---
name: "Yasujirō Ozu"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/yasujiro-ozu"
fi1m_id: "yasujiro-ozu"
imdb_id: "nm0654868"
tmdb_id: 95501
wikidata_id: "Q55402"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "11 December 1903"
died: "12 December 1963"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 88
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-26T14:25:07.413916+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Yasujirō Ozu

## Identity

Yasujirō Ozu

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/yasujiro-ozu
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** yasujiro-ozu
- **IMDb ID:** nm0654868
- **TMDB ID:** 95501
- **Wikidata ID:** Q55402
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasujir%C5%8D_Ozu, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55402, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654868/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/95501

Director and writer. Born 11 December 1903 in Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan. Died 12 December 1963.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 11 December 1903, Tokyo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
- **Died:** 12 December 1963
- **Active:** 1949–1962
- **Also known as:** Ozu Yasujiro, Yasujirô Ozu, Ozu Yasujirō, Shuutarou Komiya, James Maki, Ernst Schwartz, 小津安二郎, Ясудзиро Одзу, ジェームス・槇, Shūtarō Komiya
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 directing, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Kōgo Noda](https://film.one/person/kogo-noda.md), [Chishū Ryū](https://film.one/person/chishu-ryu.md), [Haruko Sugimura](https://film.one/person/haruko-sugimura.md), [Setsuko Hara](https://film.one/person/setsuko-hara.md), [Takeshi Yamamoto](https://film.one/person/takeshi-yamamoto.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 88, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 92 (1), 1950s 88 (2), 1960s 86 (1), 1980s 88 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 88 to 84 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4
- **Screen time:** 8 hours of reviewed films
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasujir%C5%8D_Ozu, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q55402, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0654868/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/95501

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Tokyo Story*](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md) (92), [*Late Spring*](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md) (92), [*An Autumn Afternoon*](https://film.one/film/an-autumn-afternoon.md) (86), [*Floating Weeds*](https://film.one/film/floating-weeds.md) (84)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Yasujirō Ozu

> Yasujirō Ozu makes ordinary family neglect hurt without making anyone a monster. We recommend his patient, closely observed dramas, though the repeated domestic situations can sometimes feel too neatly arranged.

An ageing couple visit their grown children, and nobody has to behave outrageously for the visit to hurt. In *Tokyo Story* (1953), Yasujirō Ozu makes the children's small discourtesies increasingly difficult to excuse. We squirmed because we recognised the convenience of treating a family obligation as somebody else's problem. It is an exceptional family drama, even if its deliberate pace needs some adjustment at first.

His early work included silent student comedies, crime films and socially conscious dramas. *I Was Born, But...* (1932) is a comedy about children losing faith in adult authority. From *Late Spring* (1949), his post-war work settled almost exclusively on contemporary family dramas. Marriage and family dispersal occupy *Early Summer* (1951); his final film, *An Autumn Afternoon* (1962), returns to a widower and daughter. The colour comedy *Good Morning* (1959) should discourage any notion that he became uniformly solemn.

The camera usually sits low and stays still, with people often facing it directly as they speak. With cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta, a collaborator through the last twenty years of his career, Ozu refined images that give us time to look at the person talking. Brief cutaways to objects, landscapes and interiors set the pace between scenes. We are allowed to consider a remark rather than being hurried towards the next piece of business.

In *Tokyo Story*, the writing with Kōgo Noda matters as much as the camera's position. The children's ingratitude remains mild enough to be defensible, and the screenplay never insists that a failure of care proves a rotten character. Chishū Ryū and Setsuko Hara give finely judged performances within that restraint. Ozu keeps our attention on the ordinary business of spending time together, rather than supplying a speech to tell us whom to blame.

The later films can look schematic when familiar domestic difficulties recur, and the distinctions between them ask for close attention. Nor would we pretend that *Tokyo Story* immediately makes its slow pace seem necessary. Start with it, but give it an evening without interruptions.

## Biography

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began working at the Shōchiku Motion Picture Company in Tokyo in 1923 as an assistant cameraman and directed his first film in 1927. He made many silent films, including comedies, in the late 1920s and early 1930s before turning to more serious subjects.

Ozu is known for films such as *Late Spring* (1949), *Tokyo Story* (1953), on which he also worked as screenwriter, *Early Summer* (1951), *Floating Weeds* (1959) and *An Autumn Afternoon* (1962). His work often examined family relationships and generational change. He died in Tokyo on 12 December 1963.

*Sources: britannica.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *An Autumn Afternoon* (1962), Fi1m 86, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/an-autumn-afternoon.md)
- *Floating Weeds* (1959), Fi1m 84, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/floating-weeds.md)
- *Tokyo Story* (1953), Fi1m 92, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md)
- *Late Spring* (1949), Fi1m 92, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Wings of Desire* (1987), Fi1m 88, In Memory Of — [page](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md)

