
Directing
Yoji Yamada
Born
1931-09-13 (95)
Place of birth
Osaka, Japan
Known for
Directing
Credits
48 titles
Yoji Yamada (山田 洋次 Yamada Yōji, born September 13, 1931 in Toyonaka City, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films. He was born in Osaka. But because of the work of his father, who was an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway, from the age of 2 he was brought up in Manchuria. Following the end of World War II, he came back to Japan and subsequently he lived in Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture. After receiving his degree from Tokyo University in 1954, he entered Shochiku and worked under Yoshitaro Nomura as a scriptwriter or as an assistant director. He has won many awards throughout his lengthy career and is well respected in Japan and …
Known for
7.8Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
The Twilight Samurai
2002
7.0A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.
The Yellow Handkerchief
1977
7.3A husband and wife have been married for 50 years. For her birthday, the husband asks the wife what she wants for her birthday present. She replies that she wants a divorce. The wife's divorce announcement sends the entire family into chaos.
What a Wonderful Family!
2016
7.0Several years after Shuzo settled his wife’s birthday-surprise divorce proposal (What a Wonderful Family, 40th), the Hirata family faces new problems. Ignoring his family’s worry that he is too old to drive, Shuzo takes his old schoolmate for a spin after carousing. Soon, a new disturbance arises for the Hirata family. Veteran director Yamada Yoji continues his comedy about the “perfect“ Japanese family turned upside down in chaos, laughters and understanding. This time, with an additional taste of death.
What a Wonderful Family! 2
2017
7.3One day, taxi driver Koji Usami is tasked with driving 85-year-old Sumire Takano from Shibamata, Tokyo to a senior care facility in Hayama, Kanagawa. Sumire asks Koji to make some detours. Gradually opening up to her, Sumire begins to tell the story of her grand past...
Tokyo Taxi
2025
7.3Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.
The Castle of Sand
1974
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
NRThe first documentary devoted to actor Yamazaki Tsutomu follows his pursuit of the craft as he confronts old age and cancer.
Yamazaki Riverside - Over an Actor's Shoulder -
2026
NRThis special performance was held to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the release of the film Tora-San. The event was a must-see for fans and non-fans alike, featuring rakugo stories reminiscent of the world of Tora-san, a new rokyoku based on the secret story of the birth of Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, and a rare talk show featuring director Yamada and other speakers sharing their thoughts. Rokyoku ‘Tora-san no Shussei’ (The Birth of Tora-san) Tamagawa Tafuku Rakugo ‘Matsuyama Kagami’ by Yanagitei Kochiraku Rakugo ‘Kasa Go’ by Hanaroku Yanagiya ‘Ohanashi’ (talk show) Yoji Yamada, Chieko Baisho, Osamu Akimoto, hosted by Hanamitsu Yanagiya. (7 September 2024 at Yurakucho Yomiuri Hall) Organised by Shochiku Co.
55th anniversary performance of Tora-San: Rakugo, Talk and Tora Jiro Returns
2024
2010s · 4 titles
NRNo synopsis available yet.
700 Days with Ryuichi Sakamoto
2015
6.7KEN SAN pieces together the puzzle of the life and legacy of Japan's mythical acting icon, Ken Takakura. Collaborators, friends and family tell intimate stories of Ken's journey: how one man of quiet dignity became a cultural barrier-breaking film star.
Ken San
2016
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
NRAfter the war, many filmmakers were expelled from the Japanese film industry due to the Toho Dispute and the Red Purge. Amid such circumstances, there were people who set up their own independent production companies and embarked on film production without relying on corporations. This documentary film focuses on the passionate "spirit of film" of directors such as Satsuo Yamamoto and Tadashi Imai, who, despite many hardships, produced a succession of masterpieces overflowing with humanism and rebellious spirit.
