
Directing
Nobuhiko Obayashi
Born — Died
1938-01-09 — 2020-04-10
Place of birth
Onomichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
Known for
Directing
Credits
70 titles
Nobuhiko Obayashi (January 9, 1938 – April 10, 2020) was a Japanese director, screenwriter and editor of films and television advertisements who is well known for his surreal visual style. He began his career as a pioneering figure in Japanese experimental film during the 1960s before transitioning to directing more mainstream works such as television and feature films. Though he remains mostly unknown outside of Japan, he has made a prolific number of films in his 50 years of working with the medium.
Known for
7.3Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.
House
1977
7.5The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.
Chizuko's Younger Sister
1991
4.5A college student has an affair with a married, middle-aged teacher.
The Unspoiled Diamond
1982
6.8Kazuko Yoshiyama is a third-year junior-high-school student. One day, while cleaning the lab, she smells lavender and faints. From then on, she has the power to travel through time.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
1983
7.5With the help of a six-inch-tall ancient samurai warrior, a lonely young environmentalist finds self-confidence and new companionship in protecting Japan's beautiful naturality from human mismanagement.
Samurai Kids
1993
7.5Four sisters with no consanguinity are living together since childhood. When facing misfortune and grievances in lives, they give support and encouragement to each other, even sacrifice oneself to help others.
Four Sisters
1985
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
6.9When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.
Labyrinth of Cinema
2020
NRNotes from the Labyrinth, a 60-minute documentary featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Ôbayashi and the cast during the making of the film LABYRINTH OF CINEMA.
Notes from the Labyrinth
2021
2010s · 5 titles
7.7Dives deep into the tragicomic world of the"towns-people" stand-ins working at Warp Station Edo, a popular shooting location for samurai dramas, through a piercing study of a 63-year-old extra. Utilizing mockumentary stylings, this ambitious film forms a compelling commentary on the aspirations that shape film production and the feelings that a simple, ho-hum life can evoke.
Extro
2019
NRAfter meeting as college students in the cinema town of Seijo, husband and wife Nobuhiko and Kyoko Obayashi have gone on to direct and produce acclaimed films together for 60 years.
Seijo Story: 60 Years of Making Films
2019
7.0Interview-based documentary looking back on the making and reception of Nobuhiko Ōbayashi's 1977 film House.
Constructing a House
2010
NRDirector Nobuhiko Obayashi is often dubbed "the cinematic magician." 2 and a half years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer with 3 months to live. But that did not deter him from making movies. Currently, he's in post-production on the second film he's done since being diagnosed. He's driven by the message of his late friend, the maestro Akira Kurosawa: "Movies have the power to stop fighting. Look 400 years ahead and keep on shooting." We follow Obayashi's extraordinary career and his mission to use the big screen to send out a message of peace.
Film Director Nobuhiko Obayashi: His Promise
2019
NRA girl, Kalina, who lives in Belarus spends summer vacation at grandma's house in rural area. They village is very close to the area prohibited to reside because of radioactive contamination. Kalina's family had lived there, but they break up in the attack of mom. Dad moved in far-off Moscow to earn the hospital charges for Mon. One day, hospitalized Mon tells Kalina 'There is a castle of devils in a town called Chernobyl. They are spreading out poisons.' Kalina tells grandma it. She laughs and says 'God will attack them.' However, grandma gets sick, and mom's condition has deteriorated. Kalina wonders why God wouldn't help her. 'If god wouldn't do anything, I do by myself' Kalina decides to go to Chernobyl.
Kalina's Apple: Forest of Chernobyl
2011
2000s · 4 titles
8.0Film director Mario Baba meets a mysterious gentleman, and realizes he is a important man from his boyhood. The two chase each other around, causing a lot of commotion.
The Stupid Teacher
2000
NRWorks commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of Japan mapping Supervision Association
What's a Director?
2006
NRSpecial message from director Nobuhiko Obayashi.
