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Director, Scriptwriter Izuru Narushima Dies at 65
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
News agency Kyodo reported on Friday that award-winning scriptwriter and director Izuru Narushima died of lung cancer on August 24. He was 65.
Narushima was born in 1961 in Yamanashi prefecture. He started work as a screenwriter in 1994 and made his debut as a director in 2004. His 2011 film Yōkame no Semi (Rebirth) won 10 awards at the 35th Japan Academy Prizes, including best picture and best director.
In anime, Narushima wrote the screenplay for the 2000 film The Boy Who Saw the Wind.
Narushima also directed the 2023 Father of the Galactic Railroad live-action film based on the life of Night on the Galactic Road novel author Kenji Miyazawa.
Other films he directed include Cape Nostalgia, Isoroku, Solomon's Perjury, Midnight Eagle, and The Lone Scalpel, among others.
The Japan Academy Prize Association posted its condolences on Friday.
成島出監督が8月24日に逝去されました。
— 日本アカデミー賞協会 (@japanacademy) August 28, 2026
日本アカデミー賞は第35回「八日目の蟬」で最優秀監督賞を受賞されたほか、第32回「クライマーズ・ハイ」優秀脚本賞、第34回「孤高のメス」第38回「ふしぎな岬の物語」第45回「いのちの停車場」で優秀監督賞を受賞されました。謹んでご冥福をお祈りいたします。 pic.twitter.com/L4G4lo7H9P
Sources: Kyodo, Eiga Natalie