Sat-chan Tadashi-chan: Sengo minshu-teki dokuritsu pro funtō-ki
2015
1990s · 1 titles
Behind the camera
7.8Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
The Twilight Samurai
2002
7.8Seibei Iguchi leads a difficult life as a low ranking samurai at the turn of the nineteenth century. A widower with a meager income, Seibei struggles to take care of his two daughters and senile mother. New prospects seem to open up when the beautiful Tomoe, a childhood friend, comes back into he and his daughters' life, but as the Japanese feudal system unravels, Seibei is still bound by the code of honor of the samurai and by his own sense of social precedence. How can he find a way to do what is best for those he loves?
The Twilight Samurai
2002
7.0A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.
The Yellow Handkerchief
1977
7.0A convict, newly released from prison for murder, joins two strangers on a road trip through Hokkaido to visit his ex-wife, whom he hasn't seen in four years, knowing that if she puts a yellow handkerchief on the window, it would mean that she wants him back at home.
The Yellow Handkerchief
1977
7.3A husband and wife have been married for 50 years. For her birthday, the husband asks the wife what she wants for her birthday present. She replies that she wants a divorce. The wife's divorce announcement sends the entire family into chaos.
What a Wonderful Family!
2016
7.3A husband and wife have been married for 50 years. For her birthday, the husband asks the wife what she wants for her birthday present. She replies that she wants a divorce. The wife's divorce announcement sends the entire family into chaos.
What a Wonderful Family!
2016
7.0Several years after Shuzo settled his wife’s birthday-surprise divorce proposal (What a Wonderful Family, 40th), the Hirata family faces new problems. Ignoring his family’s worry that he is too old to drive, Shuzo takes his old schoolmate for a spin after carousing. Soon, a new disturbance arises for the Hirata family. Veteran director Yamada Yoji continues his comedy about the “perfect“ Japanese family turned upside down in chaos, laughters and understanding. This time, with an additional taste of death.
What a Wonderful Family! 2
2017
7.0Several years after Shuzo settled his wife’s birthday-surprise divorce proposal (What a Wonderful Family, 40th), the Hirata family faces new problems. Ignoring his family’s worry that he is too old to drive, Shuzo takes his old schoolmate for a spin after carousing. Soon, a new disturbance arises for the Hirata family. Veteran director Yamada Yoji continues his comedy about the “perfect“ Japanese family turned upside down in chaos, laughters and understanding. This time, with an additional taste of death.
What a Wonderful Family! 2
2017
7.3One day, taxi driver Koji Usami is tasked with driving 85-year-old Sumire Takano from Shibamata, Tokyo to a senior care facility in Hayama, Kanagawa. Sumire asks Koji to make some detours. Gradually opening up to her, Sumire begins to tell the story of her grand past...
Tokyo Taxi
2025
7.3One day, taxi driver Koji Usami is tasked with driving 85-year-old Sumire Takano from Shibamata, Tokyo to a senior care facility in Hayama, Kanagawa. Sumire asks Koji to make some detours. Gradually opening up to her, Sumire begins to tell the story of her grand past...
Tokyo Taxi
2025
7.3Two detectives are tasked to investigate the murder of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a Tokyo rail yard.
The Castle of Sand
1974
7.4A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
Love and Honor
2006
7.4A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai and his wife, who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband's honor.
Love and Honor
2006
7.6At the Hirata home, three generations of their family live together. A crisis ensues when one afternoon, housewife Fumie falls asleep and wakes up to find a thief has stolen her secret money she kept hidden in the refrigerator.
What a Wonderful Family! 3
2018
7.6At the Hirata home, three generations of their family live together. A crisis ensues when one afternoon, housewife Fumie falls asleep and wakes up to find a thief has stolen her secret money she kept hidden in the refrigerator.
What a Wonderful Family! 3
2018
6.9Nobuko works in Nagasaki, Japan as a midwife. Her son died 3 years earlier from the atomic bomb. On August 9, 1948, her son appears in front of her again. Since that time, Koji appears in front of her and they reminiscence about pleasant times. These happy, but bizarre moments seem eternal.
