{{Short description|Japanese film director (1927–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = Azuma Morisaki | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1927|11|19}} | birth_place = Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan | death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|7|16|1927|11|19|df=yes}} | death_place = Chigasaki, Kanagawa | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Film director, screenwriter }} {{nihongo|'''Azuma Morisaki'''|森崎 東|Morisaki Azuma|19 November 1927 – 16 July 2020}} was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.
==Career== Morisaki was born in Nagasaki Prefecture and graduated from Kyoto University.<ref name=kotobank>{{cite web|title=Morisaki Azuma|url=http://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%A3%AE%E5%B4%8E%E6%9D%B1|work=Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus|publisher=Kōdansha|accessdate=14 December 2013|language=Japanese}}</ref> After editing the film magazine ''Jidai Eiga'', he joined the Shochiku studio in 1956.<ref name=Load>{{cite web|script-title=ja:森崎東党宣言！|url=http://culture.loadshow.jp/topics/morisaki_sengen|work=Load Show|accessdate=14 December 2013|language=Japanese|archive-date=15 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215002503/http://culture.loadshow.jp/topics/morisaki_sengen/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Moving from the Kyoto to Ofuna Studio, he wrote screenplays for Yoji Yamada's comedies and made his directorial debut in 1969 with ''Woman Can't Be Beaten''.<ref name=kotobank/><ref name=Load/><ref>{{cite web|last=Richie|first=Donald|authorlink=Donald Richie|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cjs/agc9004.0001.001/--japanese-cinema-film-style-and-national-character?rgn=main;view=fulltext|title=Japanese cinema: film style and national character|publisher=University of Michigan Library|work=Center for Japanese Studies Publications|accessdate=16 December 2013}}</ref> Known for his earthy, acerbic comedy, he also directed one episode of the ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series. Turning freelance in 1975,<ref name=kotobank/><ref name=Load/> he continued to make films. His last film, ''Pecoross' Mother and Her Days'' (2013), was made when he was 86 years old.<ref name=Eiga>{{cite web|script-title=ja:森崎東監督、初日挨拶で86歳誕生日祝福され「まるで映画のよう」|url=http://eiga.com/news/20131116/5/|work=Eiga.com|accessdate=14 December 2013|language=Japanese}}</ref> He died on 16 July 2020 of a stroke at a hospital in Chigasaki, Kanagawa.<ref name="Nikkan">{{cite web |title=映画監督森崎東さん死去、時代屋の女房など手掛ける - おくやみ : 日刊スポーツ |url=https://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/news/202007170000309.html |website=Nikkan Sports |accessdate=17 July 2020 |language=ja}}</ref>
==Awards== Morisaki was given a best new artist award in the film category of the Agency for Cultural Affairs's Geijutsu Senshō art awards for 1970, and then received the Minister of Education's award in the 2004 Geijutsu Senshō.<ref>{{cite web|title=Geijutsu Senshō rekidai jushōsha ichiran |url=http://www.bunka.go.jp/geijutsu_bunka/01geijutsuka/sensho/pdf/rekidai_jushousha_2012.pdf |publisher=Agency for Cultural Affairs |accessdate=15 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215020935/http://www.bunka.go.jp/geijutsu_bunka/01geijutsuka/sensho/pdf/rekidai_jushousha_2012.pdf |archivedate=15 December 2013 }}</ref> He also received a special grand award for his career at the 25th Yokohama Film Festival in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:第１６回ヨコハマ映画祭 １９９４年日本映画個人賞|url=http://homepage3.nifty.com/yokohama-eigasai/16-1994/16_1994_shou.html|publisher=Yokohama Film Festival|accessdate=15 December 2013|language=Japanese}}</ref> ''Pecoross' Mother and Her Days'' was selected as the best film of 2013 in the critics' polls conducted by both the ''Kinema Junpo''<ref>{{cite web|title=2013-nen Dai 87-kai Kinema Junpo Besuto Ten|url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/kinejun_best10/2013/award/|work=Kinenote|publisher=Kinema Junpo|accessdate=30 January 2014|language=Japanese}}</ref> and ''Eiga Geijutsu'' magazines.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eiga Geijutsu 2013-nen Nihon Eiga Besuto Ten & Wasuto Ten|url=http://eigageijutsu.com/article/385405617.html|publisher=Eiga Geijutsu|accessdate=30 January 2014|language=Japanese|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701115331/http://eigageijutsu.com/article/385405617.html|archive-date=1 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Selected filmography== *''Woman Can't Be Beaten'' (1969) *''Tora-san, His Tender Love'' (1970) *''Stray Dog'' (1973) *''Time and Tide'' (1983) *''Location'' (1984) *''The Nuclear Gypsies'' (1985) *''Guys Who Never Learn'' (1987) *''The Great Department Store Robbery'' (1987) *''Tsuribaka Nisshi Special'' (1994) *''Oishinbo'' (1996) *''Love Letter'' (1998) *''Chicken Is Barefoot'' (2004) *''Pecoross' Mother and Her Days'' (2013)
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last=Morisaki|first=Azuma|title=Atama wa Hitotsuzutsu Haikyūsarete Iru|year=2004|publisher=Papirusu Ai|location=Tokyo|isbn=478459101X|oclc=169959171}} *{{cite book|last=Morisaki|first=Azuma|title=Nippon no Kigeki Eiga|year=1984|publisher=Eiga Shobō|location=Tokyo|oclc=30388884}} *{{cite book|title=Morisaki Azuma-tō Sengen! = Azuma Morisaki: Films of Laughter, Tears, and Anger|year=2013|publisher=Inscript|location=Tokyo|isbn=978-4900997400|editor=Fujii, Jinshi}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{official website|http://hadasi.jp/}} {{in lang|ja}} *{{IMDb name|0605648}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20131215014316/http://www.dgj.or.jp/interview/cat104/ Interview], Directors Guild of Japan {{in lang|ja}}
{{Yokohama Film Festival Best Director}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morisaki, Azuma}} Category:Japanese film directors Category:1927 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Japanese screenwriters Category:People from Nagasaki Prefecture Category:Kyoto University alumni Category:Writers from Nagasaki Prefecture