Katsuhito Ishii

Directing

Katsuhito Ishii

Born 1966-12-31 · Niigata, Japan

Katsuhito Ishii is a Japanese film director. After graduating from Musashino Art University, Katsuhito Ishii got a job at Tohokushinsha Film and began directing commercials in 1992, receiving numerous awards in this field. His first short film The Promise of August, shot in 1995, went on to receive the Japanese Film Grand Prix in the Fantastic Video Section of the 1995 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. He made his feature debut with Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, based on the visual novel by cult manga artist Minetaro Mochizuki and starring regular collaborator Tadanobu Asano. Ishii quickly followed his success with another box office hit, Party 7 (2000), which featured Masatoshi Nagase, Yoshio Harada and Tadanobu Asano among others. Between the years 2001 and 2002, he created a series of short films including the 3D animated dialogue piece Hal & Bons and the 2D animated space opera Trava Fist Planet. Among other commercials and select TV projects including the short Black Room which starred Takuya Kimura, and Music Power Go Go!, He collaborated with Production I.G for the animation sequence of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1. In 2004, his fourth feature film The Taste of Tea won Best Feature Film at the Hawaii International Film Festival. In 2006, he co-directed the feature film Funky Forest with fellow Japanese film makers and old school friends Shunichiro Miki and ANIKI. He founded his own production company, Nice Rainbow, in October 2006.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Redline poster
7.5

A daredevil driver is determined to compete in Redline, the most popular race in the galaxy. The race only occurs every five years, but in order to participate he must overcome the mafia, the government and even love.

Redline

2009

The Taste of Tea poster
7.5

A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

The Taste of Tea

2004

The Taste of Tea poster
7.5

A spell of time in the life of the five-piece Haruno family in rural Tochigi Prefecture. Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project. Uncle Ayano, a successful music producer, is looking to get his head together after living in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Sachiko is concerned with why she seems to be followed by a giant version of herself. As the lazy days pass by, each member of the family is followed in a series of episodic vignettes.

The Taste of Tea

2004

Short Peace poster
6.4

A traveler is confronted by spirits in an abandoned shrine; a story of honor and firefighting in ancient Japan; a white bear defends the royal family from a monstrous red demon; ragtag soldiers battle a robotic force in futuristic Japan.

Short Peace

2013

Funky Forest: The First Contact poster
6.5

An outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.

Funky Forest: The First Contact

2005

Funky Forest: The First Contact poster
6.5

An outrageous collection of surreal, short attention span non-sequiturs largely revolving around Guitar Brother, his randy older sibling, and the pair's portly Caucasian brother.

Funky Forest: The First Contact

2005

No artwork available
NR

One of the most wildly creative filmmakers working in Japan today, Ishii Katsuhito seems to take joy in dropping whimsical, unpredictable works onto unsuspecting audiences. His last film Nice no Mori (a.k.a. Funky Forest), an omnibus offering co-directed with Ishimine Hajime and Miki Shinichiro, was an ode to pure, unadulterated insanity. The Mole Brothers and their Beatles hairdos serve up plenty of chaos and laughter in this riotous seven-episode series that is just about required viewing for fans of the film. Ishii returns once again to his animation roots, and the results are as head-scratchingly brilliant as ever. This release comes with the seven animated shorts, Nice no Mori trailer, and Hokuro Brothers Full Throttle!!!! making of and filmography.

Hokuro Kyodai Full Throttle!!!!

2007

Tales of the Bizarre: 35th Anniversary Special poster
NR

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the popular omnibus drama "Tales of the Unusual," in which Tamori serves as the storyteller, "Tales of the Tales of the Unusual 35th Anniversary Special: Legendary Masterpieces One Night Only Revival Edition" will be broadcast on Fuji TV's "Saturday Premium" slot (Saturday 9pm) on May 31st. The program will feature five of Tamori's most famous works from the series' past. The programs that will be broadcast on the 31st are as follows: "BLACK ROOM" (broadcast in 2001, starring Takuya Kimura) "The Night Train Man" (broadcast in 2002, starring Ren Osugi) "Locker" (broadcast in 1990, starring Yuji Oda) "Bijokan" (broadcast in 2005, starring Satoshi Tsumabuki) "Memories of Love, Don't Stop" (broadcast in 2019, starring Yuki Saito)

