Yōjirō Takita (滝田 洋二郎Takita Yōjirō, born December 4, 1955) is a Japanesefilmmaker. Takita received anOscar forBest Foreign Language Film for his 2008 dramaDepartures. It marked the first time a Japanese film won the award after the category first became competitive in 1957.
Yōjirō Takita entered the film industry through Mukai Productions, where he served as anassistant director.[1] Takita first came to prominence with the long-running, popular light-comicpink filmMolester's Train (痴漢電車,Chikan densha) series, started by Shin'ya Yamamoto in 1975,[2] and which Takita began directing in 1982 atShintōhō Eiga.[3] Later, for theNikkatsu studio, Takita filmed similarMolester's films as part of that studio'sRoman Porno line.Molester's School Infirmary (1984),Molester's Tour Bus (1985) andMolester's Delivery Service (1986) are some of these titles.[4] Takita's 1986 mainstream comedy,No More Comic Magazines! received critical praise, and he has produced several popular films since then.Yomiuri Shimbun writes that Takita's films usually have, "a warm tenderness, reflecting his bright and upbeat personality".[5]
