Shinji Aoyama (July 13, 1964 - March 25, 2022) was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, composer, film critic, and novelist. He graduated from Rikkyo University. He won two awards at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for his film Eureka.
Four short films produced without a director
Release Date2001-12-01
Charactersd Man
Shinji Aoyama’s short film follows an unlikely pair of detectives—played by Susumu Terajima and filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa—as they navigate a quirky case with deadpan seriousness. Mixing parody with genre tropes, the film riffs on the idea of “The Detective Who Can Say No,” echoing the satirical spirit of its title while playfully undermining the conventions of Japanese cop dramas. Made for the omnibus film "Deka Matsuri"
Release Date2003-01-11
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Charactersd
In a near future where allergies have become an epidemic, music producer Haru half-heartedly dates post office clerk and mail thief Michi. He searches for violent ways to reactivate his life, she dreams of escaping abroad; both volunteer to test a new drug which may provide a cure.
Release Date1999-12-11
Charactersd Fascist
Vote Count14
Yutaka was fourteen years old when he was run over by a car and fell into a coma. Now, ten years later, he wakes up and realizes that his family is not intact anymore: father, mother and sister live at different places. Yutaka decides to re-open the pony farm that his family once ran.
Release Date1999-01-23
Charactersd man in pub
Vote Count16
Kotaro and Kuroe marry almost immediately in a Christian ceremony and move into an apartment. Life is completely joyous until, one day, Kuroe falls ill.
Release Date2001-06-15
Charactersd Kitano
Vote Count2
An overview of the life and work of legendary Japanese filmmaker Kijû Yoshida, a notable figure of the Japanese New Wave.
Release Date2008-04-09
Charactersd Self
An ex-boxer working for a game parlor owner gets caught up in a complex blackmail operation he doesn't understand. Before long he's caught between two yakuza bosses and a mysterious thief who motivation is unknown. Add in the boss' daughter who has a crush on him and watch him struggle to make sense of it all and come out alive.
Release Date1997-04-05
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count1
Young female embalmer Miyako is called in to restore the body of a young man who has committed suicide, before the funeral. While performing the embalming process she finds herself pricks by a needle buried deep in the boy’s flesh where it should not be. During the night the head is removed from the body and stolen, Miyako begins a desperate search for it so she can finish her work. Miyako search finds her encountering organ harvesting, religious cults, incest, psychopathic schizophrenics as well as some very dark secrets from here own past.
Release Date1999-07-30
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count8
Shuji is an uncompromising young filmmaker at odds with Japanese society. One day he learns that his loan shark brother, who had helped to finance his films, has been executed by his own yakuza gang for failing to repay his debts.
Release Date2011-12-17
DepartmentWriting
JobCo-Writer
Vote Count13
"AA" is a documentary about Akira Aida (mostly known as Aquirax Aida), a japanese music critic who introduced free jazz, improvisation, and progressive rock to Japan. It's based on interviews with 12 critics and musicians who had connections with him. This is a documentary that considers the past, present and future of improvisation.
Release Date2006-12-12
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count34
When a woman whose job is to professionally date men disappears suddenly, a TV crew who wanted to film a documentary about women like her begin searching for her. Coincidentally, a salary-man who saw the disappeared woman and wants to meet her again is found and joins the crew. Together they follow the clues. She has an amulet, which looks like a small bag, which she always hangs from her neck. It contains a piece of the Berlin wall.
Release Date1995-12-22
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count1
Set towards the end of World War II, Nomura (Masatoshi Nagase) is a writer who is in despair. A woman works in bar and is a former prostitute. Many years ago, her father sold her to a brothel due to the family's severe financial hardships. The writer and the woman then agree to live as husband and wife until the war ends. The woman doesn't feel sexual pleasures due to her past, while the man lusts for the woman's body. Meanwhile, Ohira (Jun Murakami) fought for Japan in China. He participated in unconscionable acts against civilians in the name of war. He returns to Japan with only one arm. Ohira then begins to prey on innocent women.
