Camera

Kazuo Miyagawa

Born February 25, 1908 · Kyoto, Japan

Died August 7, 1999 · aged 91

Kazuo Miyagawa (宮川一夫 Miyagawa Kazuo, February 25, 1908 – August 7, 1999) was an acclaimed Japanese cinematographer. Miyagawa is best known for his tracking shots, particularly those in Rashomon (1950), the first of his three collaborations with preeminent filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. He also worked on films by major directors Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu, and Kon Ichikawa, such as Ugetsu Monogata…

Known For

Rashomon

Rashomon · 1950

MovieCrimeDrama

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Yojimbo

Yojimbo · 1961

MovieDramaThriller

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Ugetsu

MovieFantasyDrama

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Sansho the Bailiff

Sansho the Bailiff · 1954

Sansho the Bailiff

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Chikamatsu Monogatari

Chikamatsu Monogatari · 1954

Chikamatsu Monogatari

MovieDramaRomance

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.

Bloody Shuriken

Bloody Shuriken · 1965

Bloody Shuriken

MovieDramaAction

Ronin samurai Ibuki-san enters a town and sells his skills to the warring families. He falls in love with the beautiful horse stable owner but like all heroes, cannot stay.

Her Brother

Her Brother · 1960

MovieDramaComedy

Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.

Irezumi

Irezumi · 1966

MovieCrimeDrama

Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.

Filmography

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Rashomon

Rashomon · 1950

MovieCrimeDrama

Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.

Director of Photography

Yojimbo

Yojimbo · 1961

MovieDramaThriller

A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master, enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon and sake merchant Tokuemon to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

Director of Photography

Ugetsu

MovieFantasyDrama

In 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.

Director of Photography

Sansho the Bailiff

Sansho the Bailiff · 1954

Sansho the Bailiff

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

Director of Photography

Chikamatsu Monogatari

Chikamatsu Monogatari · 1954

Chikamatsu Monogatari

MovieDramaRomance

When the wife of a 17th-century Kyoto scrollmaker is falsely accused of having an affair with his best employee, the pair flee the city and find themselves truly falling for one another.

Director of Photography

Bloody Shuriken

Bloody Shuriken · 1965

Bloody Shuriken

MovieDramaAction

Ronin samurai Ibuki-san enters a town and sells his skills to the warring families. He falls in love with the beautiful horse stable owner but like all heroes, cannot stay.

Director of Photography

Her Brother

Her Brother · 1960

MovieDramaComedy

Set in 1926 when Japanese tradition was much stronger, this drama looks at the inner workings of a small family, especially the relationship between a sister and brother.

Director of Photography

Irezumi

Irezumi · 1966

MovieCrimeDrama

Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.

Director of Photography

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril · 1972

Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril

MovieActionAdventure

Ogami Itto is hired to kill a tattooed female assassin and battles Retsudo, head of the Yagyu clan, and his son Gunbei.

Director of Photography

Floating Weeds

Floating Weeds · 1959

A theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.

Director of Photography

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo · 1970

Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

MovieAdventureAction

Zatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend.

Director of Photography

Ballad of Orin

Ballad of Orin · 1977

Expelled from her group for losing her virginity, blind travelling musician Orin endures a life of hardship, abuse, and poverty while wandering the countryside, finding brief companionship with an army deserter, and struggling against a society that marginalises her.

Director of Photography

The Woman in the Rumor

The Woman in the Rumor · 1954

The Woman in the Rumor

After living a traumatic experience in Tokyo, Yukiko returns to Kyoto, where Hatsuko, her mother, runs a brothel, which upsets Yukiko very much.

Director of Photography

Street of Shame

Street of Shame · 1956

Street of Shame

Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

Director of Photography

Zatoichi and the Fugitives

Zatoichi and the Fugitives · 1968

Zatoichi and the Fugitives

MovieAdventureAction

Zatoichi runs afoul of some evil fugitives, working for a corrupt law official.

Director of Photography

Odd Obsession

Odd Obsession · 1959

MovieDramaComedy

A middle-aged husband of a younger woman finds her youth intimidating to the point that he cannot become aroused. His solution involves the introduction of his daughter's lover to his wife.

Director of Photography

Silence

Silence · 1971

MovieDramaHistory

In 17th-century Japan, two Portuguese Jesuit priests seek their mentor, who is rumoured to have committed apostasy, and to propagate Catholicism.

Director of Photography

A Geisha

A Geisha · 1953

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.

Director of Photography

Scarred Yosaburo

Scarred Yosaburo · 1960

Scarred Yosaburo

MovieDramaAction

The film depicts the scarring of Yosaburo at the hands of yakuza thugs who catch him with mistress of the gang boss. Despite the physical and emotional scars he now carries with him, Yosaburo falls for a young noblewoman. The rest of the film follows the two as they fend off attacks from gangs and the police.

Director of Photography

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival · 1970

Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival

MovieAdventureAction

The blind masseuse is targeted by the leader of a powerful yakuza group while also fending off a jealous husband bent on revenge. Zatoichi tours Edo's underground via a rousing onsen fight scene, gambling houses and the gender-bending character of Umeji, before a final, flame-filled conflagration.

Director of Photography

Conflagration

Conflagration · 1958

Learning of his family's collapse, acolyte Goichi, sent to study silently at the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, must endure acute psychological distress.

Director of Photography

Gonza the Spearman

Gonza the Spearman · 1986

Gonza the Spearman

During the peaceful Tokugawa period, handsome samurai Gonza becomes entangled in a tragic love triangle and a web of deceit while trying to advance his social standing through the tea ceremony.

Director of Photography

Zatoichi the Outlaw

Zatoichi the Outlaw · 1967

Zatoichi the Outlaw

MovieAdventureAction

When a local gambling house kidnaps some peasants because they failed to pay their debts, a rival gambling house pays their debts and sets them free.

Director of Photography

Bonchi

MovieComedyDrama

Kikuji is the scion of an Osaka merchant family whose traditional power is matrilineal. Instructed by his overbearing mother and grandmother to give them an heiress for the family business, he stands by helplessly as his wife is thrown out of the house for producing a son. Driven to a life of dissipation - his mistresses also fail to produce daughters - in the end he is just too tired to care.

Director of Photography