Directing

Taku Shinjo

Born

1944-02-01 (82)

Place of birth

Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

9 titles

Known for

For Those We Love poster
6.1

In 1943, as Japan's WWII effort falters, a vice-admiral proposes training squadrons of "volunteer" flyers to crash their armed planes into Allied warships. Yarn follows the lives of kamikaze pilots, as remembered by an aging Kyushu restaurateur who cherishes their memory. Honoring the dead and multiple military anthems may stir the soul of some Japanese, but elsewhere auds will make a one-way trip for exits. Battle scenes are well-executed and script delivers some memorable scenes, but overall competent helming and thesping are powerless over writer-cum-Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishiara's repetitive storytelling. A post-war postscript adds considerable length to an already over-extended narrative. Tech credits are good quality.

For Those We Love

2007

The Audition poster
NR

Four girls and their manager aiming for stardom!

The Audition

1984

The Panda Story poster
7.0

Kayo, a zookeeper, dreams of raising a panda one day. However, she soon decided to study abroad in China, and her dream came true. As soon as Kayo arrived in Sichuan Province, she met a boy named Ryuryu, and together they helped save an injured panda cub. The panda cub regained his strength and was named Hua Hua, but one day he went missing…

The Panda Story

1988

Okinawan Boys poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Okinawan Boys

1983

No artwork available
7.0

Taku Shinjo spins this rural drama about ancient taboos and encroaching modernity. Takamine (Gitan Otsuru) is a big-city workaholic sent to a small remote island to seal a business deal. His predecessor almost managed to convince the island's 17 inhabitants to sell their stake and make way for a resort hotel -- that is, before he died under dubious circumstances. Takamine finds the islanders polite and kind but unwilling to discuss business; instead, they tell him to become an islander. So the city-slicker stuffed shirt loses his tie and starts to help the women plant and the men fish. He soon makes his acquaintance with Takako (Mitsuko Baisho), the widowed daughter of the island's chief. She lives alone with her crazed son who is kept Jane Eyre-style chained to a stake. One moon-lit night, their mutual attraction boils over, resulting in a naked, passionate roll on the beach.

The Hidden Festival

1998

Aokigahara poster
NR

Set within the Aokigahara forest on Mount Fuji, a famous location for suicides. Follows the love and life between a man and woman.

Aokigahara

2013

Behind the camera

For Those We Love poster
6.1

In 1943, as Japan's WWII effort falters, a vice-admiral proposes training squadrons of "volunteer" flyers to crash their armed planes into Allied warships. Yarn follows the lives of kamikaze pilots, as remembered by an aging Kyushu restaurateur who cherishes their memory. Honoring the dead and multiple military anthems may stir the soul of some Japanese, but elsewhere auds will make a one-way trip for exits. Battle scenes are well-executed and script delivers some memorable scenes, but overall competent helming and thesping are powerless over writer-cum-Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishiara's repetitive storytelling. A post-war postscript adds considerable length to an already over-extended narrative. Tech credits are good quality.

For Those We Love

2007

The Audition poster
NR

Four girls and their manager aiming for stardom!

The Audition

1984

The Panda Story poster
7.0

Kayo, a zookeeper, dreams of raising a panda one day. However, she soon decided to study abroad in China, and her dream came true. As soon as Kayo arrived in Sichuan Province, she met a boy named Ryuryu, and together they helped save an injured panda cub. The panda cub regained his strength and was named Hua Hua, but one day he went missing…

The Panda Story

1988

Okinawan Boys poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Okinawan Boys

1983

Okinawan Boys poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Okinawan Boys

1983

No artwork available
7.0

Taku Shinjo spins this rural drama about ancient taboos and encroaching modernity. Takamine (Gitan Otsuru) is a big-city workaholic sent to a small remote island to seal a business deal. His predecessor almost managed to convince the island's 17 inhabitants to sell their stake and make way for a resort hotel -- that is, before he died under dubious circumstances. Takamine finds the islanders polite and kind but unwilling to discuss business; instead, they tell him to become an islander. So the city-slicker stuffed shirt loses his tie and starts to help the women plant and the men fish. He soon makes his acquaintance with Takako (Mitsuko Baisho), the widowed daughter of the island's chief. She lives alone with her crazed son who is kept Jane Eyre-style chained to a stake. One moon-lit night, their mutual attraction boils over, resulting in a naked, passionate roll on the beach.

The Hidden Festival

1998

Aokigahara poster
NR

Set within the Aokigahara forest on Mount Fuji, a famous location for suicides. Follows the love and life between a man and woman.

Aokigahara

2013

Aokigahara poster
NR

Set within the Aokigahara forest on Mount Fuji, a famous location for suicides. Follows the love and life between a man and woman.

Aokigahara

2013

In Love With Him poster
NR

It depicts a young man who challenges a 2600km traverse of Japan from Hidaka in Hokkaido to Kagoshima in Kyushu with Hokkaido horses.

In Love With Him

1987