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| Yukihiro Sawada in March 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick. |
According to various social media posts, longtime Nikkatsu director Yukihiro Sawada has recently passed away. No other details are available at the moment, including the cause or even date of death. However, it is likely he was 89 years old at the time of his passing, especially since Sawada-san apparently attended a Q&A event in June of this year.
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| Yukihiro Sawada in March 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick. |
Yukihiro Sawada was born on January 15, 1933, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. He graduated from Chuo University’s Faculty of Economics in 1956 and joined Nikkatsu Studios after graduating from university. There, he worked on the legendary director Seijun Suzuki, among many others.
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| Yukiro Sawada in November 2019. Photo by Brett Homenick. |
He debuted as a film director in his own right in 1970, directing Tetsuya Watari in the movie Attack (1970). He went on to direct the violent 1978 cult flick Panic in High School (alongside co-director Gakuryu Ishii), as well as the tokusatsu feature film Moonlight Mask (1981). He remained at Nikkatsu until 1983, after which he worked freelance.
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| In between Miyoko Akaza (left) and Yukihiro Sawada in November 2019. |
Sawada-san is, however, probably best remembered for his work in television, having helmed episodes of the hit TV series Howl at the Sun! (1972-86), Seibu Keisatsu (1979-84), and Detective Story (1979-80). But, for tokusatsu fans, he directed the very first episode of the Nikkatsu-produced, pre-Super Sentai action series Strada 5 (1974), which seemed to anticipate many of the tropes that would come to be associated with that famous franchise.
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| With Yukihiro Sawada in March 2019. |
I had the privilege of meeting Sawada-san three times over the years. I just wish I was more familiar with his career and could have talked to him in more detail about it.
Rest in peace, Sawada-san.
UPDATE (9/23): According to screenwriter Hiroshi Kashiwabara, Sawada-san passed away on September 21.
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