is a Japanese film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 known for his work in yakuza film

Yakuza film

is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of yakuza, also referred to as the Japanese Mafia.-Ninkyo eiga:...

 and jidaigeki

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

.

Career

Born in Chiba Prefecture

Chiba Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...

, he attended Hibiya High School

Hibiya High School

is a Japanese high school founded in 1878 as the . It was well known in the 1950s and 1960s for the large proportion of graduates who gained admission to the prestigious University of Tokyo; though it suffered a decline in the 1970s, as of 2005 it was once again being referred to as the "best...

 and then the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

 before joining the Tōei

Toei Company

is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...

 studio in 1959. Working at Tōei's Kyoto studio, he served as an assistant director under such directors as Masahiro Makino

Masahiro Makino

was a Japanese film director of more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was Masatada , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times .-Career:...

, Tadashi Imai, and Tomotaka Tasaka

Tomotaka Tasaka

was a Japanese film director.-Career:Born in Hiroshima Prefecture, he began working at Nikkatsu's Kyoto studio in 1924 and eventually came to prominence for a series of realist, humanist films made at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studio in the late 1930s such as Robō no ishi and Mud and Soldiers, both of...

. He made his directorial debut in 1964 and won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award

Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award

The is given annually by the Directors Guild of Japan to a new director of a film released that year who is considered the most "suitable" for the award. The winner is selected by a committee formed of DGJ members. All formats—feature film, documentary, television, video, etc.—are eligible for...

 in 1966 for Yakuza (893) gurentai, the first gendaigeki

Gendaigeki

Gendai-geki is a genre of film and television or theater play in Japan. Unlike the jidai-geki genre of period dramas, whose stories are set in the Edo period, gendaigeki stories are contemporary dramas set in the modern world.-See also:...

 shot at Tōei's Kyoto studio. He directed such popular film series as Kogarashi Monjirō and Nihon no don, and also worked on television. His 1985 film Seburi monogatari

Seburi monogatari

Seburi monogatari is a 1985 Japanese drama film directed by Sadao Nakajima. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Kenichi Hagiwara as Hajime Kinoshita* Yumiko Fujita as Kuni* Michiko Kohno as Hide...

was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival

35th Berlin International Film Festival

The 35th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 15 to February 26, 1985.-Jury:* Jean Marais * Max von Sydow* Alberto Sordi* Regimantas Adomaitis* Sheila Benson* Wolfgang Kohlhaase* Onat Kutlar* Luis Megino...

. From 1987 to 2008 he served as a professor of the Osaka University of Arts

Osaka University of Arts

is a private arts university located in Kanan, Minamikawachi District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. The university was founded in 1945 as , changing its name to in 1957, and then to in 1964...

. He has directed over 60 films in his career.

Selected filmography

• Yakuza (893) gurentai (893愚連隊) (1966)
• Aesthetics of a Bullet (鉄砲玉の美学, Teppōdama no bigaku) (1973)
• Yakuza sensō: Nihon no Don (やくざ戦争 日本の首領) (1977)
• Theater of Life
  Theater of Life
  Theater of Life is a 1983 film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, Sadao Nakajima and Junya Sato.-Cast:*Keiko Matsuzaka*Toshiyuki Nagashima*Kie Nakai*Hiroki Matsukata*Aiko Morishita*Hideo Murota*Morio Kazama*Kô Nishimura...
  
  (人生劇場, Jinsei gekijō) (1983) co-directed with Kinji Fukasaku
  Kinji Fukasaku
  was a Japanese film actor, screenwriter, and best known as a celebrated and innovative filmmaker. He was born in Mito, Ibaraki, Japan, and died in Tokyo, from prostate cancer...
  
   and Jun'ya Satō
• Appassionata (序の舞, Jo no mai) (1984)
• Seburi monogatari
  Seburi monogatari
  Seburi monogatari is a 1985 Japanese drama film directed by Sadao Nakajima. It was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Kenichi Hagiwara as Hajime Kinoshita* Yumiko Fujita as Kuni* Michiko Kohno as Hide...
  
  (1985)

External links