Buichi Saito
Saito graduated from Waseda University Faculty of Letters in 1948. Then, he joined the Shochiku Ofuna Film Studio as an assistant director. He studied under Yasujiro Ozu. In 1954, filmmaker Katsumi Nishikawa asked Saito to move to Nikkatsu with Seijun Suzuki and Ko Nakahira. In 1956, he directed his first movie, "My Sister's Wedding". It was not good at the box office. He continued to make high-quality literary movies that followed Ozu's style. In 1959, Saito directed "Farewell to the Southern Tosa", starring Akira Kobayashi. It became a big hit. His most well known movie with Kobayashi was The Rambling Guitarist, which became popular with Western style music. It was serialized as the "Rambler Series" and established himself as an director of entertainment movies. In 1970, he left Nikkatsu and joined Toei to directed television series.