Tadashi Sawashima

Tadashi Sawashima 沢島 忠 Sawashima Tadashi 19 May 1926 27 January 2018 was a Japanese film director and theatre director He directed films from the 1950s to the 1970s He died on 27 January 2018 of multiple organ failure at the age of 91 Sawashima was born in Kotō Shiga Prefecture Japan He joined the Toei Studio in 1950 and worked as an assistant director under Masahiro Makino and Kunio Watanabe before debuting as a director in 1957 with Torawakamaru the Koga Ninja He is most known for his work in Toeis ninkyo eiga series but he also directed entertainment jidaigeki featuring Hibari Misora Chiemi Eri and Kinnosuke Nakamura He directed his last film in 1977 and mostly directed stage productions after that In his final years he had been attempting to film a version of the Chushingura story but did not succeed He was given a Special Award at the 40th Japan Academy Prize ceremony in 2017 for his career in cinema He directed 49 films and wrote nine screenplays