Director Shinichiro Sawai Dies at 83

Director Shinichiro Sawai, known for his work on Space Sheriff Shaider and Juko B-Fighter, passed away due to organ failure on September 3rd.

On September 3rd, director Shinichiro Sawai passed away at a Tokyo hospital due to multiple organ failures at 83 years of age. Toei announced his death three days later on September 6th.

Shinichiro Sawai was born on August 16th, 1938 in the Shizuoka Prefecture, and joined Toei in 1961. Sawai made his directorial debut with The Wild Daisy in 1981, and followed up with the award-winning films W’s Tragedy, and Early Spring Story. In tokusatsu, Mr. Sawai made his impact by being the main director for the third and fourteenth installments in the Metal Hero series, Space Sheriff Shaider and Juko B-Fighter. After shooting Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea in the mid-2000s, Mr. Sawai began to suffer health issues, though this did not stop him from making public experiences up until around 2011 due to increasingly severe health issues.

After Shinichiro Sawai’s death, his wife Kyoko said the following:

“He dreamed of standing on set one more time, but he has departed without fulfilling that dream. To remember him, there is no better way to honor his memory than to watch his films once more.”

Source: Yahoo Japan