Obayashi Nobuhiko's Special Message
2001
NRNobuhiko Obayashi's 2001 work "From the theme of Mahoroba". Obayashi filmed the works of Genjiro Ohno, a photographer who has been photographing the landscapes and people of Akita Prefecture for over 10 years.
From the theme of Mahoroba "Doi Koinouta"
2001
1990s · 4 titles
8.0This 150-minute documentary, directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi on the set of Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.
Making of 'Dreams'
1990
NRTanaka Yoshio, an ordinary salaryman, is always eager to impress his girlfriend Reiko, but his wallet is always empty. His only lifeline is his credit card, but one day he forgets the repayment date and finds himself in a tight spot. With no other options, Tanaka resorts to taking out a cash advance.
I Can't Pay Back
1994
NRThis is a humorous depiction of the escapades between a young lady who is forced into a political marriage and a university student who falls in love with her.
Virgin Girl's Story: The Lady is in Danger!
1990
NRFilm director Nobuhiko Obayashi went to Russia in 1992 and visited, with his crew, five families from five different cities and asked one member of each family to record their daily life in their homes on video. Using old lullabies as background, the documentary reveals the intimacy, joys, fears and expectations of these families.
Russian Lullabies
1993
1980s · 6 titles
4.5A college student has an affair with a married, middle-aged teacher.
The Unspoiled Diamond
1982
7.0This film is Beat Takeshi's first starring role.
Completely... With That Air!
1981
10.0Pocky, an upbeat high-schooler, is told she will die in three days by a psychic whose predictions always come true. Along the way, she talks about boyfriends with her two friends, meets a strange boy with heart disease, and regularly bumps into a serial bomber.
MOMENT
1981
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Zokubutsu zukan
1982
NRMaking of Nobuhiko Obayashi's TV Program in 1980 called 「いい旅チャレンジ20,000km清水港線・旅の表情』
Making of いい旅チャレンジ20,000 km 清水港線・旅の表情
1980
NRA MAKING OF 天国にいちばん近い島/ The Island Closest to Heaven, narrated by Harada Tomoyo.
New Caledonia 28 Days
1985
1970s · 6 titles
7.3Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.
House
1977
6.4Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi
1979
6.2Komori Chiaki is a budding tennis student. However, one day while training, her coach hits a ball into her eye on accident. At the hospital, the news that she will never regain the sight in her eye leaves her heartbroken. As a last resort, she undergoes a costly surgery from the mysterious doctor known as Black Jack, where after a successful operation, a mysterious figure starts to emerge in her vision, and only she can see it.
Black Jack: The Visitor in the Eye
1977
6.8The Japanese pop music duo Pink Lady are circus performers who show kindness toward a captured "monster," a sad, furry being (played by a man in a bulky, over-sized pink acrylic costume) who suffers acts of unusual cruelty by the keeper and ringmaster before the girls escape with the creature in a circus trailer.
Pink Lady's Motion Picture
1978
7.0A motorcycle cop and a freelance photographer, having learned the location of 1 billion yen's worth of the Imperial Navy's gold, team up to salvage it.
Golden Partners
1979
NRComedy-suspense thriller about a girl, who investigates her sister's mysterious death.
Inside the Storm of Love
1978
1960s · 2 titles
6.0This is a work of Nobuhiko Obayashi when he was around 30 years old. This semi-documentary from the perspective of a young designer visiting Japan from Northern Europe tells the story of the filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi and his friends who the young designer encounters in Japan.
Foreign Correspondent - The Case of a Filmmaker
1968
6.4A filmmaker recalls his youth in the town of Onomichi. In the present, he shoots a film in Onomichi alongside his cast, crew and family.
Confession
1968
Behind the camera
7.3Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.
House
1977
7.3Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.
House
1977
7.5The Kitao family is coping with the loss of the eldest daughter, Chizuko, who was killed in a freak accident the year prior. When the other daughter Mika is suddenly in a dangerous situation, Chizuko returns as a ghost to save her; reunited with her sister, Mika begins spending time with Chizuko again.
