Biography

He kept the "Rashomon" sign from "Rashomon" (1950) at his home until his death in 1999.

Two sons, one daughter.

Prominent Japanese cinematographer, noted for his tracking shots and as inventor of the 'bleach bypass' optical technique, first employed in 1960.

At the age of 12, he began to study traditional Japanese ink painting. This contributed to his later mastery of black and white cinematography.

I am a cinematographer. I never had any ambition to become a director. A film is not one individual's method of personal expression, but a matter of teamwork, a co-operative venture.

[on his favorite Kurosawa film] I liked them ALL. They're all my children. A director and cameraman are like husband and wife. Even though they may fight, all their films are their offspring. How can you favor one over the other? They're all lovable.

There was a clothing shop near where I grew up. As a kid, I drew backgrounds for some of the clothing, and eventually got to actually do designs. One of my jobs was to sketch the children of tourists who'd come there. But they would never sit still; I got my father to buy me a Kodak camera to take pictures of them instead. But to get the film developed was very expensive. I had a friend whose sister was a big star at the old Nikkatsu studio. She arranged for me to get the film developed by their lab.

[on why he became a cinematographer] When I was little, I was short and not terribly strong. The other kids were always teasing me, so I spent a lot of time drawing and painting. I was never particularly interested in color. I tended more towards sumi-e brush painting, a monochromatic painting style using an ink wash, creating an atmosphere with black, white, and the enormous spectrum of gray in between. I was born and raised in Kyoto, in the old, traditional part of the city. I'll never forget the quality of light and shadow in my house. In Japanese architecture, room upon room open up into one another with sliding doors. I'd be in one end of the house and look through one room after the other with the doors open, each entrance creating frame upon frame. They'd be very dark, shadowed. The only color would be on the porch, at the end -- e little bit of garden and a red goldfish swimming in a bowl. Old-fashioned Kyoto. Unforgettable.

It was my training in ink painting that really taught me how to see, and working in the film lab taught me the basics, the fundamental part of making pictures. When I first began making films, I never used a light meter. I had to judge with my eyes where to set the exposure. I didn't work with a light meter until "Rashomon."