Born in Osaka, Japan in 1931. He studied law in Tokyo before joining Shochiku. He is famous for working on all 48 films of the Tora-San series, one of the longest-running movie series in cinematographic history. His film Twilight Samurai (2002), nominated for the best foreign film Oscar, was followed by two other samurai films: The Hidden Blade (2004) and Love and Honor (2006). Mostra presented his films About her Brother (2010), Kyoto Story (2010) and Tokyo Family (2013), a reinterpretation of Yasujiro Ozu’s cult movie Tokyo Story (1953), as well as The Little House (2014).
