Kōki Mitani
Born (1961-07-08) July 8, 1961
Setagaya, Tokyo
NationalityJapanese
Occupation(s)Playwright, screenwriter, actor, film director

Kōki Mitani (三谷 幸喜, Mitani Kōki, born July 8, 1961) is a Japanese playwright, screenwriter, actor and film director and was previously married to Japanese actress Satomi Kobayashi. He was named after Taihō Kōki, the youngest sumo wrestler to become yokozuna. He studied dramatics at Nihon University.

In an attempt to add his own character to his movies, his directorial approach follows a "one scene = one shot" system, whereby he pans the camera around as opposed to cutting. He claims this comes from his experience in theatre, where there are no cuts. Mitani does not use a computer.[1]

Early life

Mitani liked watching TV dramas and puppetries of NHK in his childhood. He was especially interested in works of puppetry such as "Shin Hakkenden" (新八犬伝) and Sangokushi (三国志), jidaigeki dramas such as Tenka Gomen (天下御免) and Tenka Dōdō (天下堂々), and Taiga dramas such as Kaze to Kumo to Niji to.[2]

Throughout his life, he has expressed interest in works starring famous detectives, such as the Sherlock Holmes series.[3][4] He has collected numerous novel volumes, pastiches, and DVDs related to Sherlock Holmes, and in 2014 adapted the story into a puppetry set in a boarding school. In his high school days, he planned to produce a film featuring a detective, loosely based on And Then There Were None, and went on location to Enoshima, Kanagawa with his friends, though this film was never finished.[3]

Mitani has also stated that he enjoys foreign cinema, and is a fan of the films 12 Angry Men, The Wages of Fear, Columbo, and the director Billy Wilder. He has mentioned how he believes Hollywood comedy films are not as funny as those in the Golden Age and as Japanese comedy improves.[1]

Career

Mitani's work has primarily comprised witty comedies which are often parodies. In production, he usually writes scripts visualizing actors and actresses as close to the characters. Mitani is the author of a weekly column in the Asahi Shimbun daily newspaper[1] in which he often discusses his favorite films, his writing process, and the actors and actresses with whom he has worked.

Works

Feature films and TV dramas

(Note: Many of Mitani's films began as successful plays.)

Theatre

Puppetries

Recurring cast members

ActorFuruhata Ninzaburō (1994–2006)Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997)Aikotoba wa Yūki (2000)Minna no Ie (2001)Shinsengumi! (2004) The Uchōten Hotel (2006)The Magic Hour (2008)Wagaya no Rekishi (2010)A Ghost of a Chance (2011)The Kiyosu Conference (2013)Galaxy Turnpike (2015)Sanada Maru (2016)Kioku ni Gozaimasen (2019)
Toshiyuki Nishida (76) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Fumiyo Kohinata (69) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Kōji Yakusho (68) checkcheckcheckcheck
Keiko Toda (66) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Kōichi Satō (63) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck check
Masahiko Nishimura (63) checkcheckcheck
Yoshimasa Kondo (62) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Kiichi Nakai (62) checkcheckcheckcheckcheck
Kenji Anan (61) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Toshiaki Karasawa (60) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Susumu Terajima (60) checkcheckcheckcheckcheck
Zen Kajihara (57) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Kyōka Suzuki (55) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Eri Fukatsu (51) checkcheck
Yo Oizumi (50) checkcheckcheck
Masato Sakai (50) checkcheck
Koji Yamamoto (47) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Shingo Katori (46) checkcheckcheckcheckcheckcheckcheck
Yūko Takeuchi (43) checkcheck
Satoshi Tsumabuki (43) checkcheck
Haruka Ayase (38) checkcheck

Honors

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Tanaka, Nobuko, "Japan's Mr. Comedy", Japan Times, June 2, 2012, p. 7
  2. 三谷幸喜のありふれた生活14 いくさ上手 松村邦洋との大河フリーク対談 P.248 朝日新聞出版 ISBN 4022514000 ISBN 978-4022514004
  3. 1 2 『ユリイカ』、青土社、2014年8月増刊、148–154頁
    Eureka August 2014 Extra Edition", Tokyo: Seidosha, 2014, pp.148–154.
  4. 岡崎信治郎・藤田健一編『シャーロックホームズ冒険ファンブック』、小学館、2014年、21頁。
    Shinjirō Okazaki and Kenichi Fujita (ed.) Sharokku Hōmuzu bōken fan bukku(Guidebook of "Sherlock Holmes"), Tokyo, Shogakukan, 2014, p.21.
  5. "三谷幸喜×長澤まさみ、新作映画『スオミの話をしよう』制作発表「長澤まさみのすべてがこの中にある」". Oricon. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
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