Directing
Toshio Masuda
Born Oct 5, 1927 · Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan · Died Aug 26, 2026
Toshio Masuda (born October 5, 1927 in Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan) is a Japanese film director. He developed a reputation as a consistent box office hit-maker. Over the course of five decades, 16 of his films made the yearly top ten lists at the Japanese box office—a second place record in the industry. Between 1958 and 1968 he directed 52 films for the Nikkatsu Company. He was their top director of action films and worked with the company's top stars, including Yujiro Ishihara with whom he made 25 films. After the breakdown of the studio system, he moved on to a succession of big-budget movies including the American-Japanese co-production Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) and the science fiction epic Catastrophe 1999: The Prophecies of Nostradamus (1974). He worked on such anime productions as the Space Battleship Yamato series. His corporate drama Company Funeral (1989) earned him a Japanese Academy Award nomination and wins at the Blue Ribbon Awards and Mainichi Film Awards. In Japan, his films are well remembered by fans and called genre landmarks by critics. He remains little known abroad save for rare exceptions of his post-Nikkatsu work such as Tora! Tora! Tora!. However, a number of his films were screened in a 2005 Nikkatsu Action Cinema retrospective in Italy and a few have since made their way to the United States. At the age of 81, he is currently prepping to helm Uchū Senkan Yamato: Fukkatsu hen (2009).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Toshio Masuda, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Directed
Fujisawa Shuhei's Sparkling Sword: Puppeteer in the Shadows
1997
Drama · Action
Father and Son Hawk
1994
Drama
Date Masamune: The One-Eyed Dragon
1993
History · Drama
Heavenly Sin
1992
Drama
Tokugawa Ieyasu: The Conqueror of Japan
1992
Drama · History
Sure Death 5
1991
Drama · Crime · Action
The Great Shogunate Battle
1991
Dohten
1991
History · Drama
Minamoto Yoshitsune
1990
TV Movie
Miyamoto Musashi
1990
The Yagyu Code: Secret Scrolls
1990
History · Action · Adventure
Company Executives
1989
Drama · Thriller
Iemitsu, Hikoza and Isshin Tasuke - A National Crisis: Edo Castle in Danger
1989
Drama · History · Action
This Story of Love
1987
Drama · Action
Tokyo Blackout
1987
Science Fiction
Katayoku dake no tenshi
1986
Comedy · Drama
Vendetta of Obligation
1985
Odin: Starlight Mutiny
1985
Science Fiction · Adventure · Animation
Love: Starting on a Journey
1985
Fantasy · Mystery · Romance
Zero
1984
War
L・O・V・I・N・G
1983
Battle Anthem
1983
War · History
Future War 198X
1982
Drama · War · Action
Highteen Boogie
1982
Drama
The Imperial Japanese Empire
1982
War
The Last Days of Planet Earth
1981
Science Fiction · Fantasy · Drama
The Battle of Port Arthur: Will Love Die?
1981
War & Politics · Drama
Port Arthur
1980
War · Drama · History
Be Forever Yamato
1980
Animation · Drama · Science Fiction
Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage
1979
Animation · TV Movie · Science Fiction
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato
1978
Animation · Science Fiction
Space Battleship Yamato
1977
Action · Animation · Adventure
Human Revolution II
1976
Drama
My Blood is the Blood of Others
1974
Prophecies of Nostradamus
1974
Drama · Science Fiction
The Human Revolution
1973
Drama · History
Lone Wolf and Cub
1973
Action & Adventure
Shadow Hunters 2: Echo of Destiny
1972
Action · Adventure · Crime
Shadow Hunters
1972
Action · Adventure · Crime
Sword and Flower
1972
Crime
Chase That Man
1972
Crime · Action
Law of the Outlaw
1971
Drama · Action · Crime
Challenge at Dawn
1971
History
Spartan Education
1970
Comedy · Drama
Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970
War · History · Drama
The Cleanup
1969
Crime · Action
The Fatal Raid
1969
Exiled to Hell
1969
Drama · Crime
Monument to the Girl's Corps
1968
Drama · War
Man of a Stormy Era
1968
Crime · Action
Song of my Life
1968
Drama
Outlaw: Gangster VIP
1968
Crime · Action · Thriller
The Endless Duel
1967
Drama · Action · Romance
Velvet Hustler
1967
Action
対決
1967
Drama · Action
The Man of Victory
1967
Drama
Challenge for Glory
1966
Action · Crime
The Stormy Man
1966
Drama · Music
Kill the Night Rose
1966
Action · Crime
Blood Shed
1966
Action · Crime
Showdown in the Red Valley
1965
Why Are We Young?
1965
Drama
Taking the Castle
1965
Action · History · War
Eliminate The Killer
1964
Action
Jinsei Gekijo
1964
Crime · Drama
Red Handkerchief
1964
Crime
Prince of Wolves
1963
Action · Crime
Escape into Terror
1963
Action
A Man with Dragon Tattoos
1962
Crime · Drama
Two People, Yet All Alone
1962
零戦黒雲一家
1962
Keep Your Chin Up
1962
Drama
A City Where Men Live
1962
Quiet Man of the Underworld
1961
Lost in the Sun
1961
Drama
Where the Horizon Meets the Sun
1961
Action · Drama
Hotbed of Crime
1961
Crime
Man at the Bullfight
1960
The Brawler
1960
The Day of Youth
1960
Drama
Yakuza Song
1960
Action · Crime · Drama
The Sky Is Mine
1959
Drama
A Man Explodes
1959
Drama · Action · Crime
We Live Today
1959
Get Over Her
1959
The Perfect Game
1958
Crime
Red Pier
1958
Action · Crime
Rusty Knife
1958
Thriller · Action · Crime
Written
Final Yamato
1983
Animation · Science Fiction
High Seas Hijack
1977
Adventure · Action
Conflagration
1975
Action · Thriller · Drama
The Champion
1957
Action · Romance · Drama
Lunar Eclipse
1956
Drama
Acting
Prophecies of Nostradamus
1974
Drama · Science Fiction
