Japanese film director and writer Kaneto Shindo, who helmed the 1960s ghost story "Onibaba", died in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 29, 2012. He was 100. Shindo was born in Hiroshima on April 22, 1912. He embarked on a career in film in the mid-1930s with Shinko Kinema in Kyoto. He soon moved with Shinko to Tokyo where he worked under Hiroshi Mizutani in the art department. He served as art director for several films in the late 1930s and was soon writing scripts for such films as "Mojo-Tsukai no Shimai" (1941) and "Hokkyokuko" (1941). He served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, but his physical exam relegated him to cleaning building used by the military. He returned to the cinema after the war, joining the Shochiku Film Company. He worked frequently as screenwriter for director Kozaburo Yoshimura, and had a hit with 1947's "A Ball at the Anjo House". They teamed with actor Taiji Tonoyama to form the independent production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai in 1950, and Shindo made his directorial debut with the semi-autobiographical "The Story of a Beloved Wife" the following year. He also directed the 1952 film "Avalanche", and "Children of Hiroshima", about the dropping of the atomic bomb on his hometown, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. He also helmed "Shukuzu" (1953), "Onna no Issho" (1953), "Dobu" (1954), "Okami" (1955), "Gin Shinju" (1956), "Ryuri no Kishi" (1956), "Joyu" (1956), "Umi no Yarodomo" (1957), "Kanashimi wa Onna Dakeni" (1958), "Lucky Dragon Number 5" (1959), and "Hanayome-san wa Sekai-Ichi" (1959). He earned internation success with 1960's "The Naked Island" which starred his frequent leading lady Nobuko Otowa. Shindo followed his success with the socially relevant films "Ningen" (1962) and "Mother" (1963), before helming the acclaimed supernatural horror film "Onibaba" in 1964. His other film credits include "Akuto" (1965), "Lost Sex" (1966), "Libido" (1967), the horror film "Kuroneko" (aka "Black Cat") (1968),
"Operation Negligee" (1968), "Heat Wave Island" (1969), "Strange Affinity" (1970), "Live Today, Die Tomorrow!" (1970), "Kanawa" (1972), "Sanka" (1972), "Love Betrayed" (1973), "My Way" (1974), the 1975 documentary "Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director", "The Life of Chikuzan" (1977), "The Strangling" (1979), "Edo Porn" (1981), "The Horizon" (1984), "Black Board" (1986), "Tree Without Leaves" (1986), "Sakura-tai Chiru" (1988), "The Strange Tale of Oyuki" (1992), "A Last Note" (1995), "Will to Live" (1999), "By Player" (2000), "Owl" (2003), "Teacher and Three Children" (2008), and "Postcard" (2010). His son, Jiro Shindo, produced several of his later films, and granddaughter Kaze Shindo also became a film director and writer.
Japanese film director and writer Kaneto Shindo, who helmed the 1960s ghost story "Onibaba", died in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 29, 2012. He was 100. Shindo was born in Hiroshima on April 22, 1912. He embarked on a career in film in the mid-1930s with Shinko Kinema in Kyoto. He soon moved with Shinko to Tokyo where he worked under Hiroshi Mizutani in the art department. He served as art director for several films in the late 1930s and was soon writing scripts for such films as "Mojo-Tsukai no Shimai" (1941) and "Hokkyokuko" (1941). He served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, but his physical exam relegated him to cleaning building used by the military. He returned to the cinema after the war, joining the Shochiku Film Company. He worked frequently as screenwriter for director Kozaburo Yoshimura, and had a hit with 1947's "A Ball at the Anjo House". They teamed with actor Taiji Tonoyama to form the independent production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai in 1950, and Shindo made his directorial debut with the semi-autobiographical "The Story of a Beloved Wife" the following year. He also directed the 1952 film "Avalanche", and "Children of Hiroshima", about the dropping of the atomic bomb on his hometown, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. He also helmed "Shukuzu" (1953), "Onna no Issho" (1953), "Dobu" (1954), "Okami" (1955), "Gin Shinju" (1956), "Ryuri no Kishi" (1956), "Joyu" (1956), "Umi no Yarodomo" (1957), "Kanashimi wa Onna Dakeni" (1958), "Lucky Dragon Number 5" (1959), and "Hanayome-san wa Sekai-Ichi" (1959). He earned internation success with 1960's "The Naked Island" which starred his frequent leading lady Nobuko Otowa. Shindo followed his success with the socially relevant films "Ningen" (1962) and "Mother" (1963), before helming the acclaimed supernatural horror film "Onibaba" in 1964. His other film credits include "Akuto" (1965), "Lost Sex" (1966), "Libido" (1967), the horror film "Kuroneko" (aka "Black Cat") (1968), 
"Operation Negligee" (1968), "Heat Wave Island" (1969), "Strange Affinity" (1970), "Live Today, Die Tomorrow!" (1970), "Kanawa" (1972), "Sanka" (1972), "Love Betrayed" (1973), "My Way" (1974), the 1975 documentary "Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director", "The Life of Chikuzan" (1977), "The Strangling" (1979), "Edo Porn" (1981), "The Horizon" (1984), "Black Board" (1986), "Tree Without Leaves" (1986), "Sakura-tai Chiru" (1988), "The Strange Tale of Oyuki" (1992), "A Last Note" (1995), "Will to Live" (1999), "By Player" (2000), "Owl" (2003), "Teacher and Three Children" (2008), and "Postcard" (2010). His son, Jiro Shindo, produced several of his later films, and granddaughter Kaze Shindo also became a film director and writer.
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