, known professionally as , is a Japanese actor and film director.

Career

Born in

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 944,320 () and has a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefect ...

, Sabu studied at an

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

school before deciding to go to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

to become a professional musician. It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in ''

Sorobanzuku is a 1986 Japanese film directed by Yoshimitsu Morita. Awards 8th Yokohama Film Festival *Won: Best Screenplay - Yoshimitsu Morita *Won: Best Actress - Narumi Yasuda *Won: Best Supporting Actor - Kaoru Kobayashi Kaoru Kobayashi (小林薫, ' ...

''. He earned his first starring role in the 1991 '' World Apartment Horror'', a live-action film directed by

Katsuhiro Ōtomo is a Japanese manga artist, screenwriter, animator and film director. He is best known as the creator of '' Akira'', in terms of both the original 1982 manga series and the 1988 animated film adaptation. He was decorated a ''Chevalier'' of th ...

of '' Akira'' fame. Working from a script he wrote himself, he made his directorial debut with the 1996 '' Dangan Runner'', a film that set his early style of "quirky action-comedies propelled by characters who hurtle headlong though squirming narratives steered more by the forces of incidence and coincidence than the actions of the protagonists themselves." Shin'ichi Tsutsumi played the lead in Sabu's first five films. ''

Blessing Bell In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with doctrines of grace, grace, Sacred, holiness, spiritual Redemption (theology), redemption, or Will of God, divine will. Etymology and Germani ...

'', starring

Susumu Terajima is a Japanese actor. Though he has played a wide range of characters, he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of ''yakuza'' figures, most notably in the films of Takeshi Kitano. Terajima made his acting debut in 1986's '' A Homansu''. He ...

(who has played minor roles in nearly all of Sabu's films), was a turn away from his kinetic, parodic, and black comedy narratives, and earned the NETPAC Award at the 2003

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. Later films featured the

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

band V6. In 2009, he directed ''

The Crab Cannery Ship ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'', a modern adaptation of a classic of Japanese proletarian literature written by Takiji Kobayashi. He has continued to work as an actor, such as in

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

's '' Ichi the Killer'' (2001). His film ''

Chasuke's Journey is a 2015 Japanese comedy film directed by Sabu. It was screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Ken'ichi Matsuyama as Chasuke * Ito Ohno as Yuri * Ren Ôsugi as Taneda * Yūsuke Is ...

'' was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

Selected filmography

Director

* '' Dangan Runner'' (1996) * ''

Postman Blues is a 1997 Japanese criminal action comedy-drama film directed and written by Hiroyuki Tanaka under the name Sabu. The film features Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Keisuke Horibe, Ren Ohsugi and Kyōko Tōyama in the lead roles. It tells the story of ...

'' (1997) * ''

Unlucky Monkey Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

'' (1998) * ''

Monday Monday is the day of the week between Sunday and Tuesday. According to the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 8601 standard, it is the first day of the week and in countries that adopt the "Sunday-first" convention, it is ...

'' (2000) * '' Drive'' (2002) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

A1012K A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...

'' (2003 - short film) * ''

Hard Luck Hero is a 2003 Japanese film written and directed by Japanese film director Sabu to showcase the Japanese boy band V6. The film involves usual Sabu elements such as high-speed car chases and yakuza. Plot The story follows three pairs of characters ...

'' (2003) * ''

Hold-Up Down Hold Up, hold up, or Hold-Up may refer to: Film * ''Hold-Up'' (1974 film), an Italian film * ''Hold-Up'' (1985 film), Franco-Canadian crime comedy * ''Hold-Up'' (2000 film), Austrian film * ''Hold-Up!'' (2012 film) (Spanish ''¡Atraco!''), Spa ...

'' (2005) * '' Dead Run'' ( Shisso) (2005) * ''

'' ( Kanikōsen, 2009) * '' Troubleman'' (2010) TV Series * '' Usagi Drop'' (2011) * '' Miss ZOMBIE'' (2013) * ''

'' (2015) * ''Happiness'' (2016) * '' Mr. Long'' (2017) * ''Jam'' (2018) * ''Dancing Mary'' (2020) * ''My Blood & Bones in a Flowing Galaxy'' (2021)

Actor

* ''

'' (1986) * '' World Apartment Horror'' (1991) * '' Zeiram 2'' (1994) * ''

800 Two Lap Runners ''800 Two Lap Runners'' is a 1994 Japanese film directed by Ryūichi Hiroki starring Shunsuke Matsuoka and Eugene Nomura. For director Hiroki, the film marks a transition from his early work in ''pink film'' to mainstream cinema. Plot This coming ...

'' (1994) * '' Dangan Runner'' (1996) * ''

Katte ni Shiyagare!! Gyakuten Keikaku Katte is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adriaan Katte (1900–1991), Dutch field hockey player * Hans Hermann von Katte (1704–1730), Prussian Army lieutenant * Walter Katte Colonel Walter Katte (November 14, 1830 – Mar ...

'' (1996) * ''

Ghost Actress A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to re ...

'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * '' Ichi the Killer'' (2001) * '' Josee, the Tiger and the Fish'' (2003) * ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

'' (2016)

References

External links

*
Sabu's Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabu Living people 1964 births People from Wakayama (city) Actors from Wakayama Prefecture Japanese male film actors Japanese film directors Yakuza film directors