Yingcheng. He mentions that two tickets, ointment and prophylatics are provided, and that three Korean and twelve Chinese women were being held at the comfort station for their use. Comfort station rates and schedules are also given by Ozu.
In 1939, he wrote the first draft of the script for ''
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice'', but shelved it due to extensive changes insisted on by military censors.
The first film Ozu made on his return was the critically and commercially successful ''
Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family'', released in 1941. He followed this with ''
There Was a Father'' (''Chichi Ariki'', 1942), which explored the strong bonds of affection between a father and son despite years of separation.
In 1943, Ozu was again drafted into the army for the purpose of making a propaganda film in
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
. However, he was sent to Singapore instead, to make a documentary ''Derii e, Derii e'' ("To Delhi, to Delhi") about
Chandra Bose.
During his time in Singapore, having little inclination to work, he spent an entire year reading, playing tennis and watching American films provided by the Army information corps. He was particularly impressed with Orson Welles's ''
Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
''.
He occupied a fifth-floor room facing the sea in the
Cathay Building where he entertained guests, drew pictures, and collected rugs. At the end of the Second World War, in August 1945, Ozu destroyed the script and all footage of the film.
He was detained as a civilian, and worked in a rubber plantation. Of his film team of 32 people, there was only space for 28 on the first repatriation boat to Japan. Ozu won a lottery giving him a place, but gave it to someone else who was anxious to return.
Postwar
Ozu returned to Japan in February 1946, and moved back in with his mother, who had been staying with his sister in
Noda in
Chiba prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, 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 ...
. He reported for work at the Ofuna studios on 18 February 1946. His first film released after the war was ''
Record of a Tenement Gentleman'' in 1947. Around this time, the Chigasakikan
[茅ケ崎館] Ryokan
A is a type of traditional Japanese inn that typically features ''tatami''-matted rooms, communal baths, and other public areas where visitors may wear nemaki and talk with the owner. Ryokan have existed since the eighth century A.D. du ...
became Ozu's favoured location for scriptwriting.

''
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 ...
'' was the last script that Ozu wrote at Chigasakikan. In later years, Ozu and Noda used a small house in the mountains at
Tateshina 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 ...
called Unkosō
[雲呼荘] to write scripts, with Ozu staying in a nearby house called Mugeisō.
[無芸荘]
Ozu's films from the late 1940s onward were favourably received, and the entries in the so-called "Noriko trilogy" (starring
Setsuko Hara) of ''
Late Spring'' (1949), ''
Early Summer'' (1951) and ''
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) are among his most acclaimed works, with ''Tokyo Story'' widely considered his masterpiece. ''Late Spring'', the first of these films, was the beginning of Ozu's commercial success and the development of his cinematography and storytelling style. These three films were followed by his first colour film, ''
Equinox Flower,'' in 1958, ''
Floating Weeds'' in 1959 and ''
Late Autumn'' in 1960. In addition to Noda, other regular collaborators included
cinematographer
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
Yuharu Atsuta, along with the actors
Chishū Ryū
was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions.
Early life
Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana, Kumamoto, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu ...
,
Setsuko Hara and
Haruko Sugimura.
His work was only rarely shown overseas before the 1960s; however, ''Tokyo Story'' gained recognition after winning the Sutherland Trophy at the 1958 London Film Festival. Ozu's last film was ''
An Autumn Afternoon
is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Shochiku Films. It stars Ozu regular Chishū Ryū as the patriarch of the Hirayama family who eventually realises that he has a duty to arrange a marriage for his daughter Michiko (Shim ...
,'' which was released in 1962. He then directed the television drama (1963), co-writing it with novelist
Ton Satomi
is the pen-name of Japanese author . page 5 Satomi was known for the craftsmanship of his dialogue and command of the Japanese language. His two elder brothers, Ikuma Arishima and Takeo Arishima, were also authors.
Early life
Satomi Ton was b ...
.
He served as president of the
Directors Guild of Japan from 1955 until his death in 1963.
