Akio Jissoji (実相寺昭雄, Jissōji Akio, March 29, 1937 – November 29, 2006) was a Japanese television and film director best known outside Japan for the 1960s TV series Ultraman and Ultraseven, as well as for his auteur erotic ATG-produced Buddhist trilogy Mujō (無常), Mandala (曼陀羅), and Uta (哥).
He was also known for his film adaptations of Japanese horror author Edogawa Rampo. Jissoji possessed a very distinctive visual style that was notable even in Japanese cinema which is known internationally for its visual style. Every project he directed, from children's action shows to disturbing adult films had an uncompromising approach to cinematic story telling. His episodes of the Ultraman TV shows are unique and quite unusual for children's television. His career is also unusual in that he went back and forth from children's television to film projects that were sexually provocative in some way or another. It is perhaps this aspect of his work that has prevented wider distribution of his films. Sadomasochistic and non-consensual sexual practices are featured in many of his film works with women receiving the brunt of the abuse. Another recurring theme was to pull the camera back and reveal the set his actors were working on. Most of his work is not available outside Japan or with English subtitles.
Other notable films include:
Utamaro: Yume to Shiriseba (歌麿 夢と知りせば, Utamaro's World, 1977), a visually sumptuous telling of the famed Japanese printmaker's life centering on the years he was forced to make pornographic prints for a living.
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis (帝都物語, Teito Monogatari, 1988), a live-action science fiction/horror film.
Rampo Jigoku (乱歩地獄, 2005), Jissoji directed the lead segment of this horror anthology.
Yume Jū-ya (ユメ十夜, Ten Nights of Dreams, 2006), Jissoji contributed a selection in this anthology of short films based on the writings of Natsume Sōseki.
He died of stomach cancer, aged 69, in his birth city of Tokyo in 2006 just after starting work on a revival of his Silver Mask live action children's show.[1]
AkioJissoji (実相寺昭雄, JissōjiAkio, March 29, 1937 – November 29, 2006) was a Japanese television and film director best known outside Japan for the 1960s...
shogi player AkioJissoji (実相寺 昭雄, 1937–2006), Japanese television and film director Akio Kakishita (柿下 秋男, born 1953), Japanese rower Akio Kaminaga (神永...
as "Bon Festival on the Waves") is a 1983 Japanese television film. AkioJissoji was the director. Nippon Television produced the film. It is about a...
sci-fi series. This led Eiji Tsuburaya to assemble Hajime Tsuburaya, AkioJissoji, Tetsuo Kinjo, Masami Sueyasu, and Shoji Otomo to brainstorm ideas. Eiji...
D-Zaka no Satsujin Jiken) is a 1998 Japanese mystery film directed by AkioJissoji based on a novel by Edogawa Rampo. Hiroyuki Sanada as Seiichiro Fukiya...
by budgetary problems and the success of the 1979 Ultraman video by AkioJissoji, which contributed in the revival of the Tsuburaya Productions franchise...
Takayama George Iida (飯田譲治) Murder on D Street (D坂の殺人事件) Seiichirō Fukiya AkioJissoji (実相寺昭雄) Tadon to Chikuwa (たどんとちくわ) Asami Jun Ichikawa (市川準) 1999 Ring...
Relax". The New York Times. “The Men Who Made Ultraman.” Directed by AkioJissoji and Takamichi Yamada, Tsuburaya Production,1989 Heffley, Lynne (November...
Japanese erotic drama film directed by AkioJissoji, in his feature directorial debut. It is the first film in Jissoji's Buddhist Trilogy. Starring Ryō Tamura...
Grundberg Michel Vianey TV film 1993 Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher Joan of Arc AkioJissoji TV film Liberate mio figlio Elena Roberto Malenotti TV film 1994 My Friend...
released by Cinema Epoch in October 2008. The First Dream Director: AkioJissoji Screenwriter: Kuze Teruhiko Stars: Kyōko Koizumi, Matsuo Suzuki, and...
Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Kenji Mizoguchi, Orson Welles, Masahiro Shinoda, AkioJissoji, Terry Gilliam, Jean Renoir, Jacques Tati, James Wong Howe and Gregg...
Minoru Kanaya & Kiyosumi Kuzakawa 1988 Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis - d. AkioJissoji 1994 The Most Terrible Time in My Life (我が人生最悪の時 Waga jinsei saiaku no...
15, 1980 65 minutes Twenty-Four Eyes 二十四の瞳 (Nijūshi no Hitomi) Japan AkioJissōji Shigetsugu Yoshida Tokyo Movie Shinsha Fuji TV Traditional Television...
Products. Its battle took inspration from the Ultraman battles by director AkioJissoji. In the Rebuild of Evangelion, Shamshel is the fifth Angel. Shamsiel's...
Marquis de Sade's Prosperities of Vice (1988), Japanese "pink" film by AkioJissoji Life Is Sweet (1990), directed by Mike Leigh Singapore Sling (1990),...
most representative work. He also formed a celebrated partnership with AkioJissoji, a former colleague from his days working for Tsuburaya. His 1977 film...
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