Katsuya Tomita

Writing

Katsuya Tomita

Born

1972-04-18 (54)

Place of birth

Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Writing

Credits

15 titles

After graduating from high school, he saved money to make films by working as a construction worker and a truck driver, using his childhood friends as actors. For three years, using an 8mm camera, he spent his weekends making his first film, Above the Clouds, which was released independently in 2003. With the 1,500,000 yen he won from an award for this film, together with Toranosuke Aizawa he wrote Off Highway 20 (2007), which was shot using 16mm film. In 2008, he decided to make Saudade with the help of his childhood friends once again, basing the story in his hometown of Kofu, a city to which many Japanese-Brazilians have moved back from Brazil. Saudade was funded with help from the citize…

Known for

Tenzo poster
7.0

To address the social crisis, Chiken - a buddhist monk - throws himself into various tasks such as a suicide helpline, in his temple in Yamanashi. In Fukushima, his old mate Ryûgyô - whose temple was wrecked by the tsunami - lives in a portacabin and works on construction sites.

Tenzo

2019

Off Highway 20 poster
5.0

Hisashi was once a member of a motorcycle gang. Now he plays pachinko everyday with his live-in girlfriend, Junko. He has a habit of "huffing" paint thinner. His debts accumulate every day. Hisashi's old friend from the gang, Ozawa is a loan shark. He persuades Hisashi to join his easy-money-making.

Off Highway 20

2007

Chiang Rai Girl poster
NR

Kin-chan is a struggling actor in his forties who hasn't quite made it big yet. He's married with children, but his relationship with his family seems strained. To earn some pocket money, he takes on a dubious photo shoot, where the photographer tells him about the wonders of Thailand. He grabs the surprisingly large sum of money and lands in Bangkok with only the clothes on his back. Thailand is so captivating that it makes him forget his life in Japan. After spending a fun night with May, a street girl, he ends up traveling to Chiang Rai with May and her friend Fong. A Japanese man who barely speaks the language and two women, each with their own agendas, set off on their journey north.

Chiang Rai Girl

2013

同じ星の下、それぞれの夜 poster
NR

An fantastic anthology made by Katsuya Tomita, Masanori Tominaga and Tetsuya Mariko for the 4th Okinawa International Movie Festival in 2012.

同じ星の下、それぞれの夜

2013

Bangkok Nites poster
6.2

Bangkok, 2015. Ozawa, a Japanese man who had nowhere to go, meets Luck, a woman has reached the height of her glory on Thaniya Street, a place that flourishes by servicing only Japanese men. Through a trip to trace the scars of colonialism, they look for paradise that we had lost.

Bangkok Nites

2017

Saudade poster
6.9

Seiji works on construction sites. He sympathizes with Hosaka just back from Thailand. Together, they spend their evenings in bars with Thai girls. On a construction site, they meet Takeru, a member of the hip-hop collective of the city.

Saudade

2011

Film credits

Behind the camera

Tenzo poster
7.0

To address the social crisis, Chiken - a buddhist monk - throws himself into various tasks such as a suicide helpline, in his temple in Yamanashi. In Fukushima, his old mate Ryûgyô - whose temple was wrecked by the tsunami - lives in a portacabin and works on construction sites.

Tenzo

2019

Off Highway 20 poster
5.0

Hisashi was once a member of a motorcycle gang. Now he plays pachinko everyday with his live-in girlfriend, Junko. He has a habit of "huffing" paint thinner. His debts accumulate every day. Hisashi's old friend from the gang, Ozawa is a loan shark. He persuades Hisashi to join his easy-money-making.

Off Highway 20

2007

Off Highway 20 poster
5.0

Hisashi was once a member of a motorcycle gang. Now he plays pachinko everyday with his live-in girlfriend, Junko. He has a habit of "huffing" paint thinner. His debts accumulate every day. Hisashi's old friend from the gang, Ozawa is a loan shark. He persuades Hisashi to join his easy-money-making.

