
Yoji Yamada
Director
Born: September 13, 1931 (94 years old)
Place of birth: Osaka, Japan
Biography
Yoji Yamada (山田 洋次 Yamada Yōji, born September 13, 1931 in Toyonaka City, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films. He was born in Osaka. But because of the work of his father, who was an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway, from the age of 2 he was brought up in Manchuria. Following the end of World War II, he came back to Japan and subsequently he lived in Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture. After receiving his degree from Tokyo University in 1954, he entered Shochiku and worked under Yoshitaro Nomura as a scriptwriter or as an assistant director. He has won many awards throughout his lengthy career and is well respected in Japan and by critics throughout the world. He wrote his first screenplay in 1958, and directed his first movie in 1961. Yamada continues to make movies to this day. He once served as president of the Directors Guild of Japan, and is currently a guest professor of Ritsumeikan University.
Filmography (44)
- Love and Honor (2006, ★ 7.5)
- The Twilight Samurai (2002, ★ 7.8)
- Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp (1969, ★ 7.8)
- Tora-san Loves an Artist (1973, ★ 8)
- Tora-san's Forget Me Not (1973, ★ 8)
- Tora-san's Runaway (1970, ★ 7.8)
- Tora-san's Love Call (1971, ★ 8)
- Tora-san, the Good Samaritan (1971, ★ 7.8)
- Tora-san's Dream-Come-True (1972, ★ 7.6)
- My Sons (1991, ★ 7.8)
- Where Spring Comes Late (1970, ★ 7.6)
- Downtown Heroes (1988, ★ 8.4)
- What a Wonderful Family! 3 (2018, ★ 7.6)
- Tokyo Taxi (2025, ★ 7.8)
- I Lived, But... (1983, ★ 6.5)
- The Yellow Handkerchief (1977, ★ 6.9)
- Kabei: Our Mother (2008, ★ 7.4)
- Kyoto Story (2010, ★ 6.6)
- The Hidden Blade (2004, ★ 7.4)
- About Her Brother (2010, ★ 6.4)
- The Village (1975, ★ 6.9)
- I, the Executioner (1968, ★ 7.2)
- Home from the Sea (1972, ★ 7.2)
- Tokyo Family (2013, ★ 7.3)
- Sea Without Exit (2006, ★ 5.9)
- Tora-san's Cherished Mother (1969, ★ 6.3)
- A Trap (1965, ★ 7.1)
- Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies (1986, ★ 6.1)
- The Little House (2014, ★ 6.8)
- A Distant Cry from Spring (1980, ★ 7.3)