Nobuo Nakagawa

Biography

Nobuo Nakagawa (中川 信夫, Nakagawa Nobuo, April 18, 1905 – June 17, 1984) was a Japanese film director, most famous for the stylized, folk tale-influenced horror films he made in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Kyoto, Nakagawa was early on influenced by proletarian literature and wrote amateur film reviews for the Kinema Junpō film magazine. He joined Makino Film Productions in 1929 as an assistant director and worked under Masahiro Makino. When that studio went bankrupt in 1932, he switched to Utaemon Ichikawa's production company and made his debut as a director in 1934 with Yumiya Hachiman Ken. He later moved to Toho, where he made comedies starring Enoken and even documentaries during the war. It was at Shintoho after the war that he became known for his cinematic adaptations of Japanese Kaidan, especially his masterful version of Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan in 1959. To Western audiences, his most famous film is Jigoku (1960), which he also co-wrote. The film was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2006. He also filmed many Kaidan for television. His last film was 1982's Kaidan: Ikiteiru Koheiji.

Directed

1. Jigoku (1960) — Director
2. Ghost Story of Yotsuya (1959) — Director
3. Black Cat Mansion (1958) — Director
4. Ultraman Leo (1974) — Director
5. Quick-draw Okatsu (1969) — Director
6. The Ghost of Kasane (1957) — Director
7. The Lady Vampire (1959) — Director
8. Okatsu the Fugitive (1969) — Director
9. Snake Woman's Curse (1968) — Director
10. The Ceiling at Utsunomiya (1956) — Director
11. The Vampire Moth (1956) — Director
12. The Living Koheiji (1982) — Director
13. Samurai Hawk (1961) — Director
14. A Wicked Woman (1958) — Director
15. Chutaro of Banba (1955) — Director
16. Itahachi shima (1938) — Director
17. Ghost in the Regiment (1958) — Director
18. Today is Payday (1952) — Director
19. Kaachan (1961) — Director
20. Death Row Woman (1960) — Director
21. Kagebôshi: The Shadow Avenger (1959) — Director
22. Late Night Confession (1949) — Director
23. The Phantom Goblin (1962) — Director
24. Stray Sheep (1955) — Director
25. Shishun no izumi (1953) — Director
26. Showdown at Lightning Pass (1962) — Director
27. Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki (1939) — Director
28. Kisan Detective Story: The Mysterious Doll-Maker (1953) — Director
29. Enoken's Bow-Wow General (1940) — Director
30. Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain (1951) — Director
31. Casebooks of Detective Umon: The Incident of the Fawn-Pattern Cloth (1952) — Director
32. Love's Zephir Along the Tokaido (1952) — Director
33. Sunset Over Mount Fuji (1952) — Director
34. An Edoite Judge (1953) — Director
35. Kanashimi wa itsumo haha ni (1962) — Director
36. Rivals (1939) — Director
37. Hibarigaoka Showdown (1957) — Director
38. Umon's Detective Stories: The One-Eyed Wolf (1951) — Director
39. Mysterious Thirteen Nights Volume 1 (1971) — Director
40. Mysterious Thirteen Nights Volume 2 (1971) — Director