In 1959 he became the first recipient from the field of cinema to win the Japan Art Academy Prize.
Ozu was known for his drinking. He and Noda measured the progression of their scripts by how many bottles of
sake
Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...
they had drunk. Ozu never married. He lived with his mother until she died in 1961.
A heavy smoker, Ozu died of
throat cancer
Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips ( oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophar ...
in 1963 on his sixtieth birthday. The grave he shares with his mother at
Engaku-ji
, or Engaku-ji (円覚寺), is one of the most important Zen Buddhist temple complexes in Japan and is ranked second among Kamakura's Five Mountains. It is situated in the city of Kamakura, in Kanagawa Prefecture to the south of Tokyo.
Founded ...
in
Kamakura
, officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
bears no name—just the character ''
mu'' ("nothingness").
Filmography
Legacy and style

Ozu is probably as well known for the technical style and innovation of his films as for the narrative content. The style of his films is most striking in his later films, a style he had not fully developed until his post-war sound films. He did not conform to Hollywood conventions.
[Ebert, Roger]
"Ozu: The Masterpieces You've Missed"
retrieved 8 June 2014. Rather than using the typical over-the-shoulder shots in his dialogue scenes by most directors, the camera gazes on the actors directly, which has the effect of placing the viewer in the middle of the scene.
Throughout his career, Ozu used a 50mm lens, which is usually considered to be the lens closest to human vision.
Ozu did not use typical transitions between scenes. In between scenes he would show shots of certain static objects as transitions, or use direct cuts, rather than fades or dissolves. Most often the static objects would be buildings, where the next indoor scene would take place. It was during these transitions that he would use music, which might begin at the end of one scene, progress through the static transition, and fade into the new scene. He rarely used non-
diegetic
Diegesis (; , ) is a style of fiction storytelling in which a participating narrator offers an on-site, often interior, view of the scene to the reader, viewer, or listener by subjectively describing the actions and, in some cases, thoughts, o ...
music in any scenes other than in the transitions.
Ozu moved the camera less and less as his career progressed, and ceased using tracking shots altogether in his colour films. However, David Bordwell argues that Ozu is one of the few directors to "create a systematic alternative to Hollywood continuity cinema, but he does so by changing only a few premises."

Ozu invented the "tatami shot", in which the camera is placed at a low height, supposedly at the eye level of a person kneeling on a ''
tatami
are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition.
...
'' mat. Actually, Ozu's camera is often even lower than that, only one or two feet off the ground, which necessitated the use of special tripods and raised sets. He used this low height even when there were no sitting scenes, such as when his characters walked in hallways. When Ozu made his move to colour, he chose to shoot under the German colour process
Agfacolor
Agfa-Farbenplatte of Bad Kreuznach, Germany, 1933.
An Agfacolor slide of a café in Oslo, Norway, 1937.
An Agfacolor slide of Paris, France, 1937.
An Agfacolor slide of Stockholm, Sweden, 1938.
An Agfacolor slide, Hungary, 1938.
An Agf ...
, as he felt that it captured reds much better than any other colour process.
Ozu eschewed the traditional rules of movie storytelling, most notably
eyelines. In his review of ''
Floating Weeds'', film critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
recounts:
zuonce had a young assistant who suggested that perhaps he should shoot conversations so that it seemed to the audience that the characters were looking at one another. Ozu agreed to a test. They shot a scene both ways, and compared them. "You see?" Ozu said. "No difference!"
Ozu was also an innovator in Japanese narrative structure through his use of
ellipses, or the decision not to depict major events in the story.
In ''
An Autumn Afternoon
is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Shochiku Films. It stars Ozu regular Chishū Ryū as the patriarch of the Hirayama family who eventually realises that he has a duty to arrange a marriage for his daughter Michiko (Shim ...
'' (1962), for example, a wedding is merely mentioned in one scene, and the next sequence references this wedding (which has already occurred); the wedding itself is never shown. This is typical of Ozu's films, which eschew melodrama by eliding moments that would often be used in Hollywood in attempts to stir an emotional reaction from audiences.