## Complete filmography (65)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Ozu* (2023), series, Original Story
- *Lil’ Tokyo Story* (2016), Writer
- *Musume no kekkon* (2003), Original Film Writer
- *An Autumn Afternoon* (2003), Screenplay
- *Wings of Desire* (1987), In Memory Of — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/wings-of-desire.md)
- *Danshun* (1965), Original Story
- *The Radish and the Carrot* (1965), Story
- *Watashi-wa beretto* (1964), Script Supervisor, Writer
- *Youth After School* (1963), Writer
- *An Autumn Afternoon* (1962), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/an-autumn-afternoon.md)
- *The End of Summer* (1961), Director, Screenplay
- *Late Autumn* (1960), Director, Screenplay
- *Floating Weeds* (1959), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/floating-weeds.md)
- *Good Morning* (1959), Director, Screenplay
- *Equinox Flower* (1958), Director, Screenplay
- *Tokyo Twilight* (1957), Director, Screenplay
- *Early Spring* (1956), Director, Screenplay
- *The Moon Has Risen* (1955), Screenplay
- *Tokyo Story* (1953), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md)
- *The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice* (1952), Director, Screenplay
- *Early Summer* (1951), Director, Screenplay
- *The Munekata Sisters* (1950), Screenplay, Director
- *Late Spring* (1949), Screenplay, Director — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md)
- *A Hen in the Wind* (1948), Director, Screenplay
- *Record of a Tenement Gentleman* (1947), Director, Screenplay
- *There Was a Father* (1942), Director, Writer
- *Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family* (1941), Director, Writer
- *Unending Advance* (1937), Story
- *What Did the Lady Forget?* (1937), Director, Writer
- *The Only Son* (1936), Story, Director
- *The Lion Dance* (1936), Director
- *College Is a Nice Place* (1936), Director, Writer
- *An Inn in Tokyo* (1935), Director, Story
- *An Innocent Maid* (1935), Director
- *A Story of Floating Weeds* (1934), Director, Story
- *A Mother Should Be Loved* (1934), Director, Story
- *Passing Fancy* (1933), Director, Story
- *Dragnet Girl* (1933), Director, Story
- *Woman of Tokyo* (1933), Director, Story
- *Until the Day We Meet Again* (1932), Director
- *Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?* (1932), Director
- *I Was Born, But...* (1932), Director, Idea
- *Spring Comes from the Ladies* (1932), Director, Story
- *Tokyo Chorus* (1931), Director
- *The Sorrow of the Beautiful Woman* (1931), Director, Writer
- *The Lady and the Beard* (1931), Director
- *Young Lady* (1930), Director, Idea
- *The Luck Which Touched the Leg* (1930), Director
- *The Revengeful Spirit of Eros* (1930), Director
- *That Night's Wife* (1930), Director
- *I Flunked, But...* (1930), Director, Story
- *Walk Cheerfully* (1930), Director
- *A Primer on Marriage* (1930), Director
- *A Straightforward Boy* (1929), Director
- *The Life of an Office Worker* (1929), Director, Story
- *I Graduated, But...* (1929), Director
- *Fighting Friends* (1929), Director
- *Days of Youth* (1929), Director, Writer
- *Treasure Mountain* (1929), Director, Story
- *Physical Beauty* (1928), Director, Dialogue
- *Couple on the Move* (1928), Director
- *Pumpkin* (1928), Director, Story
- *Wife Lost* (1928), Director
- *Dreams of Youth* (1928), Director, Writer
- *Sword of Penitence* (1927), Director

## Gallery

- ![Yasujirō Ozu](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-39353e725eb4.jpg) Yasujirō Ozu — Shigeru Tamura, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Yasujiro_Ozu_by_Shigeru_Tanura.jpg/1280px-Yasujiro_Ozu_by_Shigeru_Tanura.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Fotograma de "Amad a la madre" (1934) (2019)](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-1855e5eef534.jpg) Fotograma de "Amad a la madre" (1934) (2019) — Manuel Caduco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/Haha_o_kowazuya_%281934%29.jpg/1280px-Haha_o_kowazuya_%281934%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Fotograma de "Amad a la madre" (1934) (2019)](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-7a15a8c7c732.jpg) Fotograma de "Amad a la madre" (1934) (2019) — Manuel Caduco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Haha_o_kowazuya_1934_pillow_shot.jpg/1280px-Haha_o_kowazuya_1934_pillow_shot.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Front row: From left to right: Heinosuke Gosho (1902-1981), Tomu Uchida (1898-1970) and Mikio Naruse (1905-1969) Second row: From left to right: Yasujirō Ozu (1 (1955)](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-b3a1f97cbf22.jpg) Front row: From left to right: Heinosuke Gosho (1902-1981), Tomu Uchida (1898-1970) and Mikio Naruse (1905-1969) Second row: From left to right: Yasujirō Ozu (1 (1955) — 映画世界社

Eiga Sekaisha Ltd., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Heinosuke_Gosho%2C_Yasujir%C5%8D_Ozu%2C_Tomu_Uchida%2C_Kiyohiko_Ushihara%2C_Isamu_Kosugi_and_Mikio_Naruse%2C_1955.jpg/1280px-Heinosuke_Gosho%2C_Yasujir%C5%8D_Ozu%2C_Tomu_Uchida%2C_Kiyohiko_Ushihara%2C_Isamu_Kosugi_and_Mikio_Naruse%2C_1955.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Yasujirō Ozu](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-b3314743a518.jpg) Yasujirō Ozu — Image via TMDB
- ![『秋刀魚の味』（1962年）の撮影現場。小津安二郎、中村伸郎。](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-a74e4ed20ea9.jpg) 『秋刀魚の味』（1962年）の撮影現場。小津安二郎、中村伸郎。 — キネマ旬報社, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Kinema-Junpo-1962-November-late-2.jpg/1280px-Kinema-Junpo-1962-November-late-2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![​『秋刀魚の味』（1962年）の撮影現場。小津安二郎、吉田輝雄。](https://film.one/media/person/59936/gallery-0e790d8933a7.jpg) ​『秋刀魚の味』（1962年）の撮影現場。小津安二郎、吉田輝雄。 — キネマ旬報社, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Kinema-Junpo-1962-November-late-3.jpg/1280px-Kinema-Junpo-1962-November-late-3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 4 won

- Medal with Purple Ribbon 1958: Medal with Purple Ribbon (won)
- Sutherland Trophy 1958: Sutherland Trophy (won), for *Tokyo Story*
- Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director 1952: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Director (won), for *Early Summer*
- Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay 1950: Mainichi Film Award for Best Screenplay (won), for *Late Spring*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/yasujiro-ozu