Yukihiko Tsutsumi

Directing

Yukihiko Tsutsumi

Born November 3, 1955 · Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan (age 70)

Yukihiko Tsutsumi (堤幸彦, Tsutsumi Yukihiko; born November 3, 1955) is a Japanese television and film director. He began directing commercials and music promotion videos as an employee of Nippon Television. After spending time abroad, he returned and started his own production company, Office Crescendo, from which he works independently. His first television drama on Nippon Television was called Kor…

Known For

MYSTERY ARENAMYSTERY ARENA · 2026
MYSTERY ARENA
6.02026
MovieMystery
Six contestants compete in a high-stakes live TV quiz show to solve a complex "closed-circle" murder mystery for a 10 billion yen jackpot.
12 Suicidal Teens12 Suicidal Teens · 2019
12 Suicidal Teens
6.42019
MovieMysteryDrama
A group of boys and girls, twelve in total, gather at an abandoned hospital to die for various different reasons. There, they find the body of a dead boy. The group of twelve attempt to find the person who killed the boy. During their search, the reasons why they want to die are revealed.
20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End · 2008
20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End
6.72008
MovieScience FictionAdventure
In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend?
20th Century Boys 3: Redemption20th Century Boys 3: Redemption · 2009
20th Century Boys 3: Redemption
6.72009
MovieAdventureMystery
The final showdown, and the final reveal. Who is Friend? How can he be stopped?
Jam FilmsJam Films · 2002
Jam Films
7.92002
MovieComedyDrama
Jam Films is a 2002 suite of 7 shorts produced by Sega/Amuse.
HinataHinata · 2026
Hinata
2026
MovieMystery
This mystery film, directed and conceived by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, features 20 up-and-coming actors. Written by Yusuke Moriguchi ("Beautiful Dreamer," "Kohaku"), the film unfolds at the funeral of a person named "Hinata Okimura," depicting a deepening mystery as the eulogies of the 20 attendees contradict each other, unfolding in an unpredictable manner. Twenty men and women attend Hinata Okimura's funeral. According to the deceased's wishes, all attendees must deliver a eulogy. Standing before an unusual altar without a portrait, some speak as friends, others as devoted fans, and still others as fellow members of an idol group, each beginning to recount their memories of the deceased. However, the image of "Hinata Okimura" becomes increasingly distorted, even differing in gender from the person they describe, plunging the funeral into chaos.
First LoveFirst Love · 2021
First Love
6.22021
MovieDramaMystery
A university student has the usual dreams and aspirations. It turns out to be a pipe dream and so she murders her own flesh and blood. The usual media heads seek an answer in order to sell copy. A psychologist is writing a book about the character and incident. Her research for the subject matter turn the psychologist inward and things come out of the shadows that perhaps are better left buried deep in the shadows of the psyche.
SPEC: Close~IncarnationSPEC: Close~Incarnation · 2013
SPEC: Close~Incarnation
7.32013
MovieCrimeMystery
Mysteries are revealed like the words "Simple Plan," "Third Secret of Fatima" and also the mysterious white man which are all mentioned in the movie "SPEC: Heaven".

Filmography

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20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End · 2008
20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End
6.72008
MovieScience FictionAdventure
In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend?

Director

HinataHinata · 2026
Hinata
2026
MovieMystery
This mystery film, directed and conceived by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, features 20 up-and-coming actors. Written by Yusuke Moriguchi ("Beautiful Dreamer," "Kohaku"), the film unfolds at the funeral of a person named "Hinata Okimura," depicting a deepening mystery as the eulogies of the 20 attendees contradict each other, unfolding in an unpredictable manner. Twenty men and women attend Hinata Okimura's funeral. According to the deceased's wishes, all attendees must deliver a eulogy. Standing before an unusual altar without a portrait, some speak as friends, others as devoted fans, and still others as fellow members of an idol group, each beginning to recount their memories of the deceased. However, the image of "Hinata Okimura" becomes increasingly distorted, even differing in gender from the person they describe, plunging the funeral into chaos.

Director

SPEC: ZeroSPEC: Zero · 2013
SPEC: Zero
7.92013
MovieTV MovieDrama
High school student Saya Toma lost her parents and younger brother in an airplane accident. Detective Akio Kondo came and told her "your family has a high possibility that they were killed by people who have spec." That was the first time she heard of "spec". 6 years later, Saya Toma, who has never forgotten what the Detective said, decides to become a detective. She returns to Japan after receiving training by the FBI in the United States. Saya Toma is assigned to work unsolved cases in the Public Security Bureau. Meanwhile, because of Satoshi Chii's scheme, Juichi Ninomae considers Saya Toma his parents' enemy and tries to push her to the edge. Satoshi Chii's scheme has also caused Saya Toma and Juichi Ninomae to forget that they are brother and sister. The siblings are headed to a life-staking fight. A girl named Maho Ueno becomes involved in their fight. To protect Maho Ueno, Saya Toma uses "spec".

Director

A Conviction of MarriageA Conviction of Marriage · 2024
A Conviction of Marriage
5.82024
MovieDramaCrime
Serial killer Shinju Shinagawa , called "Shinagawa Pierrot" for her clown makeup at arrest 3 years ago, remained silent during her first trial. Child consultation center worker Arata Natsume suddenly gets a request from Takuto Yamashita, the child of one of the serial killer's victims, who informs him that he's been corresponding with Shinagawa in his name in order to find out what she did with his father's missing head. Arata pretends to be an elite civil servant but finds that the Shinagawa he meets is different from the one he expected. When she realizes he isn't the sender of the letters, she goes to leave. In a panic, Arata, who never planned on getting married, blurts out "Let's get married!"