Chizuko's Younger Sister
1991
6.8Kazuko Yoshiyama is a third-year junior-high-school student. One day, while cleaning the lab, she smells lavender and faints. From then on, she has the power to travel through time.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
1983
7.5With the help of a six-inch-tall ancient samurai warrior, a lonely young environmentalist finds self-confidence and new companionship in protecting Japan's beautiful naturality from human mismanagement.
Samurai Kids
1993
7.5Four sisters with no consanguinity are living together since childhood. When facing misfortune and grievances in lives, they give support and encouragement to each other, even sacrifice oneself to help others.
Four Sisters
1985
7.0Shunzo is a popular greengrocer in a town near Tokyo. His life, and the lives of his wife Michi, and their two children, undergoes a dramatic change when he encounters Li, a poor college student from China.
Beijing Watermelon
1989
7.2Lonely and love-stricken high-school student Hiroki pursues a girl, but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his psyche, or is she real?
Lonely Heart
1985
7.2Lonely and love-stricken high-school student Hiroki pursues a girl, but another one mysteriously appears in his life. Is she a figment of his psyche, or is she real?
Lonely Heart
1985
6.9When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.
Labyrinth of Cinema
2020
6.9When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.
Labyrinth of Cinema
2020
6.9When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.
Labyrinth of Cinema
2020
7.0In the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a journalist arrives in Nagaoka, a city decimated during a WWII air raid and by the 2004 Chūetsu earthquakes, to report on the disaster; there, she learns about the experiences of its inhabitants and stumbles upon a stage play written by an enigmatic student of her ex-boyfriend.
Casting Blossoms to the Sky
2012
7.0In the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, a journalist arrives in Nagaoka, a city decimated during a WWII air raid and by the 2004 Chūetsu earthquakes, to report on the disaster; there, she learns about the experiences of its inhabitants and stumbles upon a stage play written by an enigmatic student of her ex-boyfriend.
Casting Blossoms to the Sky
2012
7.7Ko, a motorbike enthusiast from the city wandering the Japanese countryside, falls for the carefree local Miyo and teaches her how to ride. When Miyo proves herself a biker prodigy, Ko begins to fear she's destined to crash.
His Motorbike, Her Island
1986
5.2An entire Japanese international grade school—and all within—are mysteriously transported to a foreboding desert wasteland. As the story unfolds, the diminishing student body weathers this apocalyptic crisis while searching for clues about their surroundings, and dealing with psychological breakdown and dangerous exterior forces.
The Drifting Classroom
1987
7.2Spring, 1941: 16-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war's gravitational pull.
Hanagatami
2017
7.2Spring, 1941: 16-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war's gravitational pull.
Hanagatami
2017
6.9Four people are discovered brutally murdered in an up-scale high-rise apartment. All the victims appear to be family, but as the investigation deepens it is discovered that one of the victims isn't related to the family.
The Motive
2004
6.9Four people are discovered brutally murdered in an up-scale high-rise apartment. All the victims appear to be family, but as the investigation deepens it is discovered that one of the victims isn't related to the family.
The Motive
2004
7.0A middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the "women's page", Yumiko gets promoted to editorials.
Turning Point
1994
7.0A middle-aged journalist looking to make her big break. After working the same beat on the "women's page", Yumiko gets promoted to editorials.
Turning Point
1994
6.7A recently divorced writer is reunited with the ghosts of his parents who died when he was a boy. However, every time he sees them he loses more life energy. Now, he must choose between starting a new life or staying forever in the past.
The Discarnates
1988
10.0People from all walks of life all receive mysterious messages from loved ones who were killed 3 months earlier in a shipwreck. They are instructed to go to a small island in the Inland Sea that evening.
Goodbye for Tomorrow
1995
7.4It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara hears "Pipeline" by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called "The Rocking Horsemen." A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60's.
