SABU

Biography

Sabu (サブ, Sabu, born November 18, 1964) is the pseudonym of Japanese actor and director Hiroyuki Tanaka. Born in Wakayama Prefecture, Sabu studied at an Osaka fashion school before deciding to go to Tokyo to become a professional musician. It was suggested he try acting and in 1986 he made his film debut in Sorobanzuku. He earned his first starring role in the 1991 World Apartment Horror, a live-action film directed by Katsuhiro Ōtomo of Akira fame. Working from a script he wrote himself, he made his directorial debut with the 1996 Dangan Runner, a film that set his early style of "quirky action-comedies propelled by characters who hurtle headlong though squirming narratives steered more by the forces of incidence and coincidence than the actions of the protagonists themselves." Shin'ichi Tsutsumi played the lead in Sabu's first five films. Blessing Bell, starring Susumu Terajima (who has played minor roles in nearly all of Sabu's films), was a turn away from his kinetic, parodic, and black comedy narratives, and earned the NETPAC Award at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. Later films featured the J-pop band V6. In 2009, he directed The Crab Cannery Ship, a modern adaptation of a cla…

Directed

1. Mr. Long (2017) — Director
2. Bunny Drop (2011) — Director
3. Monday (2000) — Director
4. Miss ZOMBIE (2013) — Director
5. Postman Blues (1997) — Director
6. Dangan Runner (1996) — Director
7. Drive (2002) — Director
8. My Blood and Bones in a Flowing Galaxy (2021) — Director
9. Blessing Bell (2002) — Director
10. Unlucky Monkey (1998) — Director
11. Dead Run (2005) — Director
12. Chasuke's Journey (2015) — Director
13. Hold Up Down (2005) — Director
14. Hard Luck Hero (2003) — Director
15. Under Your Bed (2023) — Director
16. Jam (2018) — Director
17. Kanikôsen (2009) — Director
18. Dancing Mary (2019) — Director
19. Happiness (2017) — Director
20. A1012K (2003) — Director
21. Jam: The Drama (2021) — Director
22. Redder Than Yesterday, Bluer Than Tomorrow: Cinema Fighters Project (2021) — Director
23. Arrested Memory — Director
24. Trouble Man (2010) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Silence (2016) — Samurai #1
2. Ichi the Killer (2001) — Kaneko
3. Shinjuku Triad Society (1995) — Shusuke Shimada
4. Sakuran (2006) — Patron
5. Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2003) — Patron
6. Postman Blues (1997) — Kurokawa
7. Dangan Runner (1996) — Assassin
8. Don't Look Up (1996) — Sekikawa
9. Unlucky Monkey (1998) — Bank Robber
10. Zëiram 2 (1994) — Fujikuro (as Sabu)
11. World Apartment Horror (1991) — Ita
12. 800 Two Lap Runners (1994) — Kyoichi Nakazawa
13. Kiriko (1994)
14. Savage City: Angel Whisper (1991)
15. A Legend of Turmoil (1992)
16. Kuma-chan (1993)
17. Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself!! The Gamble (1996)
18. Warrior's Justice 2: Full Battle (1994)
19. (Ura) Tôsatsu nanpa-dô (1996)
20. Costume Club Wars - Angel of Sumata (1995)
21. New Book of the Waru 3: Passion (1993)
22. Ichi the Killer - Making Of (2013) — Self
23. Ichi the Killer - Behind the Scenes (2013) — Self