Kaneto Shindo (新藤 兼人, Shindō Kaneto, April 22, 1912 – May 29, 2012) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and author. He was married to actress Nobuko Otowa (1925–1994), who appeared in several of his films. He directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include Children of Hiroshima, The Naked Island, Onibaba, Kuroneko and A Last Note. His scripts were filmed by such directors as Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Fumio Kamei and Tadashi Imai. He won the 1996 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year for A Last Note.
Shindo was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, and he made several films about Hiroshima and the atomic bomb. Like his early mentor Kenji Mizoguchi, many of his films feature strong female characters. He was a pioneer of independent film production in Japan, founding a company called Kindai Eiga Kyokai. He continued working as a scriptwriter, director and author until his death at the age of 100.
Shindo made a series of autobiographical films, beginning with the first film he directed, 1951's Story of a Beloved Wife, about his struggle to become a screenwriter, through 1986's Tree Without Leaves, about his childhood, born into a wealthy family which became destitute, 2000's By Player, about his film company, seen through the eyes of his friend Taiji Tonoyama, and his last film, Postcard, directed at the age of 98, loosely based on his military service.
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Known For
Hachiko
(2023)
Original Story
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
(2009)
Original Film Writer
The Perfect Education
(1999)
Writer
Onibaba
(1964)
Screenplay
Hachiko
(1987)
Story and Screenplay
The Naked Island
(1960)
Writer
Children of Hiroshima
(1952)
Writer
Kuroneko
(1968)
Screenplay
The Battle of Okinawa
(1971)
Screenplay
Edo Porn
(1981)
Writer
Irezumi
(1966)
Screenplay
Full Filmography
Writing
Waiting Woman
(1946)
Writer
Victory of Women
(1946)
Screenplay
The Woman Who Holds the Key
(1946)
Screenplay
Marriage
(1947)
Screenplay
The Ball at the Anjo House
(1947)
Writer
Temptation
(1948)
Writer
Kōfuku no genkai
(1948)
Screenplay
The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
(1948)
Screenplay
Great X
(1948)
Screenplay
Here's to the Young Lady
(1949)
Writer
Ishimatsu of the Forest
(1949)
Writer
Flame of My Love
(1949)
Screenplay
Spring Snow
(1950)
Screenplay
The Bells of Nagasaki
(1950)
Screenplay
A Man from Akagi
(1950)
Screenplay
Pursuit At Dawn
(1950)
Writer
Alps Story: The Wild
(1950)
Writer
The Rainbow-Colored Flower
(1950)
Screenplay
The Tale of Genji
(1951)
Writer
Story of a Beloved Wife
(1951)
Screenplay
Izayoi kaidō
(1951)
Screenplay
Dancing Girl
(1951)
Screenplay
The White Orchid
(1951)
Screenplay
Clothes of Deception
(1951)
Screenplay
Who Will Judge Me?
(1951)
Writer
Judge of the Ashuras
(1951)
Screenplay
Children of Hiroshima
(1952)
Writer
Sisters of Nishijin
(1952)
Writer
Onna no issho
(1953)
Writer
Reminiscence
(1953)
Screenplay
A Lonely Woman in a Lonely Land
