is a Japanese filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is one of the most successful Japanese filmmakers and the top ''

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is someti ...

'' film director. Higuchi became known for his work on '' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'', for which he won the Special Technology Award at the 19th Japan Academy Film Prize. In 2005, he made his feature directorial debut on '' Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean''. His second feature film, '' Sinking of Japan'' (2006), was second place at the Bunshun Kiichigo Awards. His 2015 live-action two-part film adaptation of

Hajime Isayama is a Japanese manga artist. His first series, ''Attack on Titan'' (2009–2021), became one of the best-selling manga series of all time with 110 million copies in circulation as of September 2022. Biography Isayama was born in Ōyama, Ōita ...

's manga series, '' Attack on Titan'', won the Excellence in Theatrical Live Action Film award at the 2016 VFX-JAPAN Awards. In 2017, Higuchi and

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

won the Director of the Year award at the

40th Japan Academy Film Prize The is the 40th edition of the ''Japan Academy Film Prize'', an award presented by the Nippon Academy-Sho Association to award excellence in filmmaking. It awarded the best 2016 in film, films of 2016 and took place on March 3, 2017 at the Grand ...

, for their work on the 2016 ''kaiju'' film, '' Shin Godzilla.'' His 2022 film, '' Shin Ultraman'', was a major success in Japan, and has received generally positive reviews from critics internationally.

Biography

Early life

Higuchi was born on September 22, 1965, in

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administrati ...

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, ...

, Japan. When Higuchi was in

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

, his aunt took him on a tour of

Toho Studios is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...

, where she worked on commercials. Upon watching Toho's special effects crew at work, Higuchi became inspired and frequently visited the filming sets.

Early career

Higuchi entered the Japanese film industry in 1984, working as an assistant modeler on '' The Return of Godzilla''. Two years later, he directed the special effects for Daicon's ''

'' fan film '' Yamata no Orochi no Gyakushū''. As a key Daicon/Gainax member, he played an important part in the creation of one of the most popular anime series, ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko Production, Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo fr ...

'' (1995). He was a writer and art director/storyboarder for the series. He was also the namesake for the show's protagonist,

Shinji Ikari is a character (arts), fictional character in the ''Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. He is the franchise's poster boy and protagonist. In the Neon Genesis Evangelion, anime series of the ...

. He later voice-acted a musician modeled after himself in two episodes of '' Karekano''. Higuchi made his directorial debut in 1992 with the

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/ terrorist attacks or global catastrophes su ...

''The Day the Sun Fissured: The Great Tokyo Earthquake'' which he produced for

Tokyo Fire Department The Tokyo Fire Department (TFD) ( Japanese: 東京消防庁, Tokyo Shōbōchō) is a fire department headquartered in Ōtemachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Higuchi, Shinji 1965 births Living people Japanese film directors Japanese animated film directors Science fiction film directors Gainax Japanese animators Tokusatsu Special effects people Japanese storyboard artists