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Photo of Yōzō Tanaka

Yōzō Tanaka

WriterBorn May 17, 1939 (86 years)
Yōzō Tanaka is a Japanese screenwriter. He was born in Nihonbashi, Tokyo. After joining the production department of Nichigeki Music Hall, he started writing radio scripts. While he was a student at Waseda University, he met Atsushi Yamatoya and Kaname Kawachi. Before becoming a screenwriter, Tanaka worked as a reporter, conducting a series of interviews with eccentrics in the magazine Weekly Sankei. After joining Nikkatsu, he joined a screenwriting team led by director Seijun Suzuki. Individuals in this group such as Tanaka, Yamatoya, and Chūsei Sone also contributed to various projects at Wakamatsu Productions during this period of the 1960s.

He is also a driving force behind the heyday of Nikkatsu Roman Porno, writing numerous screenplays. He continued to collaborate with fellow veterans of the aforementioned series such as Shinji Sōmai and Kichitaro Negishi.

His disciples include Haruhiko Arai and Miho Nakazono.

In 2005, he worked as an associate professor at the Graduate School of Film and New Media, Tokyo University of the Arts.

In 2017, a book of Yōzō Tanaka's essays and other archival materials such as interviews and screenplays was published.

Known For

  • Yumeji
  • Zigeunerweisen
  • Wife to Be Sacrificed
  • Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
  • Kagero-za
  • Flower and Snake
  • The Last Ronin
  • Villon's Wife
  • Hell
  • The Catch
  • Trap of Lust
  • Time of Wickedness
  • The Friends
  • The Boss's Head
  • The Hell-Fated Courtesan
  • Female Teacher: Dirty Afternoon
  • Violent Panic: The Big Crash
  • Lost Chapter of Snow: Passion
  • Love Letter
  • Cabaret
  • No Grave for Us
  • The Shogun Assassins
  • Luminous Woman
  • The General and His Empire of Joy

Filmography

2025
2010
The Last Ronin · as Screenplay
2009
Villon's Wife · as Screenplay
1994
Izakaya yûrei · as Screenplay
1994
The Friends · as Screenplay
1991
Yumeji · as Screenplay
1987
Luminous Woman · as Screenplay
1987
The Lady in a Black Dress · as Screenplay
1986
1986
Cabaret · as Screenplay
1985
1985
Time of Wickedness · as Screenplay
1984
Shanghai Rhapsody · as Screenplay
1983
The Catch · as Screenplay
1981
1981
Kagero-za · as Screenplay
1981
Love Letter · as Screenplay
1981
Shikake-nin Baian · as Screenplay
1981
1980
Woman's Trail: Wet Path · as Screenplay
1980
Zigeunerweisen · as Screenplay
1979
Detective Story (TV Series)
1979
The Shogun Assassins · as Screenplay
1979
The Rivals · as Screenplay
1979
Hell · as Screenplay
1979
No Grave for Us · as Screenplay
1977
1977
In the Realm of Sex · as Screenplay
1977
1977
1977
1976
1976
Â!! Hana no ôendan · as Screenplay
1976
1975
The Boss's Head · as Screenplay
1975
1975
1974
Wife to Be Sacrificed · as Screenplay
1974
Flower and Snake · as Screenplay
1973
Trap of Lust · as Screenplay
1973
1973
1973
The Hell-Fated Courtesan · as Screenplay
1972
1967
Branded to Kill · as Screenplay

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