Hirokazu Kore-eda
A quiet poet of the everyday, his films explore the fragile bonds of family with a tenderness that reveals life's profound beauty in mundane moments.
Born 1962 (age 64)·Japanese filmmaker·Birthday: June 6·Baby Boomers
Biography
Hirokazu Kore-eda began his career making documentaries, and that observational, patient eye defines his narrative filmmaking. He emerged in the 1990s as a leading voice of Japanese cinema, but one working in a distinctly humanist key, often compared to Yasujirō Ozu. His films, like 'Nobody Knows' and 'Shoplifters,' frequently focus on non-traditional families—groups bound by choice and circumstance rather than blood. Kore-eda works with a gentle, unhurried pace, allowing moments of quiet revelation to accumulate into emotionally devastating power. While deeply rooted in Japanese society, his themes of memory, loss, and connection are universal, earning him the Palme d'Or at Cannes for 'Shoplifters' and a global audience. He is a filmmaker who finds epic drama in a shared meal or a silent glance, proving that the smallest stories can carry the greatest weight.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Hirokazu was born in 1962, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Hirokazu Was Born
The biggest hits of 1962
#1 Movie
Lawrence of Arabia
Best Picture
Lawrence of Arabia
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Hirokazu's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1962Born
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1967Started school
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1975Became a teenager
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Could drive
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1980Could vote
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Turned 21
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1992Turned 30
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 40
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 50
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 60
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 64 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his 2018 film 'Shoplifters.'
- Received an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film for 'Shoplifters.'
- Directed the critically acclaimed film 'Nobody Knows,' based on a true story of abandoned children.
- His film 'Like Father, Like Son' won the Jury Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Did You Know?
He originally intended to be a novelist before pursuing filmmaking.
Kore-eda often edits his own films, maintaining tight control over their rhythm and tone.
His film 'The Truth' was his first feature made outside Japan and starred Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche.
“I'm not interested in making films about extraordinary people. I want to make films about ordinary people, and find the extraordinary in them.”