Director

TrickTrick · 2000
Trick
7.22000
SeriesComedyDrama
Although 23 year old Yamada Naoko is a "super" magician, she is continously fired and constantly hounded by her landlady for the rent being late. After being fired once again, her boss shows her an ad of a physics professor, a non-believer of all things magical, offering money to anyone who can prove to him that magic is real. Desperately needing the money, Naoko accepts the challenge, which is how she comes to meet Professor Ueda. Falling prey to her simple magic tricks, Ueda is impressed, and enlists Naoko to help him uncover the tricks behind a local cult. Their hilarious antics, along with those of police officer Yabe, leads them onto further mysteries, all with tricks needing to be solved in sort of an "X-Files" meets "Scooby-Doo"...

Director

Crying Out Love, in the Center of the WorldCrying Out Love, in the Center of the World · 2004
Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World
8.42004
SeriesDrama
"I thought I might be using a lifetime's happiness in a moment. I was that happy and she was that beautiful." A young boy stands on the red earth of Australia under its blue sky. It is 17-year-old Sakutaro Matsumoto. His time with the girl comes back to him. The colored sand runs through his hands and a tear appears on his cheek. He wakes up. It's 2004 and he is 34 years old and in Japan. He thinks "I have been in a world without her for 17 years." Returning home to see his old high school for the last time before it is demolished, Saku confronts anew the loss of the love of his life, Aki, to leukemia 17 years ago. Now a medical researcher at graduate school, he has been living as if half of him died with her since then.

Director

Mr. Grim ReaperMr. Grim Reaper · 2021
Mr. Grim Reaper
8.02021
SeriesMysteryCrime
Detective Gido Kennin (Tanaka Kei) specialises in reinvestigations, and is the most shunned and loathed person at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He carries around a name card with no department written on it and takes pleasure in uncovering cases where the police created false charges. Gido reveals the negligence of the police such as mistakes in initial investigations and cover ups, reconsidering the testimonies and evidence from these cases to discover the real criminals. He hates it if people escape punishment and in order to prevent this from happening, he makes all other sacrifices. It is said that no one will be happy after Gido’s investigations, and this has earned him the nickname “grim reaper”.

Director

Shimokita SundaysShimokita Sundays · 2006
Shimokita Sundays
4.02006
SeriesDrama
This drama portrays the nostalgia of "the good old days" and youthful hopes and dreams. Yuika Satonaka (Aya Ueto) is a freshman in university who came to live in Tokyo to continue her studies. Although she had a brand new start before her eyes, she was somehow at a loss. Nothing seemed to interest her and her hopes and dreams were distant. One day at the school orientation, her eyes are glued to a sudden performance of a group of unsuccessful actors, "Shimokita Sundays". Their unique play made her laugh, something she had forgotten for a long time. Yuika takes a chance to visit Shimokita and goes to see their play only to find how unpopular and how very few audiences they had. But still, their performance touches Yuika’s soul. She does an audition to become a member of Shimokita Sundays.

Director

Virtual Detective Tabito HigurashiVirtual Detective Tabito Higurashi · 2017
Virtual Detective Tabito Higurashi
8.52017
SeriesDrama
Higurashi Tabito has lost four out of his five senses--his sense of sound, smell, taste, and touch. The only sense he has is sight, which he relies on for his job as a detective who has to investigate and find various missing objects. He works at the detective agency with Yukiji, his buddy and manager, and Tei, his adopted daughter. No matter what it is, Tabito always finds the missing object. His investigative methods, however, are a little bizarre. His eyes seem to be able to see everything, including things that regular people can't see, like scents and emotions. Without a single blood relative left in the world, the lonely Tabito pours his heart out on his job. Each case he solves brings him closer to Yukiji, Tei, and her daycare teacher Yoko, who all treat him like family. Wrapped in their warmth, his heart begins to melt.

Director

Gate on the Horizon: GothGate on the Horizon: Goth · 2025
Gate on the Horizon: Goth
6.02025
Series
Taku, a boy who remembers everything he sees, keeps his head down to avoid mental overload. Only music offers him relief, so he often hums to clear his mind. His classmates Mick and Yoji join in with raps and harmonies, forming a playful trio. One day, they’re confronted by a gang led by the feared Ganaha Ryu. Just as things escalate, Taku’s father and his twin brother appear—and inexplicably, a rap battle begins. Ganaha Rui, Ryu’s younger brother, outshines everyone, and Taku’s attempt is mocked, sparking a chaotic brawl. Mick fights fiercely, but the group is outnumbered. Then Taku sings. His voice, pure and unexpected, stops the fight and moves the crowd to tears. The gang stands down, and Ryu acknowledges them. Through his song, Taku turns conflict into connection, gaining new allies and discovering the power of his voice.

Director

Knockin' on Locked DoorKnockin' on Locked Door · 2023
Knockin' on Locked Door
6.32023
SeriesMystery
Gotenba Tori and Katanashi Hisame are private detectives who work together and run the detective agency Knockin' on Locked Door. They are partners and, at the same time, rivals. They use different methods to solve cases and also have different personalities. Gotenba Tori is good at solving cases in terms of how the case took place. He always wears a black turtleneck regardless of season, and he doesn't hesitate to express his feelings. Meanwhile, Katanashi Hisame is good at solving cases in terms of why the case took place. He is guided by common sense and always wears a suit with glasses. These two detectives with different personalities take on the most difficult cases and work together to solve them.

Director