When the Last Sword Is Drawn

Yōjirō Takita (滝田 洋二郎 Takita Yōjirō, born December 4, 1955 in Takaoka, Toyama, Japan), is a Japanese filmmaker. Yōjirō Takita entered the film industry through Mukai Productions, where he served as an assistant director. Takita first came to prominence with the long-running, popular light-comic pink film Molester’s Train (痴漢電車 Chikan densha) series, started by Shin’ya Yamamoto in 1975, and which Takita began directing in 1982 at Shintōhō. Later, for the Nikkatsu studio, Takita filmed similar Molester’s films as part of that studio’s Roman Porno line. Molester’s School Infirmary (1984), Molester’s Tour Bus (1985) and Molester’s Delivery Service (1986) are some of these titles.Takita’s 1986 mainstream comedy, No More Comic Magazines! received critical praise, and he has produced several popular films since then. Yomiuri Shimbun writes that Takita’s films usually have, “a warm tenderness, reflecting his bright and upbeat personality.”

His 2008 film Departures (おくりびと Okuribito?) won the Best Foreign Language Film at the U.S. 81st Academy Awards, in an upset over the Israeli Animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir. He won the 2009 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year for Departures. —Wikipedia