was a Japanese filmmaker who served primarily as a film producer, but also as a writer and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He was most famous for producing several films for

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

, including ''

Seven Samurai is a 1954 Japanese epic samurai action film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Taking place in 1586 in the Sengoku period of Japanese history, it follows the story of a villag ...

'', ''

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese tragedy film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay co-written with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest ...

'' and ''

Throne of Blood is a 1957 Japanese epic ''jidaigeki'' film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film transposes the plot of English dramatist William Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'' (1606) fr ...

''. He also produced films for other directors, including

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

, for whom he produced '' Spring Awakens'' and '' Battle of Roses'', and

Kazuo Mori , also known by his street name , was a Japanese film director who primarily worked in popular genres like the jidaigeki. Mori directed over 100 films in his life. Career Born in Ehime Prefecture, Mori graduated from Kyoto University before join ...

, for whom he produced '' Vendetta for a Samurai''. As a writer, he provided the story for

Kei Kumai was a Japanese film director. After his studies in literature at Shinshu University, he began work as a director's assistant. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his first film, '' Nihon rettō'', in 1965. His 1972 film ...

's 1968 film ''

The Sands of Kurobe is a 1968 Japanese drama film directed by Kei Kumai. It is an adaptation of the novel The Sun of Kurobe (黒部の太陽; Kurobe no Taiyō) that dramatizes the construction of the massive Kurobe Dam, the tallest dam in Japan. The film was Japan ...

'', starring Kurosawa favorite

Toshiro Mifune was a Japanese actor and producer. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades over a lengthy career, he is widely considered one of the greatest actors of all time. He often played hypermasculine characters and was noted for his commandin ...

. Besides the films he is credited with producing, Motoki also had an influence on other Kurosawa films. For example, he was involved in the production of ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura, it follows various people who describe how a ...

''. Motoki sent the letter to screenwriter

Shinobu Hashimoto Shinobu Hashimoto (, ''Hashimoto Shinobu''; 18 April 1918 – 19 July 2018) was a Japanese screenwriter, director and producer. A frequent collaborator of Akira Kurosawa, he wrote the scripts for critically acclaimed films such as ''Rashomon'' an ...

inviting him to help expand the script of ''Rashomon''. During the late 1940s, Motoki joined with directors Kurosawa,

Senkichi Taniguchi (February 19, 1912 – October 29, 2007) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Tokyo, Japan, he attended Waseda University but left before graduating due to his involvement in a left-wing theater troupe. He ...

and Kajiro Yamamoto (eventually joined by Naruse as well) to form a short-lived independent production company, the Motion Picture Art Association, which was responsible for such films as ''Rashomon'', '' The Quiet Duel'' and ''

Stray Dog A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of wh ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Motoki, Sojiro Japanese film producers Japanese film directors 1914 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Japanese screenwriters