Release Date2013-04-27
DepartmentSound
JobMusic
Vote Count5
In rural Japan, the survivors of a tragedy converge and attempt to overcome their damaged selves, all while a serial killer is on the loose.
Release Date2001-01-20
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count96
A.D. 2015: A virus has been spreading in many cities worldwide. It is a suicidal disease and the virus is infected by pictures. People, once infected, come down with the disease, which leads to death. They have no way of fighting against this infection filled with fear and despair. The media calls the disease the "Lemming Syndrome".
Release Date2005-05-18
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count19
A former sumo wrestler, now working as a security guard, goes on a murderous rampage.
Release Date1992-06-16
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count17
Toma lives in a small riverside town with his brutish father and his father's girlfriend. Witnessing his father's predilections for abuse, Toma becomes anxious that he will have inherited those urges.
Release Date2013-09-07
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count22
In the time after Naomi's parents suddenly die, she happens to meet and bond with the popular actor Morinori Tokito who lives in the same apartment building.
Release Date2020-10-23
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count7
Centering on a young drifter almost casually drawn into violence--a crime drama about a boy and a man equally ill-equipped for criminal life and straight society. Neither wants to be a Yakuza, but normal life presents problems.
Release Date1996-12-21
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count3
Three couples are staying at a lakeside cottage with their children. They want them to prepare intensely for a prestigious high school's entrance exam with the help of a private tutor. One night, one of the wives confesses to her husband that she has killed his mistress.
Release Date2005-01-22
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count7
Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old friend in jail and a young illegal immigrant. Eventually his life reaches a turning point.
Release Date2007-09-08
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count9
An omnibus recorded in a short film by five film directors with the motif of the song "Kai Band".
Release Date2015-02-28
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Kaoru, a wealthy woman whose youth is fading, abandons the hustle and bustle of the city to live a peaceful life in a house on the coast. There she takes care of an old deaf, dumb and blind man as if he were an insect, a child or a pet. He can’t do anything for himself, so she feeds him and accompanies him on his walks. This strong mutual dependency offers Kaoru an escape from society and allows her to free herself from restrictions imposed by common sense.
Release Date2006-11-23
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count2
Hapless gangsters are hired by the yakuza to tail his daughter. Once the identity of the boy she's dating has been unveiled, the boss offers a reward for his capture.
Release Date1995-08-12
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count3
Akihiro, who lives in an old apartment building in Tokyo, makes songs and sings on the streets; Fei, a street musician who makes a living making a living by making the Iranian traditional instrument 'Daf', but does not neglect to play every night; A film director who travels around Seoul with a digital camera .
Release Date2003-01-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
12-part omnibus made under the rules: "the main character is a detective" "at least one gag per minute" "the length must not exceed 10 minutes"
Release Date2003-01-11
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Private detective Mike takes on an assignment to return a girl, who is set to marry into a prestigious family, from a mysterious commune in the forest.
Release Date2003-03-19
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count9
A successful businessman and his alcoholic wife attempt to piece together their unhappy lives and shattered marriage. Little do Nagai and Akira know that their precarious relationship will soon be transformed by a stranger, the enigmatic Keechie.
Release Date2001-06-19
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count13
Two petty gangsters get ransomed by a group of Yakuza members, fortunately they are rescued by a kindly Kindergarten teacher.
Release Date1995-04-22
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Vote Count2
Mike Hama, Private Detective, is a chain-smoking, wisecracking tough guy with a weakness for the ladies and a soft spot in his heart, especially for his kid sister Akane. Mike's so down on his luck he'll take any case, from finding a lost pet to spying on cheating spouses. But every now and then, along comes a client with dubious and dangerous case… and that's when Mike shows his stuff.
Release Date2002-07-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count1
Vote Count5
Yasuo is a gangster just released from jail. Believing his boss double-crossed him, enraged Yasuo is on his way to find the boss. But before setting out for the dangerous trip, Yasuo asks Kenji to take care of his mentally challenged sister, Yuri, and a mysterious black bag.
Release Date1996-07-27
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count11
Koji, a university student and budding photographer, is asked by a man to secretly take pictures of his wife Yurika. As a result, his relationships with a girl who visits his part-time workplace called Tominaga and his step-sister Misaki begin to change subtly.
