Jun Ichikawa
June Ichikawa (市 川 准jap, Ichikawa June; born November 25, 1948 in Fuchū, Tokyo Prefecture, † September 19, 2008 ) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.
Ichikawa announced in 1981 his work and began a very successful director of commercials. With Memoirs of a Geisha 1987 student he could present his first directorial work in the film industry and was praised by critics for it. In the following years, he established himself in the Japanese film scene as an unconventional director and was awarded several prizes. He won in 1991 for the film Tsugumi, a film adaptation of the novel by Banana Yoshimoto, the Best Director Award at the Mainichi Film Contest. He received the same award in 1994 again, this time for the film Byōin de Shinu to Iukoto.
His Dramas from the 1990s were compared with the works Yasujirō Ozu, who influenced Ichikawa strong. With Tōkyō Kyodai he made in 1995 a tribute to Ozu.
His film Tokiwa - sō no Seishun is about the everyday life of some manga artists ( including Fujio Akatsuka and Shotaro Ishinomori ) in the famous Tokiwa - sō apartment. Among his most important works, the internationally acclaimed Tony Takitani heard from a screenplay by Haruki Murakami. For this film, Ichikawa won the 2004 FIPRESCI Prize and the Special Jury Prize at the International Film Festival of Locarno.