Hitoshi Yazaki

Directing

Hitoshi Yazaki

Born

1956-11-20 (69)

Place of birth

Minamikoma, Yamanashi, Japan

Known for

Directing

Credits

27 titles

Hitoshi Yazaki (born November 11, 1956) is a Japanese director and writer. He studied directing at Nihon University. Before he started to direct, he worked with Nagasaki Shunichi and Ishii Sogo. His feature film Kazetachi no gogo/Afternoon Breezes (1980) was screened with great success at the film festivals in Edinburgh and Montreal and at the New York Gay Film Festival. He also had a lot of success with March Comes in Like a Lion.

Known for

Film credits

Behind the camera

Still Life of Memories poster
4.4

A rising photographer is asked by a mysterious woman to take pictures of her body, engaging both his talent and personal life.

Still Life of Memories

2018

A Cappella poster
5.1

Set in the year 1969 in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Kyoko Noma is a loving female high school student who takes part in campus protests. One day, she meets university student Wataru Domoto in the tea cafe Mubansou ("A Cappella"). Kyoko falls in love with him, but they get involved in an incident that leads to a shocking ending.

A Cappella

2016

March Comes In Like a Lion poster
6.6

Set in Tokyo, Ice brings her amnesiac older brother Haruo home from the hospital to care for him. He is reluctant to go, until Ice tells him that she is his lover. Since he has no memory of his sister Ice, he obliges her. How long until his memory returns?

March Comes In Like a Lion

1991

March Comes In Like a Lion poster
6.6

Set in Tokyo, Ice brings her amnesiac older brother Haruo home from the hospital to care for him. He is reluctant to go, until Ice tells him that she is his lover. Since he has no memory of his sister Ice, he obliges her. How long until his memory returns?

March Comes In Like a Lion

1991

The Girl Who Picks Flowers and the Girl Who Kills Insects poster
7.0

Two girls, one from Germany, the other from Japan meet and become friends in London, but soon discover things aren't what they seem.

The Girl Who Picks Flowers and the Girl Who Kills Insects

2000

The Girl Who Picks Flowers and the Girl Who Kills Insects poster
7.0

Two girls, one from Germany, the other from Japan meet and become friends in London, but soon discover things aren't what they seem.

The Girl Who Picks Flowers and the Girl Who Kills Insects

2000

Strawberry Shortcakes poster
5.6

Follows the ups and downs of four female friends in Tokyo looking for love and trying to cope with the responsibilities in their lives.

Strawberry Shortcakes

2006

Sweet Little Lies poster
5.2

A husband and wife, who have not had sex in three years, both fall into extra-marital affairs.

Sweet Little Lies

2010

As for Me poster
7.2

Kanako, a college senior, is torn between her unreliable ex Keishi and her steady new admirer Yoichi. As Keishi grows close to a freshman named Maiko, and Yoichi’s ex Aiko moves on, Kanako must decide what—and who—she really wants.

As for Me

2025

Sakura poster
8.0

Three siblings share a home with their parents living a happy life. The oldest one is good-looking guy, which is something of a contrast from his younger brother who is at school. The youngest one is the girl and has two brothers to protect her. And then there is Sakura, the family's dog who is always by their side. The fate of this quirky but happy family changes drastically after Hajime, the family's hero-like figure, encounters a tragic accident...

Sakura

2020

Sakura poster
8.0

Three siblings share a home with their parents living a happy life. The oldest one is good-looking guy, which is something of a contrast from his younger brother who is at school. The youngest one is the girl and has two brothers to protect her. And then there is Sakura, the family's dog who is always by their side. The fate of this quirky but happy family changes drastically after Hajime, the family's hero-like figure, encounters a tragic accident...

Sakura

2020

Love and Treachery poster
4.5

Kyosuke, an editor at a publishing company, keeps his concerns about his stagnant relationship with his wife hidden. As he struggles with his feelings, he meets Reika, the lover of an talented up-and-coming novelist, and becomes obsessed with her.

Love and Treachery

2011

Love and Treachery poster
4.5

Kyosuke, an editor at a publishing company, keeps his concerns about his stagnant relationship with his wife hidden. As he struggles with his feelings, he meets Reika, the lover of an talented up-and-coming novelist, and becomes obsessed with her.