The Rocking Horsemen
1992
5.0A legendary actress thought to be dead is discovered living in an isolated mansion. A screenwriter is tasked with writing her comeback film, which leads the two to live under the same roof.
Legend of the Cat Monster
1983
6.49th-graders Kazuo and Kazumi take a tumble at a temple in a small seacoast town in Japan. Through supernatural intervention, their minds and bodies are switched, and the result is a touching and hilarious coming-of-age comedy as they attempt to survive the pressures of junior high school life.
I Are You, You Am Me
1982
5.8An 11-year-old boy who goes to Africa with his father in 1941. Because he is Japanese, the father is detained by the British. The boy joins up with a beautiful native girl, and the adventure begins.
Kenya Boy
1984
6.4Obayashi's take on the famous Kosuke Kindaichi series, made popular partly thanks to the numerous movie-adaptions by Kon Ichikawa, the most known being The Inugami Family. Kosuke Kindaichi is the most famous detective in Japan. Kindaichi gets a new case to figure out who has beheaded a valuable statue and made off with its head.
The Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi
1979
8.1Relatives gather from afar in wintery Ashibetsu upon the death of patriarch Mitsuo. A mysterious woman named Nobuko suddenly shows up. Her appearance gradually exposes wartime secrets and Mitsuo's unknown past.
Seven Weeks
2014
8.1Relatives gather from afar in wintery Ashibetsu upon the death of patriarch Mitsuo. A mysterious woman named Nobuko suddenly shows up. Her appearance gradually exposes wartime secrets and Mitsuo's unknown past.
Seven Weeks
2014
7.0On 17 May 1936–during a period of war, economic depression, public unease and growing militarism, a time of unrest and confusion when public opinion was, at best, unpredictable–Sada Abe killed and emasculated her lover. Condemned by the law, Sada finds herself lionised by the press and hailed as a 'saint' of love. Because hers was a crime of passion, the purity of her motivation elevates her from criminal to heroine.
Sada
1998
7.0On 17 May 1936–during a period of war, economic depression, public unease and growing militarism, a time of unrest and confusion when public opinion was, at best, unpredictable–Sada Abe killed and emasculated her lover. Condemned by the law, Sada finds herself lionised by the press and hailed as a 'saint' of love. Because hers was a crime of passion, the purity of her motivation elevates her from criminal to heroine.
Sada
1998
10.0Absent-minded fifth-grader Yuta is sent to spend the summer with his grandfather, whom Yuta's parents think is becoming senile and could benefit from Yuta's companionship. At first, Yuta thinks Gramps is a bit addled, too, but as he gets to know the old man better, he finds that his grandfather sees things quite differently from others.
One Summer's Day
1999
10.0Absent-minded fifth-grader Yuta is sent to spend the summer with his grandfather, whom Yuta's parents think is becoming senile and could benefit from Yuta's companionship. At first, Yuta thinks Gramps is a bit addled, too, but as he gets to know the old man better, he finds that his grandfather sees things quite differently from others.
One Summer's Day
1999
8.0Film director Mario Baba meets a mysterious gentleman, and realizes he is a important man from his boyhood. The two chase each other around, causing a lot of commotion.
The Stupid Teacher
2000
8.0Film director Mario Baba meets a mysterious gentleman, and realizes he is a important man from his boyhood. The two chase each other around, causing a lot of commotion.
The Stupid Teacher
2000
6.9During the fervently nationalist months leading up to World War II, a rebellious teenager is transferred to a new primary school in a small Inland Sea town. He vies with the school’s reigning bully, who takes a romantic interest in his older stepsister. When they learn she’s going to be sold to a brothel to pay off her father’s debts, they form an uneasy alliance to free her.
Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast
1986
9.0Depicts the life of Nagaharu Yodogawa.
The Nagaharu Yodogawa Story: A Cineaste's Life in Kobe
1999
9.0Depicts the life of Nagaharu Yodogawa.
The Nagaharu Yodogawa Story: A Cineaste's Life in Kobe
1999

