born Dec. 15, 1903, Tokyo, Japan
died Dec. 12, 1963, Tokyo
Japanese film director.
He joined the Shochiku movie studio as a cameraman in 1923 and directed his first film three years later. He originated the genre known as shomin-geki ("common-people's drama"), which treated lower-middle-class Japanese family life, with films such as the silent comedies I Graduated, But... (1929) and I Was Born, But... (1932) and the sound drama The Toda Brother and His Sisters (1941). His later films, noted for their detailed character portrayals, pictorial beauty, and quiet, contemplative mood, include Late Spring (1949), Tokyo Story (1953), Early Spring (1956), Late Autumn (1960), The End of Summer (1961), and An Autumn Afternoon (1962). Ozu was considered the most typically Japanese of all directors and received more honours in his own country than did any other director.