Kōichi Saitō

was a Japanese film director and photographer.

Career Born in Tokyo, Saitō started studying at Rikkyo University but ended up graduating from the Tokyo College of Photography (currently Tokyo Polytechnic University). He was initially a movie stills photographer at Nikkatsu before launching his own production company, Saito Productions, and directing his first film, Sasayaki no Jō, "a low-budget, independent film with a visual flair that earned comparisons with Claude Lelouch and with Richard Lester’s Beatles films, including A Hard Day’s Night". His Tsugaru Jongarabushi was selected the best film of 1973 in the Kinema Junpo poll of critics. Saitō continued directing into his seventies and also made some documentaries.

Selected filmography

Sasayaki no Jō (1967) Chiisana sunakku (1968) Yakusoku (1972; The Rendezvous) Tabi no omosa (1972) Tsugaru jongarabushi (1973; Tsugaru Folk Song) Yadonashi (1974; The Homeless)