When Shochiku superstar Yasujiro Ozu passed away on his own birthday in the year 1963 at the age of sixty it would mark the turning point in the evolution of contemporary Japanese cinema. Japan feted the celluloid world in the Fifties with their own certain golden age. And not to say there were no successful filmmakers in Japan after that decade, there was undoubtedly a decline in the medium with the exception of the works of the inimitable Akira Kurosawa who would persevere with his brilliant career, churning one major commercial runaway hit after another. And if 1961's Yojimbo is any indication that Kurosawa wasn't slowing down anytime soon.
The early Sixties would see the emergence of a brand spanking new generation of filmmakers who believed they should confront the growing socio-economic problems of post-war Japan. And without any such denying the dramatic heroism of Akira Kurosawa films, and without objecting to the school of conservatism that Ozu subscribed to. These new filmmakers, unwavering and uncompromising and all too eager to deal with thematics more closely aligned with their lives as the way they knew and lived them, and furthermore to have the opportunity to directly voice their concerns. To a greater or lesser extent they were each influenced by the world of European (nouvelle vague) and American filmmakers (film noir) of the period rather than by the heritage of their national cinema. These influences soon became apparent; social and political themes were more in evidence and sexuality and violence were blatantly topical.