A Japanese director, born in Osaka, Japan. He graduated from the Japan Institute of the Moving Image, where he trained under a number of Japanese directors, including Shôhei Imamura and Hideo Onchi before directing his first film Toppû! Minipato tai - Aikyacchi Jankushon in 1991. His other credits include Ichi the Killer (2001) and Waru (2006).