Film director Yasujiro Ozu was born on December 12, 1903, in Tokyo. He passed away on December 12, 1963. Today's Google homepage has been changed to a scene from his masterpiece, "Tokyo Story."
Inspired by seeing director Thomas H. Ince's film "Civilization" as an elementary school student, Ozu decided to pursue a career in film. He joined Shochiku Kinema Kamata Studio as a camera assistant in 1923 and made his directorial debut in 1927 with the period drama "The Blade of Penitence." His 1932 film "I Was Born, But I Tried," was highly acclaimed, ranking first in the Kinema Junpo Best Ten list.
In 1943, he served in the South as part of the film team of the military press corps, where he studied many Hollywood films. He returned to Japan after the war and made his comeback with "The Tenement Gentleman's Record" in 1947. He then teamed up with screenwriter Kogo Noda to produce a string of masterpieces, including "Late Spring," "Autumn Barley," and "Tokyo Story." Set in a middle-class household, he portrayed parent-child relationships and the nuances of life, establishing his unique low-angle technique known as the "Ozu style," and becoming a master of Japanese cinema.

In 1958, "Tokyo Story" won the Sutherland Prize at the London International Film Festival, bringing him to international attention. He was stricken with cancer in his later years and passed away in December 1963, on his 60th birthday.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of Ozu's birth and 50th anniversary of his death. The "Iconography of Yasujiro Ozu" exhibition began today at the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Plans to digitally remaster his past works are also underway, and "Tokyo Story" was screened at this year's Berlin Film Festival, attracting renewed attention.