is a Japanese

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

(born 8 August, 1934) known for his work in

yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of ''bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Hood-l ...

s and

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning " period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait o ...

Career

Born in

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

, he attended Hibiya High School and then the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

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

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). Career Mas ...

Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and '' Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life Although leaning towards left-wing ...

, and

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 193 ...

. He made his directorial debut in 1964 Kunoichi ninpō and won the

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, docum ...

in 1966 for ''

Yakuza (893) gurentai , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

'', the first gendaigeki 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'' was entered into the 35th Berlin International Film Festival. From 1987 to 2008 he served as a professor of the

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. The university adopted the current name in 1966. Nota ...

. He has directed over 60 films in his career.

Selected filmography

* '' Kunoichi ninpō'' (くノ一忍法) (1964) * ''

Kunoichi Keshō also known as ''The Spying Sorceress''is a 1964 Japanese comedy '' jidaigeki'' film directed by Sadao Nakajima. Nakajima himself did the casting and Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Kō Nishimura and Masumi Harukawa were cast from Shohei Imamura's film Unh ...

'' (くノ一化粧) (1964) * ''

'' (893愚連隊) (1966) * ''Memoir of Japanese Assassinations'' (日本暗殺秘録, Nihon ansatsu hiroku) (1969) * ''

Kogarashi Monjirō is the main character and title of a Japanese novel by Saho Sasazawa, probably best known in the televised version broadcast during prime-time in 1972–1973, directed by Kon Ichikawa. In 1993, the drama was made into a film, titled '' Kaettekita ...

'' (1972) * ''

Aesthetics of a Bullet Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...

'' (鉄砲玉の美学, Teppōdama no bigaku) (1973) * ''Girl Boss: Escape From Reform School'' (女番長感化院脱走, Sukeban: Kankain Dassô) (1973) * ''Tokyo-Seoul-Bangkok Drug Triangle'' (1973) * ''Bohachi Bushido Saburai'' (1974) -Script * ''Crazed Beast'' (狂った野獣, Kurutta yajû) (1976) * ''Yakuza sensō: Nihon no Don'' (やくざ戦争日本の首領) (1977) * '' Sanada Yukimura no Bōryaku'' (1979) * ''Conquest'' (1982) * ''

Theater of Life is a 1983 film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, Sadao Nakajima and Junya Satō. Cast *Keiko Matsuzaka * Toshiyuki Nagashima * Kie Nakai *Hiroki Matsukata * Aiko Morishita * Hideo Murota *Morio Kazama *Kō Nishimura *Toshiro Mifune * Kantarō Suga ...

'' (人生劇場, Jinsei gekijō) (1983) co-directed with

Kinji Fukasaku was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Known for his "broad range and innovative filmmaking," Fukasaku worked in many different genres and styles, but was best known for his gritty yakuza films, typified by the ''Battles Without Honor ...

and

Jun'ya Satō was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His son is a fellow film director . Career Born in Tokyo, Satō graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1956 with a degree in French literature. He joined the Toei studio and worked as an assi ...

* '' Appassionata'' (序の舞, Jo no mai) (1984) * '' Seburi monogatari'' (1985) * ''

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful Daimyo, daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of ...

'' (武田信玄) (1988) (TV Movie) * '' Shogun's Shadow'' (1989) (Screenplay) * '' Nemuri Kyoshiro: The Man with No Tomorrow'' (1996) (TV Movie) * ''Chambara: The Art of Japanese Swordplay'' (2015) * ''Love's Twisting Path'' (2019)

References

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakajima, Sadao 1934 births Living people Japanese film directors Japanese screenwriters Samurai film directors Yakuza film directors People from Chiba Prefecture University of Tokyo alumni