Shinobu Yaguchi

is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He specializes in feel-good "zero to hero" films, where a group of people take up an unlikely activity, face a number of obstacles, but finally succeed. His film Waterboys was particularly successful and led to a TV series which entered its third season in 2005. He was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2005 Yokohama Film Festival for his film Swing Girls.

Selected filmography Director Year Title Story Genre 1990 Rain Woman (Ameonna) The anarchic misadventures of two girls. Comedy 1993 Down the Drain (Hadashi no Pikunikku) After trying to use her friend's train pass, schoolgirl Junko (Noburu Iguchi) experiences a series of misadventures as she makes her way through a less-than-friendly depiction of modern Japan. Black comedy 1996 Bird Watching Short film 1997 My Secret Cache (Himitsu no hanazono) Bank teller Sakiko Suzuki (Naomi Nishida) experiences a series of bad luck events as she chases her money through her hometown. Not to be confused with the 2007 TV series. Comedy 1999 Adrenaline Drive (Adorenarin doraibu) The car of nerdy clerk Suzuki (Masanobu Andō) bumps into another car and he finds himself facing Kuroiwa (Kirina Mano), who turns out to be a gangster. Thus a crazy chase begins that will soon gain him adventure, confidence, and love with a shy nurse. Black comedy 1999 One Piece! A compilation of short films created without using any camera movement or editing. Their stories had to be told in "one piece" of celluloid. Not to be confused with the anime series. Short film 2001 Waterboys Based on a true event that chronicles five boys' attempts to form a synchronized swimming team at their high school. The film's success sparked a TV spin-off, its TV sequel and a two-part TV special. Comedy 2002 Parco Fiction Toru struggles with the madcap fall-out of an environmental matter that somehow lands in his convenience store. Comedy 2004 Swing Girls Based on a true story of high school girls' efforts to form a traditional jazz band in rural Yamagata prefecture. Comedy 2008 Happy Flight Pilots, flight attendants and passengers struggle to cope with a number of misadventures during their Japan-Hawaii flight. Comedy 2012 Robo-G Three employees of the Kimura Electrical Company are due to present a new robot at an important exhibition. Comedy 2014 Wood Job! A young man decides to join a forestry training program. Comedy 2017 Survival Family A dysfunctional family of four make their way across Japan after the country loses all electric power for a prolonged period of time. Comedy 2019 Dance with Me (aka Can't Stop the Dancing) A visit to a quack hypnotist that leaves a Tokyo salarywoman unable to stop breaking out the dance moves every time she hears music (or even a few notes) leads her on a journey across Japan in comic pursuit of the man, in hope that he will de-hypnotize her. Musical comedy 2025 Mystery