Nagisa Ōshima

The Profile

Nagisa Ōshima (1932–2013) was a Japanese film director and a leading figure of the Japanese New Wave, known for politically charged, formally daring films such as In the Realm of the Senses, The Ceremony, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and Taboo.

Prominent Japanese New Wave director; explored sexuality, power, and social taboo; In the Realm of the Senses faced censorship; directed Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence; active from the late 1950s to 1999.

These reviews frame Nagisa Ōshima as a central, iconoclastic voice of the Japanese New Wave. In the Realm of the Senses is highlighted as a formally refined, transgressive landmark that faced widespread censorship. The Ceremony is praised as a masterwork of ritual, family, and post-war malaise. Themes of taboo desire, social constraints, and political provocation recur throughout.