Release Date2011-06-17
DepartmentWriting
JobWriter
Vote Count12
One day, Ezawa Jun, who has trouble with work and in love, gets a ryukin from a goldfish scooping game at a festival. However, she is actually a beautiful girl and she suddenly turns into a human form and appears in front of Jun. Called Ryu, she is looking for the legendary black ranchu and asks Jun for his help. The two strangers begin living together and growing closer. Their fate goes in an unexpected direction.
Release Date2020-03-29
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Rika, a bright, attractive, and driven young woman, is intent on marrying her dreamy boyfriend Seiichi Ono who is not only tall and handsome but also an up-and-coming executive. One day, Ono abruptly dumps her.
Release Date1999-07-03
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count3
A detective and his partner track down a call girl with information about a drug cartel. After taking her into custody, they are attacked by cartel members. The detective and the woman manage to escape, but they are soon hounded by a professional hitman hired to eliminate them and recover the heroin stolen by the woman.
Release Date1996-10-04
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
TRUNK, also known as WebCINEMA TRUNK, is a three-part short film directed by Shinji Aoyama. Released online as part of an experimental web cinema project and a marketing campaign, it follows an office worker who becomes entangled in a series of unexpected events involving theft, abduction, and pursuit across shifting urban and international settings. Mixing live-action drama with animated inserts, the film explores themes of chance encounters and the unpredictability of everyday life.
Release Date2003-10-04
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
A convicted rapist, Ikuo is released from prison and goes in pursuit of the woman he raped, Mieko. So obsessed is he with revenge he sees her in every woman he meets. After carrying out vicious attacks on a prostitute and a young girl he finally comes face to face with her.
Release Date1994-04-22
DepartmentWriting
JobScreenplay
Vote Count6
In Japanese theater, women's roles are traditionally played by men. The man playing the woman's role, the Onnagata, does not imitate the woman, as in the West, but tries to capture her significance. He need not stick close to his model, but draws far more from his own identity - a shift of value takes place, which is nonetheless not a step beyond. THE WRITTEN FACE is an attempt to offer an insight into the Japanese Kabuki star Tamasaburo Bando, one of the last defenders of this ancient and disappearing performing tradition.
Release Date1995-09-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
Police detective Sosuke is shot down while chasing down a suspect. While he is unconscious, his gun is stolen. He recovers, but loses his wife and resigns from the police force. All of a sudden, his lost gun used in a series of crimes.
Release Date1997-12-20
DepartmentWriting
JobWriter
Vote Count7
Kenji Nakagami, one of the most notable Japanese writers of the post-war, died in 1992. His work reveals a strong connection to his homeland, Kishu: a mountainous region that connects to the Pacific Ocean through a river. "To The Alley" (alternative title) is a documentary about Kenji's life. Incorporating 16 mm images from the writer's personal archive and adding new footage, director Shinji Aoyama travels through the paths of the life and art of the Japanese writer.
Release Date2001-08-11
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Those who want to die seek refuge in a mysterious café in this feverishly strange Japanese debut.
Release Date2016-12-17
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Masayuki meets Nanami, who is on a journey with a refrigerator named Ullie. Nanami's Iranian friend Amir is helping her haul the refrigerator which contains Nanami's dead boyfriend. Masayuki joins the journey.
Release Date1996-07-06
DepartmentDirecting
JobAssistant Director
The main character Akihiko lives in an old apartment. He plays the guitar and sings his own pieces on the street, but this cannot be called his dream. He has a girlfriend. The owner of the apartment next-door constantly repeats Buddhist prayers night and day. On the floor above, there lives a strange middle-aged man who wants to be kicked out of the apartment. Such an ordinary day exists. Akihiko is standing still on the street at dawn.
Release Date2003-04-26
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Pinku film adapted from popular adult comic series “Not in the textbooks!”. This direct-to-video “v-cinema” is the directorial debut of Shinji Aoyama.
