A Woman Director’s Rising Star: The First Two Films of Hisako Matsui (b. 1946)

This article discusses female Japanese directors, and in particular Hisako Matsui. There are enough (Japanese women directors) already to enforce a pause as one considers where to begin, whom to discuss and how. My own choice here does owe something to the recent conspicuous success of Hisako Matsui (b. 1946). She has made two feature-length films on fairly large budgets: Yukie, released in 1998; and Oriume, first shown in the 2001 Tokyo International Film Festival. But there is more to Matsui than sudden fame, because her accomplishments reflect the long and difficult road to success in an art as tricky and costly as making and marketing films.