Off Highway 20

2007

Chiang Rai Girl poster
NR

Kin-chan is a struggling actor in his forties who hasn't quite made it big yet. He's married with children, but his relationship with his family seems strained. To earn some pocket money, he takes on a dubious photo shoot, where the photographer tells him about the wonders of Thailand. He grabs the surprisingly large sum of money and lands in Bangkok with only the clothes on his back. Thailand is so captivating that it makes him forget his life in Japan. After spending a fun night with May, a street girl, he ends up traveling to Chiang Rai with May and her friend Fong. A Japanese man who barely speaks the language and two women, each with their own agendas, set off on their journey north.

Chiang Rai Girl

2013

Chiang Rai Girl poster
NR

Kin-chan is a struggling actor in his forties who hasn't quite made it big yet. He's married with children, but his relationship with his family seems strained. To earn some pocket money, he takes on a dubious photo shoot, where the photographer tells him about the wonders of Thailand. He grabs the surprisingly large sum of money and lands in Bangkok with only the clothes on his back. Thailand is so captivating that it makes him forget his life in Japan. After spending a fun night with May, a street girl, he ends up traveling to Chiang Rai with May and her friend Fong. A Japanese man who barely speaks the language and two women, each with their own agendas, set off on their journey north.

Chiang Rai Girl

2013

同じ星の下、それぞれの夜 poster
NR

An fantastic anthology made by Katsuya Tomita, Masanori Tominaga and Tetsuya Mariko for the 4th Okinawa International Movie Festival in 2012.

同じ星の下、それぞれの夜

2013

Bangkok Nites poster
6.2

Bangkok, 2015. Ozawa, a Japanese man who had nowhere to go, meets Luck, a woman has reached the height of her glory on Thaniya Street, a place that flourishes by servicing only Japanese men. Through a trip to trace the scars of colonialism, they look for paradise that we had lost.

Bangkok Nites

2017

Bangkok Nites poster
6.2

Bangkok, 2015. Ozawa, a Japanese man who had nowhere to go, meets Luck, a woman has reached the height of her glory on Thaniya Street, a place that flourishes by servicing only Japanese men. Through a trip to trace the scars of colonialism, they look for paradise that we had lost.

Bangkok Nites

2017

Saudade poster
6.9

Seiji works on construction sites. He sympathizes with Hosaka just back from Thailand. Together, they spend their evenings in bars with Thai girls. On a construction site, they meet Takeru, a member of the hip-hop collective of the city.

Saudade

2011

Saudade poster
6.9

Seiji works on construction sites. He sympathizes with Hosaka just back from Thailand. Together, they spend their evenings in bars with Thai girls. On a construction site, they meet Takeru, a member of the hip-hop collective of the city.

Saudade

2011

No artwork available
NR

Dié Mèi and Ace are like brother and sister. One became a pop star in Taipei while the other joined the mafia there, even betraying members of the Amis tribe to which they both belong. After the death of her mother, Dié Mèi loses her voice and questions her career. Ace, seeking redemption, must confront attacks from his former gang. Like in the Amis myth of their childhood, they both try to escape the deluge.

The Lanfang Republic

—

No artwork available
NR

Dié Mèi and Ace are like brother and sister. One became a pop star in Taipei while the other joined the mafia there, even betraying members of the Amis tribe to which they both belong. After the death of her mother, Dié Mèi loses her voice and questions her career. Ace, seeking redemption, must confront attacks from his former gang. Like in the Amis myth of their childhood, they both try to escape the deluge.

The Lanfang Republic

—

Above the Clouds poster
5.0

In some lonely countryside, or more precisely, in the smaller district where the word “community” still fits perfectly, there is an old temple with a red rusty roof. The temple is called Kôun’in whose roof has a tale passed down from ancient times. The tale is based on the myth of dragon god: Once upon a time at a brumous crack of dawn, all kinds of snakes magically flocked to a waterfall. As soon as they merged into a single huge serpent, it started to fly up heavenward. But when it incarnadined his body with the red color of the roof, it transformed itself into a rising dragon.

Above the Clouds

2003

ILHA FORMOSA poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

ILHA FORMOSA

2025