Takashi Miike

Early life

Miike was born in Yao, Osaka, on August 24, 1960. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a welder. His father was born in Seoul, which was then part of Japanese Korea, as his paternal grandfather was stationed in Korea and China during World War II. He was interested in motorcycles during his childhood, and considered racing professionally. At the age of 18, he joined the Yokohama Vocational School of Broadcast and Film (now the Japan Institute of the Moving Image), where he came under the guidance of the school's founder Shohei Imamura. When a local television company came looking for unpaid interns on a production, he was nominated by the school, despite his later claim that he only rarely attended classes.

Career

Miike's first films were television productions, but he also began directing several direct-to-video V-Cinema releases. He still intermittently directs these due to the creative freedom afforded by the less stringent censorship of the medium and the riskier content that producers will allow.

Miike's theatrical debut was the film The Third Gangster (Daisan no gokudō), but Shinjuku Triad Society (1995) was his first theatrical release to gain public attention. The film showcased his extreme style and his recurring themes, and its success allowed him to work on higher-budgeted pictures. Shinjuku Triad Society was the first film in what is labeled his "Black Society Trilogy", which also includes Rainy Dog (1997) and Ley Lines (1999).

Miike gained international fame in the early 2000s when his horror film Audition (1999), his violent yakuza epic Dead or Alive (1999), and his controversial 2001 adaptation of the manga Ichi the Killer all played at international film festivals. He gained a strong cult following in the West that grew with the increase in DVD releases of his works. During the international premiere of Ichi the Killer at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, the audience received "barf bags" emblazoned with the film's logo as a promotional gimmick. The BBFC refused to allow the release of the film uncut in the United Kingdom, citing its extreme levels of sexual violence towards women, and it required just over three minutes of footage to be removed before its release. In Hong Kong, 17 minutes of footage were cut. The film was outright banned in Germany, Malaysia, and Norway.

In 2005, Miike was invited to direct an episode of the anthology series Masters of Horror, intended to provide horror directors with creative freedom and relaxed restrictions on violent and sexual content. However, when Showtime acquired the rights to the series, Miike's episode "Imprint" was deemed too disturbing for broadcast. Showtime cancelled it from the broadcast lineup even after extended negotiations, though it was retained as part of the series' DVD release. Mick Garris, creator and executive producer of the series, described the episode as "amazing [but] hard to watch" and "definitely the most disturbing" production he had ever seen. "Imprint" has yet to air in the United States but was shown on Bravo in the United Kingdom, Nelonen in Finland, Rai Tre in Italy, and FX in multiple other countries. Anchor Bay Entertainment, which handled the American DVD releases for Masters of Horror, released the episode uncut on September 26, 2006.

In his later career, Miike has shifted towards work more acceptable to the mainstream; his samurai film Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011) premiered in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and his spy thriller film Straw Shield (2013) was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Stage directing

In 2005, Miike directed a Kabuki-style play titled Demon Pond. The DVD recording of the performance was released by Cinema Epoch.

Miike directed the play Zatoichi based on the eponymous character. The stage production was performed and filmed on December 12, 2007, and the DVD was released on May 30, 2008.

Artistry

Style

Miike achieved notoriety for depicting shocking scenes of extreme violence and sexual perversions. Many of his films contain graphic and lurid bloodshed, portrayed in an over-the-top and cartoonish manner. Much of his work depicts the activities of criminals, especially yakuza, or concern themselves with gaijin (foreigners living in Japan). He is known for his films' dark comedy and for pushing the boundaries of censorship.

Miike has directed films in a range of genres. He has created lighthearted children's films (Ninja Kids!!!, The Great Yokai War), period pieces (Sabu), a road movie (The Bird People in China), a teen drama (Andromedia), a farcical musical comedy horror (The Happiness of the Katakuris), video game adaptations (Like a Dragon, Ace Attorney), manga adaptations (Blade of the Immortal, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Terra Formers, The Mole Song Trilogy) and character driven crime dramas (Ley Lines, Agitator).

While Miike often creates films that are less accessible and target arthouse audiences and fans of extreme cinema, such as Izo and the "Box" segment in Three... Extremes, he has created several mainstream and commercial titles such as the horror film One Missed Call and the fantasy drama The Great Yokai War.

Reflecting his unusual approach to filmmkaing, Miike has said of his career:

Influences

Miike cited the American science-fiction action film Starship Troopers (1997) as his favorite film. He has expressed admiration for fellow Japanese filmmakers Akira Kurosawa and Hideo Gosha. He named American filmmaker David Lynch as his favorite director from the English-speaking world, and cited Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (who directed Starship Troopers) as the director who fascinates him the most. He also said that he likes Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg.

