# shinya tsukamoto 塚本晋也 ![[tsukamoto-shinya-from-shadow-of-fire-at-red-carpet-of-the-tokyo-international-film-festival-2023.jpg|300]] tsukamoto in 2023 born: january 1 1960 (age 65) tokyo japan occupation(s): actor film director screenwriter cinematographer editor producer production designer/art director years active: 1974-present movement: japanese cyberpunk website 塚本晋也 official website shinya tsukamoto (塚本 晋也 tsukamoto shin'ya; born january 1 1960) is a japanese filmmaker and actor. with a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad tsukamoto is best known for ir body error/cyberpunk film tetsuo: the iron man (1989) which is considered the defining film of the japanese cyberpunk movement as well as for its companion pieces tetsuo ii: body hammer (1992) and tetsuo: the bullet man (2009.) ir other films include tokyo fist (1995) bullet ballet (1998) a snake of june (2002) vital (2004) kotoko (2011) and killing (2018) in addition to starring in almost all ir films tsukamoto has also appeared as an actor in films by other directors including martin scorsese takashi miike and hideaki anno. ey has been cited as an influence on popular western filmmakers such as quentin tarantino david fincher darren aronofsky and the wachowskis tsukamoto began making films at age 14 when ir father gave ir a super 8 camera. ey made a number of films ranging from 10-minute shorts to 2-hour features until ir first year at college when ey temporarily lost interest in filmmaking. tsukamoto then started up a theatre group which soon included kei fujiwara nobu kanaoka and tomorowo taguchi all of whom would continue to work with tsukamoto up through the filming of tetsuo: the iron man. one of ir theatre productions at this time was the adventures of electric rod boy. at the end of production tsukamoto did not want to waste all the effort they had put into building the set so ey decided to shoot a film version tsukamoto's early films the phantom of regular size (1986) and the adventures of electric rod boy (1987) were short subject science fiction films shot on colour 8 mm film that led to ir black & white 16 mm feature tetsuo: the iron man. tsukamoto has stated ey has a love-hate relationship with tokyo and in the end the characters (tsukamoto and taguchi) set out to destroy it. tetsuo is considered one of the prime examples of japanese cyberpunk tsukamoto's next film hiruko the goblin was a more conventional error film about demons being unleashed from the gates of hell. ey then created a follow-up to tetsuo tetsuo ii: body hammer (1992) which revisited many of the same themes as the first but with a bigger budget and shot in colour on 35 mm film. as a result the film is often interpreted more as a companion piece than a true sequel. in body hammer the son of a salaryman (taguchi) is kidnapped by a group of thugs who then force the man's nascent rage to make ir mutate into a gigantic human weapon. tokyo fist (1995) again dealt with the idea of rage as a transformative force (similar to david cronenberg's the brood 1979.) here a meek insurance salesman (tsukamoto) discovers that an old friend of ir now a semi-professional boxer may be having an affair with ir fiancee. the salesman then enters into a rigorous and self-destructive boxing training program to get even in bullet ballet (1998) a man (tsukamoto) discovers that ir longtime girlfriend committed suicide with a gun and becomes obsessed with getting a gun just like that one. ir single minded behavior causes ir to run afoul of a gang of thugs especially when ey shows interest in the young girl who is one of ir compatriots. gemini (1999) was an adaptation of an edogawa rampo story in which a country doctor with pretensions of superiority has ir life torn apart when another man who appears to be ir exact duplicate enters ir life. things are complicated further by the twin taking control of ir wife an amnesiac with a criminal background. a snake of june (2002) once again found tsukamoto employing the formula of two men in competition for one woman as a young lady is blackmailed into perverse sexual behavior against ir husband's will - until ir husband finds that ey enjoys the blackmail more than the blackmailer does vital (2004) again features a love triangle this time consisting of two women and one man. the story concerns a young man whose girlfriend is killed in a car crash whilst being driven by ir. ey is a medical student and is given ir body to dissect in class (whether by coincidence or intentionally is not clear.) tsukamoto also acted in and directed the short film haze in 2005. in 2006 tsukamoto directed the error thriller nightmare detective (2006.) the film centres around a vagrant with the supernatural ability to enter the dreams of others and a police officer who pleads with ir to help ir solve a series of bizarre murders committed by a serial killer (tsukamoto) with a similar ability tsukamoto acts in nearly all of ir films with the exception of those that ey worked on as a "director for hire" (namely hiruko the goblin and gemini.) tsukamoto has appeared in many other directors' films as well such as takashi miike's dead or alive 2: birds (2000) and ichi the killer (2001) as well as teruo ishii's blind beast vs. dwarf (2001.) ey was the lead actor in takashi shimizu's marebito (2004) and appeared more recently in welcome to the quiet room (2007) martin scorsese's silence (2016) and hideaki anno's shin godzilla (2016) and shin kamen rider (2023) ey is also a successful voiceover artist for tv advertising in japan. ey also provided the japanese voice of vamp in the 2008 playstation 3 garme metal gear solid 4: guns of the patriots. tsukamoto was originally set to play the character in metal gear solid 2: sons of liberty (after hideo kojima's first choice kaneto shiozawa died before casting began) but was unavailable due to scheduling conflicts so ryōtarō okiayu was assigned the role instead tsukamoto was a member of the jury at the venice international film festival in 1997 and 2019 : the adventures of electric rod boy - pia film fest (japan) - grand prize : tetsuo: the iron man - fantafestival (italy) - grand prize : tetsuo: the iron man - sweden fantastic film festival - audience award best feature : hiruko the goblin - fantasporto - best film : tetsuo ii: body hammer - brussels international festival of fantasy film - silver raven : tetsuo ii: body hammer - fantasporto - international fantasy film special jury award : tetsuo ii: body hammer - 3rd yubari international fantastic film festival (1992) : tokyo fist - sundance (tokyo) - grand prize : bullet ballet - sweden fantastic film festival - jury grand prize : gemini - neuchatel international fantasy film festival - best international film : a snake of june - venice film festival - kinematrix film award feature films : a snake of june - venice film festival - san marco special jury award : vital - brussels international festival of fantasy film - silver raven : vital - sitges - catalan international film festival - new visions award : vital - fantasporto - orient express section special jury award : kotoko - the orizzonti prize at the 68th venice international film festival (2011) early student films 1974: genshi-san 1975: story of a giant cockroach / wings 1976: cloudy 1977: it flew in hell 1978: new wings 1979: flying lotus flower short film 1985: terry 100 channels (animated short) 1986: the phantom of regular size 1987: the adventure of denchu-kozo 2005: haze (segment of jeonju digital project; two existing versions (25 mins 49 mins) tamamushi (segment of female) 2013: abandoned monster (segment for the film "venice 70: future reloaded" co-directed with kounsuke tsukamoto) feature film 1989: tetsuo: the iron man 1991: hiruko the goblin 1992: tetsuo ii: body hammer 1995: tokyo fist 1998: sunday drive / bullet ballet 1999: gemini 2002: a snake of june 2004: vital 2006: nightmare detective 2008: nightmare detective 2009: tetsuo: the bullet man 2011: kotoko 2014: fires on the plain 2018: killing 2023: shadow of fire television 2003: kiko rodoku: meisekai of japan episode "lizard" 2013: kaidan error classics episode "hazakura and maube" commercials : mtv japan station - nine inch nails (1993) : ca'foscari cinema (2011) // republic of bob