Release Date1995-12-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
A feature film co-directed by Shinji Aoyama, Yoshiho Fukuoka, and Takuji Suzuki, produced in collaboration with students as part of the film production and acting curriculum at Kyoto University of Art and Design (now Kyoto University of the Arts).
Release Date2016-08-08
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
The seemingly shrewd and cunning Reiji Mikoshiba is a heavyweight lawyer in the legal and political worlds. There’s no case he can’t win, and he occasionally takes on unprofitable cases to make a name for himself, making him a cunning man who can take on both sides of the fence. Also shown as TV Movie.
Release Date2015-01-24
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count8
Vote Count3
Delphine is twenty years old. She is too young to have experienced the activism of the seventies, but for her it is not something that belongs to the past. She decides to find something that will allow her to act and which, she claims, is owed to her.
Release Date2008-01-01
DepartmentWriting
JobWriter
Vote Count4
Commissioned by Yokohama National University, the film follows a man nearly twenty years after his graduation, who, facing a deadlock in his professional life, returns to his alma mater. Wandering slowly under the blooming cherry trees and through laboratories, classrooms, and the university library, he reflects on his past, present, and the meaning of the university in his life. The role is played by Ken Mitsuishi with cinematography by Masaki Tamura.
Release Date2003-08-04
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Two brothers start working as benshi narrators of silent films in a cinema in the early 20th century. This premise is the jumping-off point for an epic family saga that follows the protagonists and their descendants through wars and technological developments.
Release Date2025-03-21
DepartmentWriting
JobScreenplay
Vote Count5
In modern-day Kanazawa, writer Tokuda Shūsei returns to his hometown and is quietly drawn to Okine, the daughter of a fading inn. Inspired by four of Shūsei’s works, director Shinji Aoyama (Desert Moon) transforms the inner world of a Meiji-era novelist into a meditative film that drifts between memory and the present, culminating in a luminous live performance that dissolves the boundary between art and life.
Release Date2003-08-07
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Joe, a stuntman burdened with a past he wants to keep hidden, suffers a serious injury during a stunt. One day, as he nurses a drink, he continues his monologue to the bartender. The men from the organization pursuing him eventually show up at the bar. Joe savors his final drink, cigarette, and music, while the sound of a blues harp fills the room.
Release Date2015-08-12
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Release Date2019-09-08
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Episode Count2
The film opens with distant shots of wind power plants, followed by a Pink Floyd song, and then focuses on a simple yet evocative image: a bonfire on the beach at night. Its title references Pink Floyd’s album “Wish You Were Here”, merging both the literal and symbolic meaning of presence and longing.
Release Date2005-07-31
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Rinken Band represents the Okinawan pop music world. Director Aoyama Shinji (Eureka), one of those attracted to the band, focuses on the band's vocalist, Uehara Tomoko, in this documentary. The film is made up of her performances at live houses, scenes from recording sessions and interviews in between.
Release Date2004-02-27
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Directed by Shinji Aoyama, this NHK documentary follows avant-garde jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo as he traces the footsteps of the poet Matsuo Bashō. Blending music, landscape, and literature, the film captures Kondo’s improvisational soundscapes against the spiritual terrain of Kumano, evoking a dialogue between past and present, poetry and performance.
Release Date2002-07-31
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
An ensemble drama opens with the son of a celebrated actress staging his own play for his mother and her lover, a popular writer, at a lakeside home. The second FUGAKU installment adapts Chekhov’s The Seagull, condensing the three-hour play to forty minutes of dialogue and a minimal set. This sparing use of text and stage design highlights the actors’ presence and the energy of their interactions. Directed by Shinji Aoyama in collaboration with Tama Art University, this rarely-seen experimental three-part series (2012–2015) explores cinema as a dynamic, living medium. Combining student-led production with theatrical adaptation and meta-narrative devices, FUGAKU challenges conventional filmmaking while interrogating the boundaries between fiction, reality, and creative education.
Release Date2014-08-06
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.
