Awards & Winners

Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year

Japan Academy Prize

Date Established : 1978

Check all the winners of Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year presented under Japan Academy Prize since 1978 .


Yuya Ishii

Honored for : The Great Passage

Nominations 2014 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yuya Ishii The Great Passage
Hirokazu Koreeda Like Father, Like Son
Kazuya Shiraishi The Devil's Path
Kōki Mitani The Kiyosu Conference
Yoji Yamada Tokyo Family

Daihachi Yoshida

Honored for : The Kirishima Thing

Nominations 2013 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Daihachi Yoshida The Kirishima Thing
Masato Harada Chronicle of My Mother
Yasuo Furuhata Dearest
Isshin Inudo The Floating Castle
Shinji Higuchi The Floating Castle
Junji Sakamoto A Chorus of Angels

Izuru Narushima

Honored for : Rebirth

Nominations 2012 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kaneto Shindo Postcard
K?ki Mitani A Ghost of a Chance
Izuru Narushima Rebirth
Shigemichi Sugita The Last Ronin
Junji Sakamoto Someday

Tetsuya Nakashima

Honored for : Confessions

Nominations 2011 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Tetsuya Nakashima Confessions
Takashi Miike 13 Assassins
Sang-il Lee Villain
Izuru Narushima A Lone Scalpel
Yoji Yamada About Her Brother

Daisaku Kimura

Honored for : Mt. Tsurugidake

Nominations 2010 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Daisaku Kimura Mt. Tsurugidake
Miwa Nishikawa Dear Doctor
Setsur? Wakamatsu The Unbroken
Kichitaro Negishi Villon's Wife
Isshin Inudo Zero no shôten

Y?jir? Takita

Honored for : Departures

Nominations 2009 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Y?jir? Takita Departures
Yoji Yamada Kabei - Our Mother
Masato Harada Climber's High
Tetsuya Nakashima Paco and the Magical Book
K?ki Mitani The Magic Hour

J?ji Matsuoka

Honored for : Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad

Nominations 2008 »

Nominee Nominated Work
J?ji Matsuoka Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
Takashi Yamazaki Always: Sunset on Third Street 2
Isshin Inudo Bizan
Yuichi Sato Kisaragi
Masayuki Suo I Just Didn't Do It

Sang-il Lee

Honored for : Hula Girls

Nominations 2007 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Sang-il Lee Hula Girls
Yoji Yamada Love and Honor
Tetsuya Nakashima Memories of Matsuko
Junya Sat? Yamato
K?ki Mitani The Uch?ten Hotel

Takashi Yamazaki

Honored for : Always: Sunset on Third Street

Nominations 2006 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Takashi Yamazaki Always: Sunset on Third Street
Junji Sakamoto Aegis
Isao Yukisada Year One in the North
Kazuyuki Izutsu Break Through!
Mitsuo Kurotsuchi The Samurai I Loved

Y?ichi Sai

Honored for : Blood and Bones

Nominations 2005 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Y?ichi Sai Blood and Bones
Kiyoshi Sasabe Half a Confession
Yoji Yamada The Hidden Blade
Isao Yukisada Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World
Shinobu Yaguchi Swing Girls

Yoshimitsu Morita

Honored for : Like Asura

Nominations 2004 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yoshimitsu Morita Like Asura
Y?jir? Takita When the Last Sword Is Drawn
Katsuyuki Motohiro Bayside Shakedown 2
Masahiro Shinoda Spy Sorge
Akihiko Shiota Yomigaeri

Yoji Yamada

Honored for : The Twilight Samurai

Nominations 2003 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yoji Yamada The Twilight Samurai
Takashi Koizumi Letter from the Mountain
Hideyuki Hirayama Out
Fumihiko Sori Ping Pong
Masato Harada Totsunyûseyo! Asama sansô jiken

Isao Yukisada

Honored for : Go

Nominations 2002 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Isao Yukisada Go
Yasuo Furuhata The Firefly
Shinobu Yaguchi Waterboys
K?ki Mitani Minna no Ie
Y?jir? Takita Onmyoji