(1953)
Writer
Yokubo
(1953)
Writer
Before Dawn
(1953)
Screenplay
Miniature
(1953)
Screenplay
Murahachibu
(1953)
Writer
Cape Ashizuri
(1954)
Screenplay
The Ditch
(1954)
Screenplay
Dorodarake no seishun
(1954)
Screenplay
Love and Duty
(1954)
Writer
The Wolves
(1955)
Screenplay
Women of Ginza
(1955)
Screenplay
The Motherless
(1955)
Screenplay
Sisters
(1955)
Writer
Ai Sureba Koso
(1955)
Screenplay
The Beauty and the Dragon
(1955)
Writer
Love is Lost
(1956)
Screenplay
Ryûri no kishi
(1956)
Writer
Warriors of Ako: Scroll of Heaven, Scroll of Earth
(1956)
Screenplay
Wedding Day
(1956)
Screenplay
The Shadow of Fear
(1956)
Writer
Actress
(1956)
Screenplay
How Sorrowful
(1956)
Screenplay
The Flesh Is Weak
(1957)
Writer
Who's The Real Killer
(1957)
Writer
On This Earth
(1957)
Writer
Harbor Rats
(1957)
Screenplay
The Precipice
(1958)
Screenplay
Face in the Dark
(1958)
Screenplay
The Lowest Man
(1958)
Writer and Screenplay
The Naked Sun
(1958)
Screenplay
Night Drum
(1958)
Screenplay
Forbidden Lips
(1958)
Screenplay
The Ladder of Success
(1958)
Writer
Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi
(1959)
Writer
Diary of Forsaken Love
(1959)
Writer
Break Down that Wall
(1959)
Writer
Lucky Dragon No. 5
(1959)
Writer
Saijo katagi
(1959)
Screenplay
The Great Road
(1960)
Writer
The Wayside Pebble
(1960)
Screenplay
The Gambling Samurai
(1960)
Writer
Master Fencer Sees the World
(1960)
Screenplay
The Naked Island
(1960)
Writer
Devotion to Railway
(1960)
Screenplay
The Matsukawa Incident
(1961)
Screenplay
Haitoku no mesu
(1961)
Screenplay
A Design for Dying
(1961)
Screenplay
Challenge to Live
(1961)
Screenplay
As the Clouds Scatter
(1961)
Screenplay
Black Lizard
(1962)
Screenplay
This Madding Crowd
(1962)
Screenplay
Ano sura no hate ni hoshi hama tataku
(1962)
Screenplay
Elegant Beast
(1962)
Screenplay
Hell's Assassin
(1962)
Screenplay
Human
(1962)
Writer
Stolen Pleasure
(1962)
Writer
Their Legacy
(1962)
Writer
Destiny's Son
(1962)
Writer
The Whale God
(1962)
Screenplay
Sabakareru Echizen no kami
(1962)
Screenplay
The Lucky General
(1962)
Screenplay
Maiko and the Assassin
(1963)
Screenplay
The White Peaks of Mt. Fuji
(1963)
Screenplay
Mother
(1963)
Writer
The Navy
(1963)
Screenplay
When Women Lie
(1963)
Writer
A Public Benefactor
(1964)
Writer
駿河遊侠傳 賭場荒し
(1964)
Screenplay
Onibaba
(1964)
Screenplay
Manji
(1964)
Screenplay
Conquest
(1965)
Screenplay
Seisaku's Wife
(1965)
Screenplay
Nezumi Kozo Jirokichi
(1965)
Screenplay
Drunken Harbor
(1966)
Screenplay
Fighting Elegy
(1966)
Screenplay
Dynamite Doctor
(1966)
Screenplay
Dynamite Doctor Returns
(1966)
Screenplay
Lost Sex
(1966)
Writer
Irezumi
(1966)
Screenplay
Zatoichi's Pilgrimage
(1966)
Screenplay
Libido
(1967)
Writer
Two Wives
(1967)
Screenplay
The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka
(1967)
Screenplay
A Fallen Woman
(1967)
Screenplay
The House of the Sleeping Virgins
(1968)
Writer
Operation Negligee
(1968)
Writer
Kuroneko
(1968)
Screenplay
Thousand Cranes
(1969)
Writer
Heat Wave Island
(1969)
Writer
Devil's Temple
(1969)
Writer
Live Today, Die Tomorrow!
