Koichi Kawakami

Birth : 1946-10-03, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

History

Cinematographer.

Movies

A Spoiling Rain
Director of Photography
The story is about a film director, Kutani, who lives in the dying pink film industry, and an aspiring screenwriter, Iseki, and their loved one, Shoko, whose dream of a film she has clung to begins to crumble, and their lives intersect.
Sakurada Gate Incident
Director of Photography
Mito Domain Samurai Seki Tetsunosuke must pay the consequences for his role in the assassination of Great Elder Ii Naosuke. Based on true events.
The Blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya
Director of Photography
In Kagoshima, in the final days of World War II, an offer of marriage comes to Etsuko Kamiya, who lives with her brother and his wife. The offer comes from Nagayo, but Etsuko is attracted to his friend, Akashi.
Box
Director of Photography
Short film part of "Three... Extremes", a horror film collaboration consisting of three segments by three directors from three countries. Kyoko, a 25 year-old novelist, frequently experiences nightmares of her past as a circus performer.
Three… Extremes
Director of Photography
An Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished indie directors: Dumplings, directed by Fruit Chan of Hong Kong, Cut directed by Park Chan-Wook of Korea, and Box directed by Miike Takashi of Japan.
Oriume
Director of Photography
About a family shouldering an unexpected responsibility when Alzheimer's disease strikes their grandmother. The superb cast portrays this serious and realistic situation with heart-warming compassion, stressing the importance of empathizing with the victims of this difficult disease.
The Tokyo Siblings
Director of Photography
Living in an old Tokyo district, Kenichi works at a second-hand bookshop to support his sister, Yoko, a high school student. When Yoko graduates, she starts work at a photo shop. By the time, Kenichi's girlfriend has decided to marry someone else as she is tired of waiting for him. When Yoko starts dating Kenichi's best friend, Makoto , he is strangely resentful, but when Makoto is involved in a fatal accident, brother and sister resume their routine life.
Many Happy Returns
Director of Photography
Kazuo encounters a religious group travelling around Japan performing "miracles". He discovers they are fakes, but is intrigued by the showmanship of the group, and becomes involved with them. The group is split into two, some members concentrating on spiritual teachings, and the others using the facade of religion to make money. The business faction dismiss the old spiritual master and choose Kazuo to lead their group.
The River with No Bridge
Director of Photography
A widow and her two sons, Seitaro and Koji, live in the small town of Komori, where Buraku people are forced to reside. The two boys are continuously harassed by their teachers and classmates through their childhood as a result of their Buraku heritage. In the midst of the 1918 Great Rice Riots in Osaka, Seitaro meets with Asako, the daughter of a rice shop owner, and falls in love with her. She too is of Buraku descent. At the same period, Hideaki, an old friend of the brothers returns to Komori, and he along with Koji and the townspeople create "Zenkoku Suiheisha", the National Levelers Association, an organization pledged to build a bridge over the river of discrimination, making all people equal in every way.
My Soul Is Slashed
Director of Photography
A hospital accidentally gives a man Count Dracula's blood while trying to save his life. A year later, he's back from the dead, trying to right the wrongs of his life while trying to resist the urge to become a vampire.
Tsugumi
Director of Photography
Tsugumi, who lives in a small seaside town, has been in delicate health from birth. Her parents spoiled her and she is rough and selfish. However, a few people are attracted by her beauty and unique character.
A Tale of Happiness
Director of Photography
Yusuke Mikuni, a department manager at his company, buys a one-room apartment to have some space to himself. He signs an agreement with a young woman named Chako and has an affair with her once a week at the apartment.
Metamorphosis
Director of Photography
A sensuous movie based on a literary work. Hitomi Kuroki stars as the film’s heroine.
The Wangan Highway
Director of Photography
Based on the novel of the same name by Yoshio Kataoka.
The Second Love
Director of Photography
Kazumi - whose sensitivity does not undermine her strength when she handles her second husband's emotional conflicts with the wisdom of an adult. Kazumi's younger and more inexperienced husband Hideo is continually suspicious of her fidelity.
Jealousy Game
Director of Photography
Set in the wilderness of Hokkaido, the story of a couple in their 30s and a couple in their 20s is drawn, and the subtle emotions of the two men and women are depicted with intense Eros and delicate images under the theme of marriage exchange.
The Rape
Director of Photography
Yahagi Michiko is accosted and raped walking home one evening. From there she maneuvers the logistics of the police, hospital, and criminal justice system while balancing her home life including romantic relationships.
Manon
Director of Photography
A story about a woman who is a research student of a theater company and the three men who are at the mercy of her.
Love Letter
Director of Photography
Yuko is in love with an old poet who happens to be also a married man. She waits patiently for him and only him, yet she is constantly being lust by others.
Four Seasons: Natsuko
Director of Photography
A young woman breaks off her long-term relationship with her boyfriend to move to Tokyo in search of new experiences.
No More Easy Life
Director of Photography
Mariko is living the life of a typical Japanese college student in the 70's, spending far more of her time balancing boyfriends and part-time jobs than on her schoolwork. She finds herself torn between a former boyfriend who's the tough, insensitive-but-sexy, type, and a new acquaintance who's more sensitive to her feelings, but who still acts childishly selfish at times. Will she choose one of them, or decide to go her own way?
My Town, My Youth
Cinematography
My Town, My Youth is an inspiring film shot twenty years after the official recognition of the disease and focuses on a group of young people (many born with the disease) as they mobilise to keep their cause visible by organising a concert by the popular enka singer Ishikawa Sayuri.
Third Base
Director of Photography
Third and Shinbunbu embark on a plan to make money by Third becoming a pimp and Shinbunbu a prostitute.
Filmmaking and the Way to the Village
Director of Photography
This film was directed by a member of the Ogawa collective, Fukuda Katsuhiko, while they were finishing the documentary Sanrizuka: Heta Village. Fukuda left the collective after this film and continued making documentaries in the village of Heta. Credit: ICA London