Love and Treachery

2011

Have a Nice Day poster
NR

Compilation film featuring short works from directors Hitoshi Yasaki ("Short Cakes"), Yuki Tanada (scriptwriter "Sakuran," "Tsuki to Cherry"), Hiroyuki Nakano ("Stereo Future," "Samurai Fiction"), Masahiko Nagasawa ("Yoru no Picnic"), Masaya Kakehi ("Bijokan), and more for a total of 18 shorts. This time around the theme is "24 hours," where filming for each work must have been completed in 24 hours in order to appear in this film.

Have a Nice Day

2006

Have a Nice Day poster
NR

Compilation film featuring short works from directors Hitoshi Yasaki ("Short Cakes"), Yuki Tanada (scriptwriter "Sakuran," "Tsuki to Cherry"), Hiroyuki Nakano ("Stereo Future," "Samurai Fiction"), Masahiko Nagasawa ("Yoru no Picnic"), Masaya Kakehi ("Bijokan), and more for a total of 18 shorts. This time around the theme is "24 hours," where filming for each work must have been completed in 24 hours in order to appear in this film.

Have a Nice Day

2006

XXX Kiss Kiss Kiss poster
6.8

Five stories of romance, farewells, bitter love and stolen kisses...

XXX Kiss Kiss Kiss

2015

Kill Okiharu's Tears poster
NR

A woman with one year left to live meets a high school student who has lost all emotions other than joy.

Kill Okiharu's Tears

2026

Afternoon Breezes poster
5.8

Two young girls, Mitsu and Natsuko, share the same apartment. Natsuko is Lesbian and secretly in love with Mitsu. But Mitsu is heterosexual and has a boyfriend. In the hope of destroying the relation between Mitsu and her boyfriend, Natsuko seduces the boyfriend and also tries to influence him in other ways.

Afternoon Breezes

1980

Afternoon Breezes poster
5.8

Two young girls, Mitsu and Natsuko, share the same apartment. Natsuko is Lesbian and secretly in love with Mitsu. But Mitsu is heterosexual and has a boyfriend. In the hope of destroying the relation between Mitsu and her boyfriend, Natsuko seduces the boyfriend and also tries to influence him in other ways.

Afternoon Breezes

1980

The Place Where the Sun Sits poster
7.5

Former high school classmates, now adults, hold jealous thoughts, hidden intentions and lust for revenge. Graduates from a high school have held reunions since they graduated 10 years ago. The high school itself is located 2 hours from Tokyo by train and past reunions were held by different teams for different areas. An upcoming reunion is the first time where everyone will gather again.

The Place Where the Sun Sits

2014

The Place Where the Sun Sits poster
7.5

Former high school classmates, now adults, hold jealous thoughts, hidden intentions and lust for revenge. Graduates from a high school have held reunions since they graduated 10 years ago. The high school itself is located 2 hours from Tokyo by train and past reunions were held by different teams for different areas. An upcoming reunion is the first time where everyone will gather again.

The Place Where the Sun Sits

2014

1+1=11 poster
NR

An ensemble drama in which the lives of 25 people intersect, inspired by Yamanaka Sadao's classic film {Humanity and Paper Balloons}. Various men and women, living in Japan today. Presents slices of everyday life for people in various situations, where things that are always the undergo change.

1+1=11

2012

1+1=11 poster
NR

An ensemble drama in which the lives of 25 people intersect, inspired by Yamanaka Sadao's classic film {Humanity and Paper Balloons}. Various men and women, living in Japan today. Presents slices of everyday life for people in various situations, where things that are always the undergo change.

1+1=11

2012

No artwork available
6.7

A man who has lost his memory returns to his hometown and encounter several people from his past and present.

SEARCH

1983

No artwork available
NR

『裏窓』 is a play on the name of the person who shoots himself with a bistol every morning. The two men take it in turns to face themselves with the bullet loaded and damaged, and present the consciousness of a young man who is not alive until he fires a shot into the magazine of his revolver. The young man's consciousness is presented to him. A friend comes along or pulls the trigger. The film is a drama, as are 『裏窓』 and『冬の光』. The woman is found. The film is quite interesting, but you have to pull the trigger to find out if you will die from a gunshot. But that is not to say that the film is not interesting.

裏窓

1975

No artwork available
NR

Yazaki's characteristic relentless depiction of this and that, albeit with some technical problems, shows a fervour that tries to fit into a single, complete world. It is aimed at a spectacle. [This is a Lost Film]

冬の光

1977