Joji Matsuoka

Jōji Matsuoka (松岡 錠司, Matsuoka Jōji; born November 7, 1961) is a Japanese film director. After studying filmmaking in the College of Art at Nihon University,^[1] he won an award for his independent short Inaka no hōsoku at the Pia Film Festival in 1984.^[2] He directed his first commercial feature, Bataashi kingyo, in 1990 and received a number of awards for best new director, including the Hochi Film Award.^[3] He won the Japan Academy Prize for best director for his film Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad.^[4] Matsuoka is known for his delicate depictions of complicated romantic and familial relationships, including a homosexual triangle in Kirakira Hikaru, a daughter caring for an abusive but now senile mother in Akashia no Michi, and a son caring for a cancer-stricken mother in Tokyo Tower. He has also shot many television commercials.^[1] His best known and most successful TV show is Midnight Diner.^[5]

Jōji Matsuoka
Born	(1961-11-07) November 7, 1961 (age 63) Ichinomiya, Aichi, Japan
Occupation	Film director

Director

Films

• Bataashi Kingyo (1990)
• Kirakira Hikaru (1992)
• Toire no Hanako-san (1995)
• Akashia no Michi (2001)
• Sayonara, Kuro (2003)
• Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (2007)
• Kanki no Uta (2008)
• Snow Prince (2009)
• Midnight Diner (2014)
• Midnight Diner 2 (2016)

TV Dramas

• Midnight Diner (2009 - 2019)