Along with Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu is one of the most internationally recognized Japanese film directors. As 2003 is the 100th anniversary of Ozu's birth, as well as the 40th year since the director passed away, a number of commemorative events have been planned both in Japan and around the world.

Unique Style Influenced Many Filmmakers
Ozu was born in 1903. In the 36-year period from his directorial debut in 1927 to his death in 1963, he directed over 50 films. Ozu's unique style of capturing family scenes within low-angle frames using a fixed camera has gained high acclaim throughout the world, particularly since the 1970s, and has had a tremendous influence on quite a number of filmmakers. One such passionate fan is the well-known German director Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire). In addition to filming a documentary titled Tokyo-Ga (1985), in which Wenders himself journeyed to Kamakura to visit Ozu's grave, the director enlisted Ozu movie regulars Chishu Ryu and Kuniko Miyake to appear in his 1991 work Until the End of the World. Several scenes paying homage to Ozu's films can also be spotted in Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki's Match Factory Girl.

The most well-known of Ozu's movies, Tokyo Story (1953), is especially revered in Europe. In 1995 the British magazine Time Out ranked the movie ninth in its "Centenary Top 100 Films" publication commemorating 100 years of films. And in 2002 in the British Sight and Sound magazine's 10 Best Films of All Time Poll, conducted every 10 years, the movie was ranked fifth in the Critics' Top 10 Poll. In 2003 Shochiku, the motion picture company that produced most of Ozu's films, will be organizing a Yasujiro Ozu 100th Anniversary Project (site is Japanese only), whereby in addition to featuring Ozu's 37 existing movies at Japan's National Film Center from November, the director's major films will also be broadcast on Japanese TV. And from September, a DVD set of Ozu's complete body of existing work will go on sale.

Overseas, nine Ozu films, including Tokyo Story, will be screened throughout the duration of the Berlin International Film Festival in February, and following the conclusion of the festival the rest of his films will continue to be shown through March. Similar special-series screenings are also planned for April at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and October at the New York Film Festival.

Universal Family Theme Charms Loyal Fans
Throughout 2003 the National Ozu Yasujiro Network Conference, established in 2000 as a forum for communication and information exchange among Ozu fans, will organize various events honoring the director in eight locations throughout Japan with which Ozu has been associated, including Ise in Mie Prefecture, Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, and Kamakura in Kanagawa Prefecture. Kicking off the festivities was a screening on January 18 of Tokyo Story in the Koto district of Tokyo, Ozu's birthplace. The event, which was attended by more than 300 fans, also included a symposium with actress Kyoko Kagawa, who appeared in the movie, and film critic Saburo Kawamoto. Among the Ozu devotees were some who came from as far away as the Hokkaido and Tohoku regions and who visited Ozu's grave to pay their respects before the event.

The Ozu network conference has some 150 members from all over Japan, ranging in age from 21 to 88. According to Chairman Takeo Hasegawa, members hold such diverse occupations as banker and university instructor and also include homemakers, students, and retirees. "While our members' reasons for appreciating Ozu's films vary, one thing I can say is that each and every one of them honestly and sincerely admires Ozu and his work. I find it fascinating that through just one encounter, we were able to develop relationships that have evolved into close friendships," says Hasegawa.

Hasegawa also offers his view as to why Ozu's films are still loved by so many people: "Ozu consistently portrayed the universal theme of family issues common to all human beings. Wim Wenders hit the nail on the head about Ozu's films in stating: 'As thoroughly Japanese as they are, these films are, at the same time, universal. In them, I've been able to recognize all families, in all the countries of the world, as well as my parents, my brother, and myself.' However many times I watch Ozu's movies, after viewing, the films inspire me to contemplate the meaning of life, families, and parent-child relationships." Hasegawa's desire is to "introduce even one more person to Ozu's films, particularly the next generation of youth." That is undoubtedly also the hope of every person who loves Ozu and his work.