Japanese Film Director Masato Harada Dies at 76

Jiji Press

11:38 JST, December 14, 2025

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japanese film director Masato Harada, known for socially conscious works including “Climber’s High,” died on Monday at the age of 76, Tsubasa Project, an agency that had a business partnership with him, said Saturday.

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture, Harada made his directorial debut in 1979.

He gained international attention with “Kamikaze Taxi,” released in 1995, which drew strong reviews overseas.

His major works include “Jubaku: Spellbound,” a 1999 movie depicting financial scandals, and “The Choice of Hercules” released in 2002, which is based on the 1972 hostage crisis at the Asama Sanso mountain lodge in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.

His 2008 movie “Climber’s High,” adapted from a novel by Hideo Yokoyama about the 1985 crash of a Japan Airlines jumbo jet, won excellence awards in 10 categories at the Japan Academy Film Prize.

Harada also directed “Chronicle of My Mother,” a 2012 film based on an autobiographical novel by acclaimed Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue. The film received a special grand prix of the jury at the Montreal World Film Festival.