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Masaki Kobayashi

Japanese film director (1916-1996) · Japan · On the map · Directors · Died at 80

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese filmmaker. He is best remembered for directing the epic war trilogy The Human Condition (1959-1961), the samurai films Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967), and the horror anthology epic Kwaidan (1964).

Masaki Kobayashi is read about 459 times a day, in 31 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

1996Died4 October 19961993Masaki Kobayashi on 'The Human Condition'Film1985The Empty TableFilm, Director, Writer1984Medal with Purple RibbonAward1978Glowing AutumnFilm, Director1972FossilSeries, Director, Creator1971Inn of EvilFilm, Director1970Dodes'ka-denFilm, Producer1967Sutherland TrophyAwardSamurai RebellionFilm, 1967Director1965Jury PrizeAward1963Jury PrizeAward1962HarakiriFilm, Director1959The Human Condition I: No Greater LoveFilm, Director, Writer1957Black RiverFilm, Director1955Beautiful DaysFilm, Director1953Sincere HeartFilm, Director1952Youth of the SonFilm, Director1931The Revenge ChampionFilm, Writer1916Born14 February 1916

People around Masaki

Close ties

Known for

View all 28 titles
  • Harakiri 1962
  • The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer 1961
  • Samurai Rebellion 1967
  • The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity 1959
  • The Human Condition I: No Greater Love 1959

Also in Deutsch Français

Filmography 28

46 credits on file

Television 2

Media & music

Photos 1

Awards

Medal with Purple Ribbon1984
Sutherland Trophy1967
Jury Prize1965
Jury Prize1963
Mainichi Film Award for Best Director

About this person

Senses of Cinema described him as "one of the finest depicters of Japanese society in the 1950s and 1960s." Although overshadowed by other Japanese filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in his lifetime, his work has gained wider traction in the 21st century with several of his films being ranked as some of the greatest films ever made.

Country
Japan
Category
Directors
Type
Movie Director
Status
Deceased
Dates
Lived 1916 to 1996 · aged 80

In the same film or series as Masaki

Kōbō AbeAlso in The Thick-Walled Room (1956)Yasushi InoueAlso in The Fossil (1975)Shūsaku EndōAlso in Hymn to a Tired Man (1968)Sadako SawamuraAlso in Broken Drum (1949)