Shigeru Wakatsuki

was a Japanese film producer and journalist who served as the representative director and president of Ninjin Club. His film credits included the epic war trilogy The Human Condition (1959–1961), The Inheritance, Love Under the Crucifix (both 1962), Pale Flower, Kwaidan (both 1964), and Empire of Passion. Wakatsuki also worked for several publications prior to his film career, and was arrested and tortured in 1944 as a suspected communist in connection with the Yokohama incident.

Biography Wakatsuki was born between 1914 and 1915 and became interested in making a film adaptation after reading Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things. After graduating from Chuo University, he worked as the editor-in-chief of several publications, including and Chuokoron-Shinsha. During World War II, he was a reporter and journalist for Kaizō. As a suspected communist, he was subsequently tortured by the Special Higher Police. He attempted to fulfill his longtime dream of making Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things into a film, eventually succeeding in 1964 after a decade of development hell, with Kwaidan.

Wakatsuki died on December 10, 1987, at the age of 72 or 73. Mune yori mune ni (1955) The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (1959) Hadakakko (1961) Love Under the Crucifix (1962) Kwaidan (1964) Waga toso (1968) Empire of Passion (1978)