Nagasaki: Memories of My Son
2015
6.9Nobuko works in Nagasaki, Japan as a midwife. Her son died 3 years earlier from the atomic bomb. On August 9, 1948, her son appears in front of her again. Since that time, Koji appears in front of her and they reminiscence about pleasant times. These happy, but bizarre moments seem eternal.
Nagasaki: Memories of My Son
2015
7.7Torajiro becomes homesick during his travels after watching a television report about his hometown and meeting a young woman that reminds him of his sister Sakura. Meanwhile, a new tenant moves into Toraya restaurant.
Tora-san's Shattered Romance
1971
7.7Torajiro becomes homesick during his travels after watching a television report about his hometown and meeting a young woman that reminds him of his sister Sakura. Meanwhile, a new tenant moves into Toraya restaurant.
Tora-san's Shattered Romance
1971
7.6Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Kabei: Our Mother
2008
7.6Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
Kabei: Our Mother
2008
6.8Following the death of the unmarried and childless Taki, Takeshi, a young relative of hers, discovers several pages of closely written lines in which the old lady has recorded her memories. This is how he learns the truth about her youth working as a housemaid and nanny for the Hirai family in a little house in Tokyo with a red gabled roof.
The Little House
2014
6.8Following the death of the unmarried and childless Taki, Takeshi, a young relative of hers, discovers several pages of closely written lines in which the old lady has recorded her memories. This is how he learns the truth about her youth working as a housemaid and nanny for the Hirai family in a little house in Tokyo with a red gabled roof.
The Little House
2014
7.8Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp
1969
7.8Tora-san, an itinerant peddler who is thrown out of his father's house twenty years before but reconnects with his aunt, uncle and sister Sakura. Tora wreaks some havoc in their lives, like getting drunk and silly at a marriage meeting.
Tora-san, Our Lovable Tramp
1969
No synopsis available yet.
戦争童画集 ~75年目のショートストーリー~
2020
6.1Akio, an HR worker, visits his transformed mother Fukue in Tokyo. Baffled by her new lively self, he encounters a friendly neighbor. Through these interactions, Akio gains new perspectives, noticing overlooked aspects of life.
Mom, Is That You?!
2023
6.1Akio, an HR worker, visits his transformed mother Fukue in Tokyo. Baffled by her new lively self, he encounters a friendly neighbor. Through these interactions, Akio gains new perspectives, noticing overlooked aspects of life.
Mom, Is That You?!
2023
7.3An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.
Tokyo Family
2013
7.3An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.
Tokyo Family
2013
8.2Tora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.
Tora-san's Dream of Spring
1979
8.2Tora-san's opinions about Americans get challenged when another wandering peddler Michael Jordan stops by Shibamata.
Tora-san's Dream of Spring
1979
7.4The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the arrival of a man who ignites flames of romance in the heart of the mother and shows her boy the importance of grit and kindness, but then he leaves with the autumn wind.
A Distant Cry from Spring
1980
7.4The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the arrival of a man who ignites flames of romance in the heart of the mother and shows her boy the importance of grit and kindness, but then he leaves with the autumn wind.
A Distant Cry from Spring
1980
6.6Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
1986
6.6Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
1986
7.4A cantankerous but loveable high school teacher teaches a night school in a poor neighborhood for adult students on the fringes of Japanese society.
A Class to Remember
1993
7.4A cantankerous but loveable high school teacher teaches a night school in a poor neighborhood for adult students on the fringes of Japanese society.
A Class to Remember
1993
8.0After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.
Talk of the Town Tora-san
1978
8.0After a chance encounter with Hiroshi's father on a bus, Tora decides to get serious and reflect on the mortality of man. His plans are derailed when a beautiful lady starts working at Toraya.
Talk of the Town Tora-san
1978


