Yasujiro Ozu

The Profile

Yasujiro Ozu (1903–1963) was a Japanese film director renowned for intimate family dramas and minimalist style, often using low, static shots and narrative ellipses. His collaborations with Setsuko Hara and Chishu Ryu yielded classics including Late Spring, Early Summer, Tokyo Story, and An Autumn Afternoon.

Born 1903 in Tokyo; died 1963. Longtime Shochiku director. Hallmarks include low 'tatami' camera height, pillow shots, restrained editing, and family-centered stories. Frequent collaborator and co-writer Kogo Noda; recurring actors Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara.

Three reviews trace Ozu’s floor-level, still camera and tender focus on ordinary life. Late Spring emerges as a composed, deeply moving portrait of duty and change, with Setsuko Hara and Chishu Ryu central to his late-period cast. Tokyo Story is praised for universal, bittersweet candor. Good Morning blends silliness and depth to explore modernization, gossip, and a TV-fueled generational rift.