Ozu became recognized internationally when his films were shown abroad. Influential
monograph
A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...
s by
Donald Richie
Donald Richie (April 17, 1924 – February 19, 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also ...
,
Paul Schrader
Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...
,
and
David Bordwell
David Jay Bordwell (; July 23, 1947 – February 29, 2024) was an American film theorist and film historian. After receiving his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1973, he wrote more than fifteen volumes on the subject of cinema including ''Na ...
have ensured a wide appreciation of Ozu's style, aesthetics, and themes by the Anglophonic audience.
Awards and honors
Ozu was voted the tenth greatest director of all time in the 2002
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' poll of critics' top 10 directors. Ozu's ''
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 ...
'' has appeared several times in the ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' poll of best films selected by critics and directors. In 2012, it topped the poll of film directors' choices of "greatest film of all time".
Tributes and documentaries
''
Five'', also known as ''Five Dedicated to Ozu'', is an Iranian documentary film directed by
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami ( ; 22 June 1940 – 4 July 2016) was an Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer. An active filmmaker from 1970, Kiarostami had been involved in the production of over forty films, including s ...
. The film consists of five long takes set by the ocean.
Five sequences: 1) A piece of driftwood on the seashore, carried about by the waves 2) People walking on the seashore. The oldest ones stop by, look at the sea, then go away 3) Blurry shapes on a winter beach. A herd of dogs. A love story 4) A group of loud ducks cross the image, in one direction then the other 5) A pond, at night. Frogs improvising a concert. A storm, then the sunrise.
In 2003, the centenary of Ozu's birth was commemorated at various film festivals around the world. Shochiku produced the film ''
Café Lumière'' (珈琲時光), directed by Taiwanese film-maker
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou Hsiao-hsien ( zh, t=侯孝賢, poj=Hâu Hàu-hiân; born 8 April 1947) is a retired Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema mo ...
as homage to Ozu, with direct reference to the late master's ''Tokyo Story'' (1953), to premiere on Ozu's birthday.
Ozu was one of film critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
's favourite filmmakers, who described him as the most humanistic director of all time.
In 2013, director
Yoji Yamada
is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ('' The Twilight Samurai'', '' The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor'').
Biography
Yamada was born in Osaka, but due to his father' ...
of the ''
Otoko wa Tsurai yo
is a Japanese film series starring Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma, whose nickname is , a kind-hearted vagabond who is always unlucky in love. The series itself is often referred to as "''Tora-san''" by its fans. Spanning 48 installments rel ...
'' film series remade ''Tokyo Story'' in a modern setting as ''
Tokyo Family''.
In the
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...
documentary film ''
Tokyo-Ga'', the director travels to Japan to explore the world of Ozu, interviewing both
Chishū Ryū
was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions.
Early life
Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana, Kumamoto, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu ...
and Yuharu Atsuta.
In 2023, ''OZU: Ozu Yasujirō ga Kaita Monogatari'' (OZU~小津安二郎が描いた物語~), a 2023 television series based on Yasujirō Ozu's several films premiered.
Notes
References
Sources
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* Torres Hortelano, Lorenzo J.
''Primavera tardía de Yasujiro Ozu : cine clásico y poética zen'' Caja España (León), Obra Social y Cultural,
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Further reading
* Andreas Becker
in: Marcos P. Centeno-Martin and Norimasa Morita. 2020. ''Japan beyond Its Borders: Transnational Approaches to Film and Media''. Chiba: Seibunsha, : 147–157.
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External links
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OzuYasujirō.com(archived)
Digital Ozu – notes from an exhibition at Tokyo University.
at
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
Ozu's Angry Women by Shigehiko Hasumi*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozu, Yasujiro
1903 births
1963 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Japan
Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II
Imperial Japanese Army soldiers
Japanese film directors
Japanese prisoners of war
Film people from Tokyo
People from Kōtō
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
World War II civilian prisoners
20th-century Japanese screenwriters
Anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan