Kōichi Saitō

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1929-02-03

Deathday 2009-11-28 (80 years old)

Place of Birth Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan

Also Known As Kôichi Saitô, Коити Сайто

Kōichi Saitō

Biography

Kōichi Saitō (斎藤 耕一 Saitō Kōichi, 3 February 1929 – 28 November 2009) was a Japanese film director and photographer. Born in Tokyo, Saitō started studying at Rikkyo University but ended up graduating from the Tokyo College of Photography (currently Tokyo Polytechnic University). He was initially a movie stills photographer at Nikkatsu before launching his own production company, Saito Productions, and directing his first film, Tsubuyaki no Jō, "a low-budget, independent film with a visual flair that earned comparisons with Claude Lelouch and with Richard Lester’s Beatles films, including A Hard Day’s Night". Some of his first films were youth movies featuring Group Sounds music. He came to prominence in the early 1970s with a series of movies about young people escaping to or searching for their identity in the countryside. He won the best director award at the 1972 Mainichi Film Awards. His Tsugaru jongarabushi was selected the best film of 1973 in the Kinema Junpo poll of critics. Saitō continued directing into his seventies and also made some documentaries. He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun (4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette) in 2000.

Known For

Director

2001
Jesus is My Boss

as Director

1996
Hotel Rose

as Director

1993
Bokyo

as Director

1990
Ningen no sabaku

as Director

1988
1977
Seasonal Wind

as Director

1977
Aspiration

as Director

1976
Frozen River

as Director

1975
Someday, Somewhere

as Director

1974
The Homeless

as Director

1973
Tsugaru Folksong

as Director

1973
Second Chance

as Director

1972
Ambition in The Mirror

as Assistant Director

1972
The Rendezvous

as Director

1972
1971
Secret Flower

as First Assistant Director

1971
1971
1971
Memai

as Director

1971
1970
Waterfront Blues

as Director

1970
Rainbow Over Paris

as Director

1969
1969
Aisuru ashita

as Director

1968
Little Snack

as Director

1968
The Wonderful Ones

as Director

1968
1967
Sasayaki no Jō

as Director

Writer

2001
1978
1975
Someday, Somewhere

as Screenplay

1973
1971
1971
1971
A Man's World

as Original Story

1970
Rainbow Over Paris

as Screenplay

1969
Aisuru ashita

as Screenplay

1967
Sasayaki no Jō

as Writer

1967
Falling Blossoms

as Screenplay

1964
Only on Mondays

as Writer

1963
The School Cap

as Writer

1957
Eight Hours of Terror

as Original Story

Camera

1968
The Wonderful Ones

as Director of Photography

1967
Sasayaki no Jō

as Director of Photography

1964
Flora on the Sand

as Still Photographer