Ozu was born in the Fukagawa district of Tokyo, the second son of five brothers and sisters. His father sold fertilizer. Ozu attended Meiji nursery school and primary school. In March 1913, at the age of nine, he and his siblings were sent by his father to live in his father's home town of Matsusaka in Mie Prefecture, where he remained until 1924. In March 1916, at the age of 12, he entered what is now Ujiyamada High School. He was a boarder at the school and did judo. He frequently skipped classes to watch films such as "Quo Vadis" or "The Last Days of Pompeii". In 1917, he saw the film "Civilization" and decided that he wanted to be a film director.