Ayuko Tsukahara

is a director from Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She belongs to TBS Sparkle and has directed many television series for TBS Television and films. Her notable works include the television series ''Unnatural'', ''La Grande Maison Tokyo'', and ''MIU404''. She made her film directorial debut in 2018 with ''Cafe Funiculi Funicula''.

History

Tsukahara was born and raised in Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture. She was influenced by her mother, who taught the drama club at junior high school, she later worked for a media production company that produced television series. Tsukahara joined Kinoshita Productions (currently TBS Sparkle) in 1997 after graduating from Chiba University with a Bachelor of Arts. When she was a college student, she was just an ordinary college student who liked movies and theater. When she was looking for a job, she saw on a website that they were looking for a screenwriter, and thinking, "I am a major in literature, so I could probably do some writing work," she applied to her current company. After joining the company, she worked as an assistant director for a television series. Her main duties were to find locations and to create the character setting for the television series and to support the director and do other chores. After 10 years of working as an assistant director, she decided that she wanted to work primarily as a director, not as an assistant director. She directed her first television series in 2005 with '' Yume de Aimashou'', followed by the popular ''Unnatural'', ''La Grande Maison Tokyo'', and ''MIU404''. She won the Galaxy Award for Excellence in Television for ''Unnatural'' and other awards. She received Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Award in 2021 for her production of ''MIU404''. She made her film directorial debut in 2018 with ''Cafe Funiculi Funicula'', followed by '' As Long As We Both Shall Live (My Happy Marriage)'' in 2023, ''Last mile'' and ''La Grande Maison Paris'' in 2024, etc. She is actively working not only as a television series director but also as a film director.

Awards

Filmography

Television Series (selected)

Unless otherwise mentioned, this is a TBS Television series
* '' Last Money: Ai no Nedan'' (NHK, 2011, Director/Producer)
* ''The Night Ferris Wheel'' (2013, Director)
* ''Saburo Sugimura Series'' (2013, Director)
* '' Limit'' (TV Tokyo, 2014, Director)
* ''Alice's Thorn'' (April 11 - June 13, 2014, Director)
* ''Testimony of N'' (October 17 - December 9, 2014, Director)
* ''Second Love'' (TV Asahi, February 6 - March 20, 2015, Director)
* ''The Mother Class'' - The Class of Women (April 14 - June 16, 2015, Director)
* ''100 days -Love, Marriage, Sickness and Mom-'' (October 13 - December 15, 2015, Director)
* ''It's not that I can't marry. I don't marry.'' (April 15 - June 17, 2016, Director)
* ''Tower of Sand'' (October 14–16, 2016, Director)
* '' Reverse'' (April 14 - June 16, 2017, Director)
* ''Unnatural'' (January 12 - March 16, 2018, Director)
* ''TV Tokyo 55th anniversary special drama special “A Not You”'' (2018, TV Tokyo, Director)}
* ''The Good Wife'' (January 13 - March 17, 2019, Director)
* ''La Grande Maison Tokyo'' (October 20 - December 29, 2019, Director)
**''La Grande Maison Tokyo Special'' (December 29, 2024, Director)
* ''MIU404'' (June 26 - September 4, 2020, Director) }
* '' Captivated, by You'' (January 7 - February 5, 2021, MBS TV, Director)
* ''Why I Dress Up for Love'' (April 20 - June 22, 2021, Director)
* ''Dearest'' (October 15, 2021 - December 17, 2021, Director)
* ''Ishiko and Haneo: You're Suing Me?'' - (July 15, 2022 - September 16, 2022, Director)
* ''Worst to First: A Teen Baseball Miracle'' (October 15, 2023 - December 17, 2023, Director)
* ''The Sleeping Diamond on the sea'' (October 20, 2024 - December 22, 2024, Director)

Films

* ''Cafe Funiculi Funicula'' (2018, Director)
* '' As Long As We Both Shall Live'' (2023, Director)
* ''Last Mile'' (2024, Director)
* ''La Grande Maison Paris'' (2024, Director)
* ''First Kiss'' (scheduled 2025, Director)

References

External links

TBS Sparkle
- Ayuko Tsukahara
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsukahara, Ayuko
Living people
Japanese film directors
Japanese television directors
Chiba University alumni
People from Saitama Prefecture
Japanese women film directors