Japanese Film Director Shinji Aoyama Dies at 57

Tokyo, March 26 (Jiji Press)--Award-winning Japanese film director Shinji Aoyama died of cervical esophageal cancer at a Tokyo hospital on Monday. He was 57.

Aoyama's film Eureka, which features survivors in a bus hijack incident, won the International Federation of Film Critics prize at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

His 2007 film Sad Vacation, a sequel to Eureka, was presented at the Venice International Film Festival.

In Japan, Aoyama also drew attention as a writer, with his novelization of Eureka awarded the Yukio Mishima prize.

His recent works include the 2013 film Tomogui (Backwater), based on a novel written by Akutagawa Prize winner Shinya Tanaka, and the 2020 title Sora ni Sumu (Living in Your Sky), his first full-length film in seven years.

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