Yoichi Sai Obituary

Yoichi was a Japanese film director. He was president of the Directors Guild of Japan.

Sai won the Best Screenplay award at the 11th Yokohama Film Festival for A Sign Days. He directed Blood and Bones, a film starring Takeshi Kitano. He has also directed films such as Marks, Doing Time, Quill, Soo and Kamui Gaiden.

As an actor, Sai appeared in Nagisa Oshima’s 1999 film Taboo and Masahiko Nagasawa’s 2003 film, The Thirteen Steps.

Sai’s 2004, film Blood and Bones won four Japanese Academy Awards, including two for Sai himself, for Best Director and Best screenplay. He had previously received two nominations in the same categories for All Under the Moon.

Yoichi Sai died of bladder cancer at his home in Tokyo, on November 27, 2022, at the age of 73.