Yuji Sakamoto is a writer and director who started receiving awards as young as 19 years of age. He is know for his work on Monster, which earned him a Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Festival. The 56 years old writer-director in April also received a Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon.
Many popular Japanese television dramas, including Our Textbook, Still, Life Goes On, Matrimonial Chaos, Mother, Woman, The Best Divorce, and Quartet, have been written by Yuji Sakamoto.
Sakamoto has already started doing his job at Netflix as his first project has been scripted. The romantic murder mystery film ‘In Love And Deep Water’ which was announced sometime back is his first Netflix project.
‘In Love And Deep Water’, directed by Taki Yusuke, takes place on a luxury cruise ship where a loyal ship butler meets a female passenger who says her husband is about to cheat on her with the butler’s wife. The cast is led by Ryo Yoshizawa and Aoi Miyazaki.
Netflix Vice President, Content, Japan, Kaata Sakamoto had this to say about Yuji Sakamoto and his works.
“Yuji Sakamoto continues to create a variety of masterpieces, ranging from socially conscious works to lighter comedies and love stories, that capture our hearts and minds and keep us coming back for more including Mother, Still, Life Goes On, The Best Divorce, Quartet, Omameda Towako And Her Three Ex-Husbands and Beautiful Bouquet.
Many people, including myself, have been deeply moved by the stories that Yuji has created; and many more people from far beyond Japan are waiting to immerse themselves in Yuji’s next works. At Netflix, our mission is to entertain the world, and we look forward to bringing Sakamoto’s unique, original storytelling to a global stage, coupled with the very best production environment and creative partnerships to realise his vision.”
Netflix has recently increased its live-action Japanese-language production, including films like Call Me Chihiro and the upcoming Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead, as well as series like Sanctuary, First Love, Kore-eda’s The Makanai, and the second season of Alice In Borderland, which became Netflix’s most-watched Japanese show ever.
