is a Japanese screenwriter, lyricist, and playwright.

Early life

Yūji Sakamoto was born on 12 May 1967 in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Career

At the age of 19, Sakamoto won the 1st Fuji TV Young Scenario Award. At the age of 23, he wrote the screenplay for ''

Tokyo Love Story is a Japanese manga written by Fumi Saimon. It was published by Shogakukan in ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1989 to 1990 and collected into 4 ''tankōbon'' volumes. ''Tokyo Love Story'' was adapted into a Japanese television drama in 1991 whi ...

''. In 1996 he wrote the script for the

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

audio drama game '' Real Sound: Kaze no Regret'' with

Kenji Eno was a Japanese musician and video game designer. He gained a reputation as a maverick during the mid-1990s for creating unorthodox games like '' Real Sound'' and is perhaps best remembered today for his rebellious marketing techniques. Outside ...

. This game was specially developed for blind and visually impaired players. He has written the scripts for many popular Japanese television dramas, including '' Our Textbook'', ''Still, Life Goes On'', ''Matrimonial Chaos'', ''

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'', ''Woman'', ''The Best Divorce'', and ''

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

''. Many of his works have been remade in international productions. His recent works include ''Anone'', '' My Dear Exes'', and ''Love with a Case''. His filmography includes ''We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'' (2021), starring

Masaki Suda , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor and singer. He won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for the film ''Wilderness''. Personal life Suda was born in Minoh, Osaka Prefecture. Hi ...

and

Kasumi Arimura , is a Japanese actress. Her television roles have included the young Haruko Amano in the 2013 NHK asadora '' Amachan'' and the lead role in the 2017 asadora '' Hiyokko''. She has also appeared in several films, including '' Flying Colors'', for ...

. Sakamoto wrote the screenplay for

Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including '' Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

's film ''

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

'' (2023). It was the first time since his feature film debut ''

Maborosi ''Maborosi'', known in Japan as , is a 1995 Japanese drama film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto. ''Maborosi'' won a Golden Osella Award for Best Cin ...

'' (1995) that Kore-eda was not responsible for the screenplay. The two had expressed a mutual respect for each other's work and had attended the same school when they were younger. ''Monster'' premiered at the

2023 Cannes Film Festival The 76th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 16 to 27 May 2023. Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund served as jury president. With the French film ''Anatomy of a Fall'' winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize, Justine Triet became ...

, where Sakamoto won the Best Screenplay award. In April 2016, he was appointed as a professor at the

Tokyo University of the Arts or is a school of art and music in Japan. Located in Ueno Park, it also has facilities in Toride, Ibaraki, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Kitasenju and Adachi, Tokyo. The university has trained artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, crafts, inter ...

's Graduate School of Film and New Media. In 2017, Sakamoto won the Best Screenwriter award at the 92nd Television Drama Academy Awards for his work on the drama ''Quartet''. In April 2023, Sakamoto was awarded a

Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon are medals awarded by the Emperor of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and were ...

and in May 2023, he won the

Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay The Best Screenplay Award () is an award presented by the Jury to the best screenwriter for their work on a film of the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. History It was first awarded to Alfred L. Werker, & for '' Lost Boundarie ...

for ''

''. Sakomoto wrote and produced ''In Love and Deep Water'' for

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, and the film premiered in 2023. He and Netflix signed a five-year collaboration agreement in June 2023.

Personal life

In 1998, he married actress

Yoko Moriguchi is a Japanese actress. She made her film debut with '' Tora-san Goes Religious?'' in 1983. Filmography Film * '' Tora-san Goes Religious?'' (1983) * '' Final Take'' (1986) * ''Chichi'' (1988) * ''Kacho Shima Kosaku'' (1992) * '' Unloved'' (20 ...

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* * 1967 births Living people 20th-century Japanese screenwriters 21st-century Japanese screenwriters Japanese male screenwriters Japanese television writers Male television writers 21st-century Japanese dramatists and playwrights Japanese lyricists Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners Academic staff of Tokyo University of the Arts Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Writers from Osaka Prefecture Writers from Osaka Netflix people {{Screen-writer-stub