Directed credits
86
Prolific
Very extensive directing filmography.
Director
Yoji Yamada
Directing
Career Snapshot
ExplainedThese indicators come from TMDB. They are relative signals, not review ratings.
TMDB popularity
1.6
Low visibility
TMDB internal trend index. Higher usually means more searches and page activity now.
Directed movies: 86Directed series: 0All crew credits: 158
TMDB ID: 72496
IMDb ID: nm0945282
Known for: Directing
Born: September 13, 1931
Age: 94
Place of birth: Osaka, Japan
Gender: Male
Adult content flag: No
Career span: 1958 - 2025
Years active: 68
Average TMDB rating: 7.23
Wikidata: Q1261335
Also known as
山田 洋次 • یوجی یامادا
Frequent jobs
Director (85)Assistant Director (1)Screenplay (34)Writer (20)Original Story (10)Story (4)Co-Writer (1)Creator (1)Original Film Writer (1)Script (1)
Biography
Yoji Yamada (山田 洋次 Yamada Yōji, born September 13, 1931 in Toyonaka City, Osaka, Japan) is a Japanese film director best known for his Otoko wa Tsurai yo series of films. He was born in Osaka. But because of the work of his father, who was an engineer for the South Manchuria Railway, from the age of 2 he was brought up in Manchuria. Following the end of World War II, he came back to Japan and subsequently he lived in Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture. After receiving his degree from Tokyo University in 1954, he entered Shochiku and worked under Yoshitaro Nomura as a scriptwriter or as an assistant director. He has won many awards throughout his lengthy career and is well respected in Japan and by critics throughout the world. He wrote his first screenplay in 1958, and directed his first movie in 1961. Yamada continues to make movies to this day. He once served as president of the Directors Guild of Japan, and is currently a guest professor of Ritsumeikan University.
Photos
Movies
Directed Movies
Movies directed by Yoji Yamada.
8.0
Tokyo Taxi
Director
2025 Movie
6.1
Mom, Is That You?!
Director
2023 Movie
8.0
Tora-san, Wish You Were Here
Director
2019 Movie
7.6
What a Wonderful Family! 3
Director
2018 Movie
7.0
What a Wonderful Family! 2
Director
2017 Movie
7.3
What a Wonderful Family!
Director
2016 Movie
6.6
Nagasaki: Memories of My Son
Director
2015 Movie
6.8
The Little House
Director
2014 Movie
7.3
Tokyo Family
Director
2013 Movie
6.4
About Her Brother
Director
2010 Movie
7.4
Kabei: Our Mother
Director
2008 Movie
7.5
Love and Honor
Director
2006 Movie
7.4
The Hidden Blade
Director
2004 Movie
8.0
A Class to Remember IV: Fifteen
Director
2000 Movie
6.2
A Class to Remember III: The New Voyage
Director
1998 Movie
The Rainbow Seeker 2
Director
1997 Movie
8.0
Tora-san's Tropical Fever Special Version
Director
1997 Movie
6.0
The Rainbow Seeker
Director
1996 Movie
6.0
A Class to Remember II
Director
1996 Movie
7.3
Tora-san to the Rescue
Director
1995 Movie
8.0
Tora-san's Easy Advice
Director
1994 Movie
8.5
Tora-san's Matchmaker
Director
1993 Movie
7.5
A Class to Remember
Director
1993 Movie
8.0
Tora-san Makes Excuses
Director
1992 Movie
Movies
Top Rated Movies
Highest rated movies linked with Yoji Yamada.
Movies
Most Popular Movies
Most viewed movie titles linked with Yoji Yamada.
7.8
The Twilight Samurai
Screenplay
2002 Movie
7.5
Love and Honor
Director
2006 Movie
7.3
The Castle of Sand
Writer
1974 Movie
6.8
The Little House
Director
2014 Movie
6.9
The Yellow Handkerchief
Director
1977 Movie
6.1
Mom, Is That You?!
Director
2023 Movie
6.2
It's a Flickering Life
Screenplay
2021 Movie
6.0
Ken San
2016 Movie
6.2
The Yellow Handkerchief
Original Film Writer
2009 Movie
8.0
Tokyo Taxi
Director
2025 Movie
7.3
What a Wonderful Family!
Director
2016 Movie
7.4
Kabei: Our Mother
Director
2008 Movie
Series
Most Popular Series
Most viewed series linked with Yoji Yamada.
Movies
Other Crew Work in Movies
Additional movie credits for Yoji Yamada.
6.0
Home Sweet Home
Writer
2025 Movie
The Call of a Faraway Mountain
Screenplay
2022 Movie
6.2
It's a Flickering Life
Screenplay
2021 Movie
6.0
A Distant Cry from Spring
Writer
2018 Movie
7.0
Older Brother, Younger Sister
Screenplay
2018 Movie
7.3
The Yellow Handkerchief
Writer
2011 Movie
6.6
Kyoto Story
Story
2010 Movie
7.7
Free and Easy 20: Final
Screenplay
2009 Movie
6.2
The Yellow Handkerchief
Original Film Writer
2009 Movie
5.9
Sea Without Exit
Screenplay
2006 Movie
5.8
Free and Easy 17
Screenplay
2006 Movie
7.5
Free and Easy 16
Writer
2005 Movie
7.5
Free and Easy 14
Writer
2003 Movie
7.8
The Twilight Samurai
Screenplay
2002 Movie
7.5
Free and Easy 13
Writer
2002 Movie
7.3
Free and Easy 12: Big Holiday Bonus Project
Writer
2001 Movie
Series
Other Crew Work in Series
Additional series credits for Yoji Yamada.
Movies
Acting Appearances in Movies
Movie cast credits for Yoji Yamada.
55th anniversary performance of Tora-San: Rakugo, Talk and Tora Jiro Returns
2024 Movie
Seijo Story: 60 Years of Making Films
as Self
2019 Movie
6.0
Ken San
2016 Movie
700 Days with Ryuichi Sakamoto
as Self
2015 Movie
Sat-chan Tadashi-chan: Sengo minshu-teki dokuritsu pro funtō-ki
as Self
2015 Movie
6.5
I Lived, But...
as Self
1983 Movie