Nobuo Nakagawa
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.
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Movies (67)
Sunday Horror Series Best Selection
2019 · Director
The Living Koheiji
1982 · Director, Writer
Japanese Ghost Story Masterpiece Theater: The Sealed Room of the Inner Chamber
1979 · Director
The Sea of Mystery
1978 · Director
Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter Special - Ghost Story of Tragic Love: Dance of the Folding Fan
1971 · Director
Mysterious Thirteen Nights Volume 2
1971 · Director
Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 4 - The Yokai Blood-stained Comb
1971 · Director
Mysterious Thirteen Nights Volume 1
1971 · Director
Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 1 - Ghost Story at the Kagamigaike
1971 · Director
Nihon Kaidan Gekijō: The Peony Lantern — Onibi no Maki / Hotarubi no Maki
1970 · Director
Okatsu the Fugitive
1969 · Director
Quick-draw Okatsu
1969 · Director
Sakura sakazuki: gikyōdai
1969 · Director
Snake Woman's Curse
1968 · Director, Writer
男の嵐
1963 · Director
This Is Japan
1963 · Director
Showdown at Lightning Pass
1962 · Screenplay, Director
The Warrior from Kishu
1962 · Screenplay, Director
The Phantom Goblin
1962 · Director
Kanashimi wa itsumo haha ni
1962 · Director
Bored Hatamoto: The Mysterious Coral Mansion
1962 · Director
The Man Who Challenged 8,000,000-Koku
1961 · Director
Kaachan
1961 · Director
Samurai Hawk
1961 · Director
Jigoku
1960 · Director, Screenplay
Death Row Woman
1960 · Director
Ghost Story of Yotsuya
1959 · Director
Kagebôshi: The Shadow Avenger
1959 · Director
The Lady Vampire
1959 · Director
Kyōen Kobanzame
1958 · Director
Ghost in the Regiment
1958 · Director
Black Cat Mansion
1958 · Director
A Wicked Woman
1958 · Director
Hibarigaoka Showdown
1957 · Director
The Ghost of Kasane
1957 · Director
Casebook of Dandy Sashichi: The Ox of Edo
1957 · Director
Storming Osaka Castle: The Sanada Ten Braves
1957 · Director
Casebook of Dandy Sashichi: Six Famous Beauties
1956 · Director
The Ceiling at Utsunomiya
1956 · Director
The Three Swordsmen of Ashura
1956 · Director
In Love with a Heavenly Fox
1956 · Director
Vampire Moth
1956 · Director
Stray Sheep
1955 · Director
Chutaro of Banba
1955 · Director
Kisan Detective Story: The Mysterious Doll-Maker
1953 · Director
Shishun no izumi
1953 · Director
An Edoite Judge
1953 · Director
Sunset Over Mount Fuji
1952 · Director
Today is Payday
1952 · Director
Love's Zephir Along the Tokaido
1952 · Director
Casebooks of Detective Umon: The Incident of the Fawn-Pattern Cloth
1952 · Director
Farewell to the Highland Station
1951 · Director
Bored Hatamoto: The Demon of Chinatown
1951 · Director
Conduct Report on Matashiro: The Devil Princess and Winter Rain
1951 · Director, Writer
Umon's Detective Stories: The One-Eyed Wolf
1951 · Director
Amakara chindōchū
1950 · Director
Rinchi
1949 · Director
The Adventures of Tobisuke
1949 · Director
Late Night Confession
1949 · Director
The Poppy
1941 · Director
Enoken's Bow-Wow General
1940 · Director
Enoken Enters the Ring
1940 · Director
Enoken's Yaji and Kita
1939 · Director
Shinpen Tange Sazen: Sekigan no maki
1939 · Director
Rivals
1939 · Director
Enoken's Mori no Ishimatsu
1939 · Director
Itahachi shima
1938 · Director, Screenplay
