View source for Yoji Yamada

{{creator}}
{{creatorstub}}
<!-- From Wikipedia -->

[[Yoji Yamada]] (山田 洋次 Yamada Yōji, born September 13, 1931 in Toyonaka City, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese director best known for his Tora-san 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 Yamagata 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.

His acclaimed Samurai Trilogy consists of ''[[The Twilight Samurai]]'' (2002), ''[[The Hidden Blade]]'' (2004) and ''[[Love and Honor]]'' (2006).

== Tora-san Series ==

Known in Japan under the title ''[[Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo]]'' (男はつらいよ, ''It's tough being a man''), his Tora-san series features traveling merchant Torajirō, who is always unlucky in love. Since the lead role in every Tora-san movie was played by [[Kiyoshi Atsumi]], his death in 1996 put an end to the series and Yamada moved on to other movies. Although Yamada is known for his long-running series of movies--4 films in the ''A Class to Remember'' (学校,　''Gakkō'') series, 13 in the ''Free and Easy'' (釣りバカ日誌, ''Tsuribaka Nisshi'') series--none have reached the prolific numbers of the Tora-san series. Over a period of about 25 years 48 Tora-san films were made, all of them starring Atsumi, and the majority written and directed by Yamada.

== Notable Awards ==

His movies have won the Best Picture award at the Japanese Academy Awards four times: in 1977 for ''[[The Yellow Handkerchief]]'' (幸福の黄色いハンカチ, ''Shiawase no Kiiroi Hankachi''), in 1991 for My Sons (息子, ''Musuko''), in 1993 for ''[[A Class to Remember]]'' (学校,　''Gakkō''), and in 2002 for ''[[The Twilight Samurai]]'' (たそがれ清兵衛, ''Tasogare Seibei''). In 2003 ''[[The Twilight Samurai]]'' was nominated for the 76th [[Academy Award|Academy Awards]]' Best Foreign Language Film. His 2004 film, ''[[The Hidden Blade]]'' (''Kakushi Ken Oni No Tsume''), was nominated for sixteen awards and won three.


{{reflist}}
[[Category:Yoji Yamada]]
[[Category:Directors]]
[[Category:Screenwriters]]