{"id":767,"date":"2026-05-26T23:37:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2026-05-26T23:37:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T23:37:55","slug":"yoshihiro-nishimura-tokyo-gore-police-and-welcome-to-japan-director-dies-at-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n

\nYoshihiro Nishimura, the director behind films like \u201cTokyo Gore Police\u201d and \u201cWelcome to Japan,\u201d died Monday in Tokyo following a nearly two-week hospital stay for liver disease. He was 59.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Chess\u2019 to Close Early on Broadway, Timed to Lea Michele\u2019s Exit in June<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tNishimura\u2019s career began in the early 2000s, during which he directed and created effects for a number of short films before directing \u201cTokyo Gore Police,\u201d 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tNishimura went on to direct films including \u201cVampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl,\u201d \u201cHelldriver,\u201d \u201cThe Ninja War of Torakage,\u201d \u201cMeatball Machine Kodoku,\u201d \u201cWelcome to Japan\u201d and \u201cTokyo Dragon Chef,\u201d among others. He also worked on segments of the horror films \u201cMutant Girls Squad\u201d and \u201cThe ABCs of Death.\u201d At the time of his death, Nishimura was in post-production on his forthcoming film \u201cGeisha War.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 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 \u201cShin Godzilla,\u201d on which he served as Godzilla\u2019s moldmaking supervisor and special modeling producer. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tNishimura was born in Tokyo on April 1, 1967. As a child, he fell in love with film after seeing George Lucas\u2019 \u201cStar Wars,\u201d and eventually went on to attend Aoyama Gakuin University in Shibuya, Tokyo, where he studied law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more LISTEN: \u2018The Mandalorian and Grogu\u2019 and a Magnificent \u2018Obsession\u2019 Drive the Box Office<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tNishimura wrote, directed and created the special effects for the acclaimed short film \u201cAnatomia Extinction\u201d in 1995, which won an award at that year\u2019s Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival and kicked off his professional career.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his career, he regularly attended The New York Asian Film Festival, Austin\u2019s Fantastic Fest, Montreal\u2019s Fantasia International Film Festival, Dallas\u2019 Texas Frightmare and Pasadena\u2019s Monsterpalooza. Nishimura taught film classes and art workshops around Tokyo in recent years, and hosted gallery openings for his and his students\u2019 work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tActress Eihi Shiina, a frequent collaborator of the director, stated, \u201cHorror has lost a real visionary, and I have lost a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Why Online Show Creators Deserve Recognition by Awards Voters: \u2018YouTube Is TV as Far as I\u2019m Concerned\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director behind films like \u201cTokyo Gore Police\u201d and \u201cWelcome to Japan,\u201d died Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[778],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-yoshihiro-nishimura"],"yoast_head":"\nYoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59 - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59 - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director behind films like \u201cTokyo Gore Police\u201d and \u201cWelcome to Japan,\u201d died Monday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T23:37:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T23:37:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767\"},\"wordCount\":399,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Yoshihiro Nishimura\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Film\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767\",\"name\":\"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59 - Relocation Observer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T23:37:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":563},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=767#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Observer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59 - Relocation Observer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59 - Relocation Observer","og_description":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director behind films like \u201cTokyo Gore Police\u201d and \u201cWelcome to Japan,\u201d died Monday.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767","og_site_name":"Relocation Observer","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T23:37:55+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"headline":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59","datePublished":"2026-05-26T23:37:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767"},"wordCount":399,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp","keywords":["Yoshihiro Nishimura"],"articleSection":["Film"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767","name":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59 - Relocation Observer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-26T23:37:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/212cf09c835c6497178cd80c0049ab1a.webp","width":1000,"height":563},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=767#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Yoshihiro Nishimura, \u2018Tokyo Gore Police\u2019 and \u2018Welcome to Japan\u2019 Director, Dies at 59"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/","name":"Relocation Observer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationobserver.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}