Minoru Kawasaki
Minoru Kawasaki, born 15 August 1958, is a Japanese filmmaker, best known for low-budget parody films featuring surreal humour and traditional practical effects. Kawasaki began his career with mostly self-financed work, including the Den-Ace short films, featuring a parody of kyodai-style Japanese superheroes, before working on Tsuburaya Production's Ultraman Tiga (1996-1997). He had his first hit with The Calamari Wrestler (2004), about a wrestler who inexplicably becomes a giant squid.
Also recorded as Kawasaki Minoru · Yūichi Nangō · Nangō Yūichi · Yuichi Nango
Minoru Kawasaki
DONOSTIA KULTURA · Fantasiazko Japonia, XXI. mendea / Japón fantástico, siglo XXI: Tonio L. Alarcón, Jesús Palacios, Antonio José Navarro, Beatriz Martínez, Daniel Aguilar, Noboru Iguchi, Yoshikazu Ishii, Minoru Kawasak · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Minoru Kawasaki
- Born
- 15 August 1958
- Birthplace
- Tokyo, Japan
- Education
- Meiji University
- Occupation
- * Film director
- Nationality
- Japan
- Languages
- Japanese
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Minoru Kawasaki, born 15 August 1958, is a Japanese filmmaker, best known for low-budget parody films featuring surreal humour and traditional practical effects. Kawasaki began his career with mostly self-financed work, including the Den-Ace short films, featuring a parody of kyodai-style Japanese superheroes, before working on Tsuburaya Production's Ultraman Tiga (1996-1997). He had his first hit with The Calamari Wrestler (2004), about a wrestler who inexplicably becomes a giant squid.
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Minoru Kawasaki (born 1958) is a director, film director and screenwriter, of Japanese nationality. The director was born in Shibuya. Minoru Kawasaki was educated at Meiji University. Languages used include Japanese.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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In this article
Biography
Biography
He followed this up with Executive Koala (2005), about an anthropomorphic koala salaryman who may or may not have murdered his wife, and Kabuto-O Beetle (also 2005), another wrestling-themed movie, this time with a giant stag beetle. In 2006, he released The World Sinks Except Japan, a spoof of Shinji Higuchi's remake of Japan Sinks, and Crab Goalkeeper (also 2006), a film Kawasaki describes as being his Forrest Gump (1994). Kawasaki has also directed 2008's Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit, a sequel to the 1967 Shochiku kaiju film The X from Outer Space. While the original, made during the height of Japan's "Kaiju Boom" (1966–1967), is "played straight", the sequel is another parody. Kawasaki has since directed two more kaiju films: Kaiju Mono (2016) and Monster Seafood Wars (2020).
Director Minoru Kawasaki (河崎実 Kawasaki Minoru), on the left holding the microphone, and Eiji Ukulele, at the Horror and Fantasy Film Festival Donostia Kultura (2016)
DONOSTIA KULTURA
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Minoru Kawasaki • Native Name — 河崎実 • Born — 15 August 1958 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Education — Meiji University • Occupation — * Film director • film producer • screenwriter • Years Active — 1983–present
As director
As director
• The Calamari Wrestler (2004) • Kabuto-O Beetle (2005) • Executive Koala (2005) • Crab Goalkeeper (2006) • The World Sinks Except Japan (2006) • The Rug Cop (2006) • Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008) • Neko Ramen Taishō (2008) • Outer Man (2015) • Kaiju Mono (2016) • Monster Seafood Wars (2020) • Planet Prince 2021 (2021)
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Kawasaki Minoru, Yūichi Nangō, Nangō Yūichi, Yuichi Nango and Nango Yuichi. His recorded language was Japanese.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1958
Minoru Kawasaki born at Shibuya.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lee, V. East Asian Cinemas: Regional Flows and Global Transformations. Springer. 2011-04-12. 978-0-230-30718-6.
- 2.Inuhiko, Yomota. What Is Japanese Cinema?: A History. Columbia University Press. 2019-04-16. 978-0-231-54948-6.
- 3.CFQ Media, Incorporated. Geek Monthly. 2009.
- 4.DVD Savant Review: The World Sinks Except Japan. www.dvdtalk.com.
- 5.Kotzathanasis, Panos. Fantasia Interview with Minoru Kawasaki: A Comedy or a Parody May Convey a Message More Effectively. Asian Movie Pulse. 2020-08-27.
- 6.Mustachio, Camille D. G. Giant Creatures in Our World: Essays on Kaiju and American Popular Culture. McFarland. 2017-10-13. 978-1-4766-6836-9.
- 7.Fantasia 2020: "Monster Seafood Wars" is a light but pleasant snack. The Spool.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,408 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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- Minor WatsonPerson
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- Minoru ChiakiPerson
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- Minoru MurataPerson
- Minoru ShibuyaPerson
- Minoru TanakaPerson
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