Tales of the Bizarre: 35th Anniversary Special

2025

Tales of the Bizarre: 35th Anniversary Special poster
NR

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the popular omnibus drama "Tales of the Unusual," in which Tamori serves as the storyteller, "Tales of the Tales of the Unusual 35th Anniversary Special: Legendary Masterpieces One Night Only Revival Edition" will be broadcast on Fuji TV's "Saturday Premium" slot (Saturday 9pm) on May 31st. The program will feature five of Tamori's most famous works from the series' past. The programs that will be broadcast on the 31st are as follows: "BLACK ROOM" (broadcast in 2001, starring Takuya Kimura) "The Night Train Man" (broadcast in 2002, starring Ren Osugi) "Locker" (broadcast in 1990, starring Yuji Oda) "Bijokan" (broadcast in 2005, starring Satoshi Tsumabuki) "Memories of Love, Don't Stop" (broadcast in 2019, starring Yuki Saito)

Tales of the Bizarre: 35th Anniversary Special

2025

Party 7 poster
6.7

Seven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive boyfriend, the mob soldier sent to retrieve the briefcase, another mobster sent to kill them, master voyeur Captain Banana and his new apprentice, The Mister Yellow. Who will end up with the money?

Party 7

2000

Party 7 poster
6.7

Seven characters, introduced at the start of the film, get thrown together into the same hotel room: a thief who's stolen a suitcase of money from the mob, his ex-girlfriend, her obsessive boyfriend, the mob soldier sent to retrieve the briefcase, another mobster sent to kill them, master voyeur Captain Banana and his new apprentice, The Mister Yellow. Who will end up with the money?

Party 7

2000

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl poster
6.9

In dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl

1999

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl poster
6.9

In dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.

Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl

1999

My Darling of the Mountains poster
6.4

In the mountain hot springs of Izu, Japan, a love triangle is waiting to happen. It is the late 1930s when the paths of a stunning woman fleeing Tokyo, a handsome bachelor and a blind masseur cross.

My Darling of the Mountains

2008

No artwork available
NR

The upcoming sequel to the 2005 absurdist comedy anthology. To be released in 2027.

Funky Forest: The Second Contact

Smap Short Films poster
NR

Short films by top CM directors and CG creators: MUSIC POWER GO! GO! ダモン君の巻; BUS PANIC!!!; GAME SHINGO; 治療; Good-bye, cruel world; ROLLING BOMBER SPECIAL; 菅原さん ・コンセント ・トイレ ・のれない ・脱出不可能. Produced for and aired together as TV special of SMAPxSMAP

Smap Short Films

2001

Smuggler poster
6.4

To pay off his loan shark, failed actor Ryōsuke Kinuta is forced to smuggle dead bodies – and one live elite assassin – in the middle of the night.

Smuggler

2011

Smuggler poster
6.4

To pay off his loan shark, failed actor Ryōsuke Kinuta is forced to smuggle dead bodies – and one live elite assassin – in the middle of the night.

Smuggler

2011

GAMBO poster
6.0

A battle between a creature who’s been killing members of a royal Japanese family, and a mysterious white bear who protects them.

GAMBO

2013

Tales of the Bizarre: 2013 Autumn Special poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Tales of the Bizarre: 2013 Autumn Special

2013

Gamera poster
9.2

GAMERA is a kaiju short film first released as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Gamera's debut film.

Gamera

2015

Tales of the Bizarre: SMAP Special poster
8.0

Consisting of 5 stories: 1. Extra Synopsis: A man decides to go against a society whose every action and exchange of dialogue has already been prewritten in the screenplay of life. 2. 13-banme no Kyaku (Guest no. 13) Synopsis: A short-tempered man gets his hair cut at a strange barber shop only to find that he cannot leave before going through a certain process. 3. Black Room Synopsis: A son returns home from America to find his hometown shrouded in black and his parents behaving very strangely. 4. Boku wa Tabi o Suru (I'm Taking a Trip) Synopsis: A man’s older sister goes on a trip without realizing the terrifying truth. 5. Otona Juken (Adult Test) Synopsis: A young man must prove that he is truly an adult through a series of real life scenario tests.

Tales of the Bizarre: SMAP Special

2001

Tales of the Bizarre: SMAP Special poster
8.0

Consisting of 5 stories: 1. Extra Synopsis: A man decides to go against a society whose every action and exchange of dialogue has already been prewritten in the screenplay of life. 2. 13-banme no Kyaku (Guest no. 13) Synopsis: A short-tempered man gets his hair cut at a strange barber shop only to find that he cannot leave before going through a certain process. 3. Black Room Synopsis: A son returns home from America to find his hometown shrouded in black and his parents behaving very strangely. 4. Boku wa Tabi o Suru (I'm Taking a Trip) Synopsis: A man’s older sister goes on a trip without realizing the terrifying truth. 5. Otona Juken (Adult Test) Synopsis: A young man must prove that he is truly an adult through a series of real life scenario tests.

Tales of the Bizarre: SMAP Special

2001

Sorasoi poster
6.0

A group of college students staying in a hostel close to a beach, practice their dance routine in a training camp for an upcoming dance competition.

Sorasoi

2008