A Japanese director of motion-pictures (movies) born in 1903 and actively produced films from 1927 to his death in 1963 of cancer. Ozu was born in Tokyo to a manure-merchant, but most of his early years he spent in school with 5 of his 10 siblings in Matsuzaka. Ozu was a general failure in school because of his interests in drinking and films. He landed a job at Shochiku Film Company as an assistant cameraman, and after 3 years was promoted to assistant director. In 1927, he was elevated to the position of director for his first film, Sword of Penitence. His first films tried to emulate the comedy and social comentary styles of Chaplin films. A marking feature of his films were increadibly low camera angles, and the focus on middle-class family life in the city. His films include:

Zanga no yaiba (Sword of Penitence), 1927
Nikutaibi (Body Beautiful), 1928
Wakodo no yume (Dreams of Youth), 1928
Nyobo funshitsu (Wife Lost), 1928
Kabocha (Pumpkin}, 1928
Hikkoshi fufu (A Couple on the Move), 1928
Wasei kenka tomodachi (Fighting Friends), 1929
Wakaki hi (Days of Youth), 1929
Tokkan kozo (A Straightforeward Boy), 1929
Takara no yana (Treasure Mountain), 1929
Kaishain seikatsu (The Life of an Office Worker), 1929
Daigaku wa deta keredo (I Graduated, But...), 1929
Erogami no onryo (The Revengeful Spirit of Eros), 1930
Ashi ni sawatta koun (The Luck Which Touched the Leg)?, 1930
Ojosan (Young Miss), 1930
Sono yo no tsuma (That Night's Wife), 1930
Rakudai wa shita keredo (I Flunked, But...), 1930
Kekkongaku nyumon (Introduction to Marriage), 1930
Hogoraka ni ayume (Walk Cheerfully), 1930
Shukujo to hije (The Lady and the Facial Hair)?, 1931
Bijin Aishu (Beauty's Sorrows), 1931
Tokyo no gassho (Tokyo Chorus), 1931
Umarete wa mita keredo (I Was Born, But...), 1932
Seishun no yume imaizuko (Where Now Are the Dreams of the Youth), 1932
Mata au hi made (Until the Day We Meet Again), 1932
Haru wa gofujin kara (Spring Comes from the Ladies), 1932
Tokyo no onna (Women of Tokyo), 1933
Hijosen no onna (Women of the Dragnet)?, 1933
Dekigokoro (Passing Fancy), 1933 Ukigusa monogatari (A Story of the Floating Weeds), 1934
Haha o kowazuya (A Mother Should Be Loved}, 1934
Tokyo yoitoko (Tokyo is a Nice Place), 1935
Tokyo no yado (An Inn in Tokyo), 1935
Hakoiri musume (An Innocent Maid), 1935
Hitori musuko (The Only Son), 1936
Daigaku Yoitoko (College is a Nice Place), 1936
Shukujo wa nani o wasurita ka (What Did the Lady Forget?), 1937
Todake no kyodai (Siblings of the Toda Family)?, 1941
Chichi ariki (There Was a Father), 1942
Nagaya shinshiruko (The Record of a Tenement Gentleman), 1947
Kaze no naka no mendori (A Hen in the Wind), 1948
Banshun (Late Spring), 1949
Munekata kyodai (Munekata Sisters), 1950
Bakushu (Early Summer), 1951
Ochazuke no aji (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice), 1952
Tokyo monogatari (Tokyo Story), 1953
Soshun (Early Spring), 1956
Tokyo boshoku (Tokyo Twilight), 1957
Higanbana (Equinox Flower), 1958
Ukigusa (Drifting Weeds), 1959
Ohayo (Good Morning), 1959
Akibiyori (Late Autumn), 1960
Kohayagawa-ke no aki (Autumn for the Kohayagawa Family), 1961
Sanma no aji (An Autmn Afternoon), 1962