Personal life

Miike rarely discusses his private life.

Filmography

Director

Film

Direct-to-video

Feature film

Television

Live-action series and miniseries

TV movies

• Last Run: 100 Million Yen's Worth of Love & Betrayal (1992)
• Sabu (2002)
• Part-Time Detective (2002)
• Negotiator (2003)
• Part-Time Detective 2 (2004)
• Shin Abarenbō Shōgun (2025)

Anime series

• Onimusha (2023) (chief director)
• Nyaight of the Living Cat (2025) (chief director)

Music videos

• Pandōra (2002)

Commercials

• Chikyu kyodai (Blue Planet Brothers) (2013), ten 6-minute commercials for Japan Tobacco
• Midnight (2024), short online film for iPhone 15 Pro

Acting roles

References

Bibliography

• Mes, Tom. Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike. Godalming: FAB Press, 2003.
• Williams, Tony. "Takashi Miike's Cinema of Outrage." cineACTION 64 (2004): 54–62
• "Izo: Takashi Miike's History Lesson." Asian Cinema 16.2 (2005): 85–109.
• Gerow, Aaron. "The Homelessness of Style and the Problems of Studying Miike Takashi." Canadian Journal of Film Studies 18.1 (2009): 24–43

References

1. Strusiewicz, Cezary Jan. (2021-07-21). "Takashi Miike: The Cult Horror Director Switches to Magical Girls".
2. (2007). "501 Movie Directors". Cassell Illustrated.
3. Mes, Tom. ''Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike''. Godalming: FAB Press, 2003. {{ISBN. 1-903254-21-3. p. 15.
4. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0586281/bio/
5. Mes, pp. 16–18.
6. Mes, Tom. ''Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike''. Godalming: FAB Press, 2003. {{ISBN. 1-903254-21-3. p. 57.
7. Wong, Aliza S.. (December 15, 2018). "Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide". Rowman & Littlefield.
8. "Ichi the Killer | tiff.net".
9. (November 12, 2002). "''Ichi the Killer'' (18)". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
10. "Ichi the Killer (Comparison)". www.movie-censorship.com.
11. (March 19, 2018). "Filmart Flashback: In 2001, Takashi Miike Brought Ultra Violence to the Mainstream with 'Ichi the Killer' {{!}} Hollywood Reporter".
12. Kehr, Dave. (January 19, 2006). "Horror Film Made for Showtime Will Not Be Shown". The New York Times.
13. "''Masters of Horror''". bravo.co.uk.
14. (September 26, 2006). "Masters of Horror: Imprint". [[Amazon (website).
15. "Festival de Cannes: Official Selection". Cannes.
16. (April 18, 2013). "2013 Official Selection". Cannes.
17. "Demon Pond (2005)".
18. Brown, Todd. (December 27, 2007). "Miike Stage Production DEMON POND Coming To DVD!".
19. Interview Footage included in special features on American Region 1 DVD of ''Gozu''
20. Hoad, Phil. (May 5, 2011). "Takashi Miike: Why I am bringing Japanese classics back to life". The Guardian.
21. "『私と東映』 x 三池 崇史監督 （第1回 ／ 全2回）".
22. "Takashi Miike director of Gozu by Anderswolleck – SuicideGirls".
23. (June 3, 2007). "ULTRAMAN MAX Official Episode Guide".
24. https://natalie.mu/comic/news/55869
25. https://web.archive.org/web/20110924154949/http://www.ntv.co.jp/QP/
26. "金曜ナイトドラマ『警部補ダイマジン』｜テレビ朝日".
27. Loo, Egan. (2025-09-06). "Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Kamen no Ninja Akakage Manga Gets Live-Action Series by Takashi Miike". Anime News Network.
28. https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/639197
29. "Netflix Official Twitter". twitter.com.
30. Pineda, Rafael Antonio. (December 5, 2024). "Nyaight of the Living Cat TV Anime's Teaser Reveals Staff, Theme Song".
31. "＜三池崇史の短編の穴＞〜地球兄弟編〜".
32. Meale, Raffaele. (2024-04-08). "Midnight (2024) di Takashi Miike - Recensione {{!}} Quinlan.it".
33. "Blue Planet Brothers (2013)".
34. "Shot on iPhone 15 Pro {{!}} Midnight {{!}} Apple".
35. Brzeski, Patrick. (2024-03-06). "Apple Releases 19-Minute Takashi Miike Short Film Shot on an iPhone".
36. Maglio, Tony. (2024-03-06). "Takashi Miike Releases Secret Short Film Shot on an iPhone — Watch ‘Midnight’ Here".