is a Japanese

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Life and career

Yoshikazu Katō was born in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

in 1972, and became a fan of the '' pink film'' while still in junior high school. He graduated from the Nikkatsu Visual Arts Academy in 1993, and began working in the film industry in 1995. He worked as assistant director on nearly 100 ''pink film''s beginning with Hisayasu Satō's (1995), for the gay-themed ENK studio. His directorial debut was at Ōkura Pictures (OP Eiga) with , filmed in 2001 and released in 2002. Also at OP Eiga he filmed '' Molester's Train: Sensitive Fingers'' (2007) which was given the Best Film award at the Pink Grand Prix and which won Katō the award for Best Director. At the Kansai region Pinky Ribbon Awards the film was also given the top award, the Gold Prize.

Ninja films

Katō directed the V-Cinema ninja- sexploitation series in 2006 and 2007. The films featured AV idols as Kunoichi protagonists and were later released in the United States by Switchblade Pictures. *''Twin Blades of the Ninja'' ( Risa Kouda) *''Ninjaken: The Naked Sword'' (Kaede Matsushima) *''Ninja She-Devil'' ( Yuma Asami) *''I Was a Teenage Ninja'' ( Saki Ninomiya)

Award-winning films

"Ten Best" films, Pink Grand Prix

* 2007 1st place:

Pinky Ribbon Awards

* 2007 Gold Prize:

Bibliography

* * * *

References

, - ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" , Pink Grand Prix , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kato, Yoshikazu Japanese film directors Pink film directors Japanese screenwriters 1972 births Living people People from Kyoto Prefecture