Release Date2011-12-22
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Vote Count6
K, a projectionist, is taken to a lakeside deep in the mountains. There, in a place called “The Dog House”, he finds Professor Shiny in an electrified helmet and his daughter, who is now a corpse. The film was composed from words drawn from a Twitter bot, quoting existing words and images. Directed by Shinji Aoyama in collaboration with Tama Art University, this rarely-seen experimental three-part series (2012–2015) explores cinema as a dynamic, living medium. Combining student-led production with theatrical adaptation and meta-narrative devices, FUGAKU challenges conventional filmmaking while interrogating the boundaries between fiction, reality, and creative education.
Release Date2013-08-07
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
The anthology film R246 Story centers around the major Japanese highway Route 246. Originating in Chiyoda Ward's Miyakezaka district, the 122.7 kilometers long Route 246 passes through Japanese trendsetting areas such as Aoyama, Omotesando, Harajuku, and Shibuya, on its way to Numazu City in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Release Date2008-08-23
DepartmentWriting
JobScreenplay
Video documentary by Shinji Aoyama.
Release Date1999-01-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
A 2001 Japanese language film directed by Shinji Aoyama, starring Hidetoshi Nishijima. The film screened at Locarno International Film Festival in 2009. Directed by Shinji Aoyama, this installment of NHK’s "Recitation Travelogue" series features actor Hidetoshi Nishijima performing Jun Ishikawa’s postwar classic "Jesus in the Barn". Blending literature, performance, and cinema, the program reimagines Ishikawa’s demanding text through evocative modern landscapes.
Release Date2001-08-06
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
A rare document of Phew’s shifting musical journey across more than two decades. Featuring archival live footage of her legendary late-70s band Aunt Sally, her punk project MOST with Seiichi Yamamoto, and performances with Dowser as Big Picture, the film interweaves interviews that reflect on her evolving career. Performances include Aunt Sally (1979 at Bahama), Phew Band (1987 at OCM Square), Big Picture (1999–2000), and MOST (2001). Directed by Shinji Aoyama.
Release Date2001-09-30
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
The final film in the FUGAKU series. Set on a university campus, the film parallels a gun battle between a group of people plotting to assassinate the ‘President’ and a conversation between students and professors who have gathered to compose the theme song for the university’s film festival. Directed by Shinji Aoyama in collaboration with Tama Art University, this rarely-seen experimental three-part series (2012–2015) explores cinema as a dynamic, living medium. Combining student-led production with theatrical adaptation and meta-narrative devices, FUGAKU challenges conventional filmmaking while interrogating the boundaries between fiction, reality, and creative education.
Release Date2015-07-27
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Aoyama Shinji’s Film History—and simultaneously a chronicle of modern Japanese history—layers together images of present-day landscapes, newsreels, and photographs of Emperor Shōwa as well as of Kōtoku Shūsui and Sugako Kanno, who were executed in the High Treason Incident, with readings of texts by Nakano Shigeharu (Five-Shao of Sake, Shinagawa Station in the Rain) and Natsume Sōseki (Recollections).
Release Date2001-01-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Created for the Short Shorts Film Festival 2010, DOWN is an experimental short in which individuals repeatedly collapse in public spaces, their falls expressing despair, vulnerability, and the struggle to persevere. The film is set to Maronie Street, an instrumental piece by accordionist Marcato, selected by Aoyama from festival submissions. Through this music-driven framework, the film explores human fragility and resilience with minimalistic, poetic imagery, reflecting Aoyama’s interest in blending visual and musical storytelling.
Release Date2010-08-13
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
This film project was made in 1996 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the cinema.
Release Date1996-01-01
DepartmentDirecting
JobDirector
Three stories, depicted in three different styles, unfold in three locations: "Kyoto", a lyrical improvised drama based on documentar y footage following local rappers, which is blended with fiction; "Okinawa", a documentary about intriguing characters who Yamamoto met by chance; and " Tokyo", an otherworldly love story about a man dealing with loss who drifts through life, and a woman who pretends to be his deceased wife.
Release Date2011-05-14
Vote Count3
A “Cinéma, de notre temps” series episode directed by french filmmaker Philippe-Emmanuel Sorlin, originally aired 16 June 2015.
Release Date2015-06-16