(1970)
Screenplay
Strange Affinity
(1970)
Writer
Evil Spirits in the Darkness
(1971)
Screenplay
Sweet Secret
(1971)
Screenplay
The Battle of Okinawa
(1971)
Screenplay
Hymn
(1972)
Writer
The Iron Crown
(1972)
Writer
Rika: The Mixed-Blood Girl
(1972)
Writer
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun
(1972)
Screenplay
The Heart
(1973)
Writer
Rika 3: Juvenile's Lullaby
(1973)
Screenplay
Rika 2: Lonely Wanderer
(1973)
Writer
My Way
(1974)
Writer
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
(1975)
Writer
The Perennial Weed
(1975)
Screenplay
The Life of Chikuzan
(1977)
Writer
Dangerous Liaisons
(1978)
Screenplay
A Young Female Instructor
(1978)
Screenplay
The Incident
(1978)
Screenplay
Horror of the Giant Vortex
(1978)
Writer
The Strangling
(1979)
Screenplay
The Three Undelivered Letters
(1979)
Writer
Drive for the Future
(1980)
Screenplay
Magnitude 7.9
(1980)
Writer
Rennyo and His Mother
(1981)
Writer
Edo Porn
(1981)
Writer
The Phantom Thief Nezumi Kozo and the Tattooed Judge
(1981)
Screenplay
Shadow Conspirator
(1982)
Screenplay
Nezumi Kozo Jirokichi hissatsu no shiraha
(1983)
Screenplay
Tsumiki kuzushi
(1983)
Screenplay
The Horizon
(1984)
Writer
Tree Without Leaves
(1986)
Original Story and Screenplay
Black Board
(1986)
Writer
Actress
(1987)
Writer
Hachiko
(1987)
Story and Screenplay
Sakura-tai Chiru
(1988)
Writer
Don't Mind
(1990)
Screenplay
Crossroads in Tokyo
(1991)
Screenplay
Faraway Sunset
(1992)
Screenplay and Story
The Strange Tale of Oyuki
(1992)
Writer
A Last Note
(1995)
Writer
The Life and Love of Kenji Miyazawa
(1996)
Screenplay
Yukie
(1998)
Screenplay
The Geisha House
(1999)
Screenplay
Will to Live
(1999)
Writer
The Perfect Education
(1999)
Writer
By Player
(2000)
Writer
A Single Drop of Water in a Mighty River
(2001)
Screenplay
Owl
(2003)
Writer
The Battleship on the Ground
(2007)
Adaptation and Writer
Teacher and Three Children
(2008)
Writer
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
(2009)
Original Film Writer
Postcard
(2010)
Writer
Hachiko
(2023)
Original Story
Acting
Hymn
(1972)
Researcher
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
(1975)
I Lived, But...
(1983)
Self
By Player
(2000)
What's a Director?
(2006)
Art
The 47 Ronin
(1941)
Construction Coordinator
The Naked Island
(1960)
Production Design
Human
(1962)
Art Direction
Mother
(1963)
Production Design
Onibaba
(1964)
Art Direction
Owl
(2003)
Production Design
Directing
Story of a Beloved Wife
(1951)
Director
Children of Hiroshima
(1952)
Director
Onna no issho
(1953)
Director
Miniature
(1953)
Director
The Ditch
(1954)
Director
The Wolves
(1955)
Director
Love is Lost
(1956)
Director
Actress
(1956)
Director
Ryûri no kishi
(1956)
Director
Harbor Rats
(1957)
Director
Sorrow Is Only for Women
(1958)
Director
Lucky Dragon No. 5
(1959)
Director
Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi
(1959)
Director
The Naked Island
(1960)
Director
Human
(1962)
Director
Mother
(1963)
Director
Onibaba
(1964)
Director
Conquest
(1965)
Director
Lost Sex
(1966)
Director
Libido
(1967)
Director
Operation Negligee
(1968)
Director
Kuroneko
(1968)
Director
Heat Wave Island
(1969)
Director
Live Today, Die Tomorrow!
(1970)
Director
Strange Affinity
(1970)
Director
The Iron Crown
(1972)
Director
Hymn
(1972)
Director
The Heart
(1973)
Director
My Way
(1974)
Director
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
(1975)
Director
The Life of Chikuzan
(1977)
Director
Document 8.6
(1977)
Director
The Strangling
(1979)
Director
Edo Porn
(1981)
Director
The Horizon
(1984)
Director
Black Board
(1986)
Director
Tree Without Leaves
(1986)
Director
Sakura-tai Chiru
(1988)
Director
The Strange Tale of Oyuki
(1992)
Director
A Last Note
(1995)
Director
Will to Live
(1999)
Director
By Player
(2000)
Director
Owl
(2003)
Director
Teacher and Three Children
(2008)
Director
Postcard
(2010)
Director
Production