Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director behind films like “Tokyo Gore Police” and “Welcome to Japan,” died Monday in Tokyo following a nearly two-week hospital stay for liver disease. He was 59.
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Nishimura’s career began in the early 2000s, during which he directed and created effects for a number of short films before directing “Tokyo Gore Police,” his first commercial release, in 2008. The film, which screened at a number of global festivals, has been credited for opening the door for a new wave of Japanese ultra-violent horror and science-fiction cinema.
Nishimura went on to direct films including “Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl,” “Helldriver,” “The Ninja War of Torakage,” “Meatball Machine Kodoku,” “Welcome to Japan” and “Tokyo Dragon Chef,” among others. He also worked on segments of the horror films “Mutant Girls Squad” and “The ABCs of Death.” At the time of his death, Nishimura was in post-production on his forthcoming film “Geisha War.”
In addition to directing, Nishimura founded the production and special effects company Nishimura Eizo Co., Ltd, and worked on high-profile projects including the 2016 film “Shin Godzilla,” on which he served as Godzilla’s moldmaking supervisor and special modeling producer.
Nishimura was born in Tokyo on April 1, 1967. As a child, he fell in love with film after seeing George Lucas’ “Star Wars,” and eventually went on to attend Aoyama Gakuin University in Shibuya, Tokyo, where he studied law.
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Nishimura wrote, directed and created the special effects for the acclaimed short film “Anatomia Extinction” in 1995, which won an award at that year’s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival and kicked off his professional career.
During his career, he regularly attended The New York Asian Film Festival, Austin’s Fantastic Fest, Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, Dallas’ Texas Frightmare and Pasadena’s Monsterpalooza. Nishimura taught film classes and art workshops around Tokyo in recent years, and hosted gallery openings for his and his students’ work.
Actress Eihi Shiina, a frequent collaborator of the director, stated, “Horror has lost a real visionary, and I have lost a friend.”