Junji Sakamoto

Honored for : Face

Nominations 2001 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Junji Sakamoto Face
Yoji Yamada Gakko IV: 15-Sai
Takashi Koizumi After the Rain
Kinji Fukasaku Battle Royale
Setsur? Wakamatsu Whiteout

Yasuo Furuhata

Honored for : Poppoya

Nominations 2000 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yasuo Furuhata Poppoya
Masahiro Shinoda Owls' Castle
Nagisa Oshima Gohatto
Masato Harada Jubaku: Spellbound
Kinji Fukasaku The Geisha House

Hideyuki Hirayama

Honored for : Begging for Love

Nominations 1999 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Hideyuki Hirayama Begging for Love
Yoji Yamada Gakko III: The New Voyage
Takeshi Kitano Fireworks
Shohei Imamura Dr. Akagi
Katsuyuki Motohiro Bayside Shakedown: The Movie

Shohei Imamura

Honored for : The Eel

Nominations 1998 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Shohei Imamura The Eel
K?ki Mitani Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald
Yoshimitsu Morita Lost Paradise
Naoto Takenaka Tokyo biyori
Takao Okawara Yukai

Masayuki Suo

Honored for : Shall We Dance?

Nominations 1997 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Masayuki Suo Shall We Dance?
Yoji Yamada Gakko II
K?hei Oguri Sleeping Man
J?z? Itami Supermarket Woman
Kazuki Omori Waga kokoro no ginga tetsudo: Miyazawa Kenji monogatari

Kaneto Shindo

Honored for : A Last Note

Nominations 1996 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kaneto Shindo A Last Note
Kei Kumai Deep River
Masanobu Deme Kike wadatsumi no koe Last Friends
Yasuo Furuhata Kura
Masahiro Shinoda Sharaku

Kinji Fukasaku

Honored for : Crest of Betrayal

Nominations 1995 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kinji Fukasaku Crest of Betrayal
Naoto Takenaka 119
Takayoshi Watanabe Ghost Pub
Kazuyoshi Okuyama Rampo
Rintaro Mayuzumi was replaced as director by executive producer Kazuyoshi Okuyama, after most of the film had already been shot. Okuyama then reshot some, but not all, of the film. The Japanese Academy made a point to credit only Okuyama as director by referring to the film as \"Rampo: Okuyama's Version\".
Kon Ichikawa 47 Ronin

Yoji Yamada

Honored for : A Class to Remember, Tora-san's Matchmaker

Nominations 1994 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yoji Yamada A Class to Remember","Tora-san's Matchmaker
Y?jir? Takita Nemuranai Machi: Shinjuku Same","Made in Japan
Zenzo Matsuyama Rainbow Bridge
Y?ichi Sai All Under the Moon
Shinichiro Sawai Bloom in the Moonlight

Masayuki Suo

Honored for : Sumo Do, Sumo Don't

Nominations 1993 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Masayuki Suo Sumo Do, Sumo Don't
Y?ichi Higashi The River with No Bridge
Kinji Fukasaku The Triple Cross
Nobuhiko Obayashi Kanojo ga kekkon shinai riyû","Seishun dendekedekedeke
J?z? Itami Minbo
Seijir? K?yama T?ki Rakujitsu

Kihachi Okamoto

Honored for : Rainbow Kids

Nominations 1992 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kihachi Okamoto Rainbow Kids
Takeshi Kitano A Scene at the Sea
Akira Kurosawa Rhapsody in August
Naoto Takenaka Muno no hito
Yoji Yamada My Sons

Masahiro Shinoda

Honored for : Childhood Days

Nominations 1991 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Masahiro Shinoda Childhood Days
J?z? Itami Tales of a Golden Geisha
Shun Nakahara The Cherry Orchard: Blossoming
Seijir? K?yama The Pale Hand
Akira Kurosawa Dreams

Shohei Imamura

Honored for : Black Rain

Nominations 1990 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Shohei Imamura Black Rain
Yasuo Furuhata Buddies","Gokudo no onna-tachi: San-daime ane","Gekitotsu
Hiroshi Teshigahara Rikyu
Kei Kumai Death of a Tea Master
Toshio Masuda Shaso

Junya Sat?

