Nobuo Nakagawa
Directing · Born 1905-04-18 · age 79 at death · Kyōto, Kyōto Prefecture, Japan
Nobuo Nakagawa (中川 信夫, Nakagawa Nobuo, April 18, 1905 – June 17, 1984) was a Japanese film director, most famous for the stylized, folk tale-influenced horror films he made in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Kyoto, Nakagawa was early on influenced by proletarian literature and wrote amateur film reviews for the Kinema Junpō film magazine. He joined Makino Film Productions in 1929 as an assistant director and worked under Masahiro Makino. When that studio went bankrupt in 1932, he switched to Utaemon Ichikawa's production company and made his debut as a director in 1934 with Yumiya Hachiman Ken. He later moved to Toho, where he made comedies starring Enoken and even documentaries during the war. It was at Shintoho after the war that he became known for his cinematic adaptations of Japanese Kaidan, especially his masterful version of Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan in 1959. To Western audiences, his most famous film is Jigoku (1960), which he also co-wrote. The film was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2006. He also filmed many Kaidan for television. His last film was 1982's Kaidan: Ikiteiru Koheiji.
Titles
Jigoku
Ghost Story of Yotsuya
Black Cat Mansion
Ultraman Leo
Quick-draw Okatsu
The Ghost of Kasane
The Lady Vampire
Okatsu the Fugitive
Snake Woman's Curse
The Ceiling at Utsunomiya
The Vampire Moth
The Living Koheiji
Samurai Hawk
A Wicked Woman
Chutaro of Banba
Itahachi shima
Ghost in the Regiment
Today is Payday
Kaachan
Death Row Woman
Kagebôshi: The Shadow Avenger
Late Night Confession
The Phantom Goblin
Stray Sheep
Shishun no izumi
Showdown at Lightning Pass
Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki
Kisan Detective Story: The Mysterious Doll-Maker
Enoken's Bow-Wow General
Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain
Casebooks of Detective Umon: The Incident of the Fawn-Pattern Cloth
Love's Zephir Along the Tokaido
Sunset Over Mount Fuji
An Edoite Judge
Kanashimi wa itsumo haha ni
Rivals
Hibarigaoka Showdown
Umon's Detective Stories: The One-Eyed Wolf
Mysterious Thirteen Nights Volume 1
Mysterious Thirteen Nights Volume 2
The Adventures of Tobisuke
Rinchi
The Man Who Challenged 8,000,000-Koku
Sakura sakazuki: gikyōdai
Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 1 - Ghost Story at the Kagamigaike
Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 4 - The Yokai Blood-stained Comb
Bored Hatamoto: The Mysterious Coral Mansion
The Warrior from Kishu
Japanese Ghost Story Masterpiece Theater: The Sealed Room of the Inner Chamber
Bored Hatamoto: The Demon of Chinatown
Farewell to the Highland Station
Casebook of Dandy Sashichi: Six Famous Beauties
Sea of Wonders
男の嵐
Storming Osaka Castle: The Sanada Ten Braves
In Love with a Heavenly Fox
The Three Swordsmen of Ashura
Casebook of Dandy Sashichi: The Ox of Edo
Playgirl
Japanese Masterpiece Ghost Story Theatre