We all love watching films but some of us have the curiosity to know the people involved behind the screen, the people who make the film possible, and the people who bring us the beautiful story of the film. We bring you the list of some of the most notable and famous screenwriters from Japan, the writers have given both blockbusters and critically acclaimed movies. The gems of the Japanese Film Industry, from Akira Kurosawa to Hayao Miyazaki. Here are the top writers in the Japanese Film Industry only for you.
1. Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa is the first Japanese film screenwriter and director to win international acclaim. Ikiru, ‘High and Low’, Ran, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, etc. are some of his excellent works. The movie Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai) is believed to be the most entertaining Akira film and his biggest commercial success.
2. Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki has written many iconic movies over the years. He has written for legendary Japanese animation movies like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, etc. Miyazaki has given some of the most successful animated films in Japan. Spirited Away is the biggest animation blockbuster of all time. It is said that Miyazaki does not write scripts or screenplays; he instead of writing chooses a visual method in his lengthy storyboards.
3. Yasujirō Ozu
Yasujirō Ozu was a famous Japanese film director and screenwriter. Yasujiro Ozu and Kogo Noda collaborated on scripts that became classic movies like Tokyo Story, Late Spring, An Autumn Afternoon, and Late Autumn. Yasujiro Ozu's 1953 Tokyo Story is regularly rated among the top films ever made in Japan. The screenplay for the film Tokyo Story is studied by screenwriting students around the world.
4. Shinichi Sekizawa
Shinichi Sekizawa was one of the most famous Japanese screenwriters renowned for his contributions to multiple films of Ishirō Honda; he has worked on several Godzilla films. He also worked for the original Ultraman series and many Toei Doga films such as Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon and Jack and the Witch, etc. He wrote his first screenplay for the film Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers; the film was also his solo direction debut.
5. Hirokazu Kore-Eda
Kore-Eda Hirokazu is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and editor. His work I Wish (2011) was awarded the San Sebastián International Film Festival’s Best Screenplay Award and the film was also nominated for Best Children’s Feature Film at APSA in 2012. In 2018, ‘Shoplifters’ was awarded the 'Palme d’Or' at the Cannes Film Festival 2018. The film also won the Japanese Academy Film Prize for best screenwriting.
6. Yoji Yamada
Yoji was born in Osaka but brought up in China. He wrote his first screenplay in 1958. He has written the screenplay for many notable movies like Castle of Sand (1974), Tsuribaka Nisshi Series, Deguchi no Nai Umi (2006), etc. He is also famous for his direction in movies like Otoko Wa Tsurai Yo series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, and Love and Honor).
7. Akiko Nogi
Akiko Nogi is a Japanese screenwriter born in 1974. Some of her notable works include I Am a Hero, Unnatural, The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Library Wars, etc. She was awarded the Japan Academy Film Prize for Screenplay of the Year in 2021 for the film The Voice of the Sins. She won the 2010 Fuji Television Young Scenario Award for " Goodbye Robinson Crusoe " and made her debut as a screenwriter in the TV drama of the same work.
8. Makoto Shinkai
Makoto Shinkai is Makoto Shinkai, is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, author, and manga artist. He has written for one of the most famous Japanese movies of all time ‘Your Name’ also popular by the name ‘ Kimi No Na Wa’. The film was a critical as well as commercial success in Japan. The second highest-grossing anime film of all time in Japan as well as the fourth highest-grossing film in Japan all time. He also won the Japanese Academy Film Prize for the same. He has also written for films like Weathering With You,
9. Kenji Uchida
Kenji Uchida was born in 1972. He is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His most famous work is ‘The Key of Life’, a 2012 film for which he won the Japanese Academy Film Prize. Kenji’s debut work ‘ A stranger of mine’ released in 2005, bagged four awards at Cannes Film Festival.
10. Takashi Yamazaki
Takashi Yamazaki is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He won the 'Best Director' and 'Best Screenplay' prizes at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2006 for the film ‘Always: Sunset on Third Street’. He has worked as a screenwriter for other notable Japanese films like Ghost Book: Obake Zukan (2022), Arukimedesu no Taisen (2019), Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura’, etc.