Honored for : The Silk Road

Nominations 1989 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Junya Sat? The Silk Road
Yoji Yamada Hope and Pain","Tora-san Plays Daddy
Kinji Fukasaku A Chaos of Flowers
Nobuhiko Obayashi The Discarnates","Nihon junjo-den okashina futari
J?z? Itami A Taxing Woman's Return

J?z? Itami

Honored for : A Taxing Woman

Nominations 1988 »

Nominee Nominated Work
J?z? Itami A Taxing Woman
Kazuki Omori Koisuru Onnatachi","Totto Channel
Kon Ichikawa Taketori Monogatari","Actress
Kosaku Yamashita Yogisha
Hideo Gosha Yoshiwara enjo

Kinji Fukasaku

Honored for : House on Fire

Nominations 1987 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kinji Fukasaku House on Fire
Yoji Yamada Final Take","Tora-san's Island Encounter
Yoshishige Yoshida A Promise
Kon Ichikawa Rokumeikan
Junya Sat? Lost in the Wilderness

Shinichiro Sawai

Honored for : Early Spring Story, W's Tragedy

Nominations 1986 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Shinichiro Sawai Early Spring Story","W's Tragedy
Kon Ichikawa The Burmese Harp
Toshiya Ito Gray Sunset
Hideo Gosha Oar","Tracked
Yoshimitsu Morita And Then

J?z? Itami

Honored for : The Funeral

Nominations 1985 »

Nominee Nominated Work
J?z? Itami The Funeral
Makoto Wada Mahjong h?r?ki
Kon Ichikawa Ohan
Masahiro Shinoda MacArthur's Children
Kinji Fukasaku Shanghai Rhapsody","Legend of the Eight Samurai

Hideo Gosha

Honored for : The Geisha

Nominations 1984 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Hideo Gosha The Geisha
Yoshimitsu Morita The Family Game
Nagisa Oshima Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Shohei Imamura The Ballad of Narayama
Kon Ichikawa The Makioka Sisters

Kinji Fukasaku

Honored for : Fall Guy, Dotonbori River

Nominations 1983 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Kinji Fukasaku Fall Guy","Dotonbori River
Yoshitar? Nomura Suspicion
Hideo Gosha Onimasa
Mitsuo Yanagimachi A Farewell to the Land
Toshiya Ito To Trap a Kidnapper

K?hei Oguri

Honored for : Muddy River

Nominations 1982 »

Nominee Nominated Work
K?hei Oguri Muddy River
Kichitaro Negishi Enrai","Crazy Fruit
Kei Kumai Willful Murder
Shohei Imamura Why Not?
Yasuo Furuhata Station","Shikake-nin Baian

Seijun Suzuki

Honored for : Zigeunerweisen

Nominations 1981 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Seijun Suzuki Zigeunerweisen
Toshio Masuda 203 kochi
Kinji Fukasaku Virus
Yoshitar? Nomura Furueru shita","Bad Sorts
Yoji Yamada A Distant Cry from Spring","Tora's Tropical Fever

Shohei Imamura

Honored for : Vengeance Is Mine

Nominations 1980 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Shohei Imamura Vengeance Is Mine
Satsuo Yamamoto Oh! The Nomugi Pass
Tatsumi Kumashiro Woman with Red Hair
Keisuke Kinoshita My Son! My Son!
Kazuhiko Hasegawa Taiy? o Nusunda Otoko

Yoshitar? Nomura

Honored for : The Demon, The Incident

Nominations 1979 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yoshitar? Nomura The Demon
Nagisa Oshima Empire of Passion
Noboru Tanaka Rape and Death of a Housewife","Pinku saron: Kôshoku gonin onna
Toshiya Fujita Kaerazaru hibi","Kiken na kankei
Yoji Yamada Talk of the Town Tora-san","Stage-Struck Tora-san

Yoji Yamada

Honored for : The Yellow Handkerchief

Nominations 1978 »

Nominee Nominated Work
Yoji Yamada The Yellow Handkerchief
Kon Ichikawa The Devil's Ballad","Gokumon-to
Kaneto Shindo The Life of Chikuzan
Shirô Moritani Mount Hakkoda
Masahiro Shinoda Ballad of Orin