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Juzo Itami Biography (1933-1997)

Original name, Yoshihiro Ikeuchi; born May 15, 1933, in Kyoto, Japan; committed suicide, December 20, 1997, in Tokyo, Japan; son of Manasaku Itami (a filmdirector); (second marriage) married Nobuko Miyamoto (an actress), 1969; children: (second marriage) Mansaku, Manpeii (both sons). Avocational interests: Cooking. Career: Director, producer, actor, and writer. ItamiFilms, California, founder, 1989. Also worked as a commercial artist, boxer,television reporter, and magazine editor. Awards, Honors: Numerous Japanese Academy Awards, including 1984, for The Funeral, and nine Japanese Academy Awards, including best director and best screenwriter, 1988, for A Taxing Woman; Gold Hugo Award nomination, Chicago Film Festival, 1997, for Supermarket Woman..

In 1992, in front of his Tokyo home, Itami was attacked by Japanese gangsters, the yakuza, after his film The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion wasreleased. He suffered knife wounds on his face and neck and was hospitalized.Later, five gangsters were convicted and imprisoned.

Nationality

Japanese

Gender

Male

Occupation

Director, producer, actor, writer

Birth Details

May 15, 1933

Kyoto, Japan

Death Details

December 20, 1997

Tokyo, Japan

Famous Works

• CREDITS
• Film Work
• Director, Unless Otherwise Noted
• The Funeral (also known as Death, Japanese Style and Ososhiki), Electric, 1984
• And producer, Dandelion (also known as Tampopo), Itami, 1987
• A Taxing Woman (also known as Marusa no Onna), Japanese Films, 1988
• A Taxing Woman Returns (also known as A Taxing Woman's Return and Marusa no Onna II), Itami, 1989
• Executive Producer, Sweet Home (also known as Suito Homu),1989
• And producer, A-ge-man (also known as Ageman and Tales of a Golden Geisha), 1990
• The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (also known as The Anti-Extortion Woman, The Gangster's Moll, Minbo, Minbo, Or theGentle Art of Japanese Extortion, and Minbo no Onna), Northern Arts Entertainment, 1992
• The Last Dance (also known as Daibyonin), 1993
• A Quiet Life (also known as Shizukana Seikatsu), Itami, 1995
• Supermarket Woman (also known as Supa no Onna), 1997
• Film Appearances
• Nise Daigakusei (also known as A False Student), 1960
• Ototo (also known as Her Brother), 1960
• Kirai Kirai Kirai (also known as Dislike), 1960
• Kuroi Junin no Onna (also known as Ten Dark Women), 1961
• (Under name Ichizo Itami) Colonel Shiba, 55 Days at Peking, AlliedArtists, 1963
• Waris, Lord Jim, Columbia, 1965
• A Man's Face Shows His Personal History (also known as Otokonokao wa Rirekisho), Shockiku Films, 1966
• A Treatise on Japanese Bawdy Songs (also known as Nihon ShunkaKo), 1967
• Imoto (also known as My Sister, My Love), 1974
• Wahahai wa neko dearu (also known as I Am a Cat), 1975
• Yuugure Made (also known as Until Dusk), 1979
• "Le Labyrinthe d'herbes" (title means "Labyrinth in the Field"), Collections Privees, 1979
• Mo Hozue wa Tsukanai, 1979
• Akuryo Island (also known as Akuryo-To), 1981
• Tsuruko's husband Tatsuo, The Makioka Sisters (also known as Fine Snow, Hosone Yuki, and Sasameyuki), S8, 1983
• Taisuke Itakura, The Politician, 1983
• Kusameikyu, 1984
• Mr. Numata, The Family Game (also known as Kazoku Game andKazoku Gaimu), Film Society, 1984
• Admiral Hatano, MacArthur's Children (also known as Setouchi Shonen Yakyu Dan), Orion Classics, 1984
• Local character, Sweet Home (also known as Suito Homu), 1989
• Television Appearances
• The Tale of Genji, 1975
• Yoshino, Kita no kuni kara (series), 1981
• WRITINGS
• Screenplays
• The Funeral (also known as Death, Japanese Style and Ososhiki Zazambo), Electric, 1984
• Dandelion (also known as Tampopo), Itami, 1987
• A Taxing Woman (also known as Marusa no Onna), Japanese Films, 1988
• A Taxing Woman Returns (also known as A Taxing Woman's Return and Marusa no Onna II), Itami, 1989
• A-ge-man (also known as Ageman and Tales of a Golden Geisha), 1990
• The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion (also known as The Anti-Extortion Woman, The Gangster's Moll, Minbo, Minbo, Or theGentle Art of Japanese Extortion, and Minbo no Onna), Northern Arts Entertainment, 1992
• The Last Dance (also known as Daibyonin), 1993
• A Quiet Life (also known as Shizukana Seikatsu), Itami, 1995
• Supermarket Woman (also known as Supa no Onna), 1997
• Books
• Yoroppa Taikutsu Nikki (title means "Diary of Boring Days in Europe"; also known as The Diary of Ennui in Europe), Tokyo, 1965
• The Funeral Diary (nonfiction; also known as Ososhiki Nikki), 1985
• Enjoy French Cooking with Me, 1987

Further Reference

Obituaries and Other Sources

Books

• International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers, 1997, Volume 2: Directors, St. James (Detroit, MI),

Periodicals

• Cinema June 1985, (Paris),
• Entertainment Weekly, January 9, 1998, p. 14
• Far Eastern Economic Review, October 21, 1993, p. 82
• Films in Review, May, 1988
• Independent, December 23, 1997, p. 16.
• Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1992,
• Monthly Film Bulletin April 1988, (London),
• New York Times, June 18, 1989,
• Sight and Sound 1989, summer,
• Washington Post, December 22, 1997, p. C1.*