About Masaki Kobayashi
Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese filmmaker. He is best remembered for directing the epic war trilogy The Human Condition (1959–1961), the samurai films Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967), and the horror anthology epic Kwaidan (1964). Senses of Cinema described him as "one of the finest depicters of Japanese society in the 1950s and 1960s." Although victim to being overshadowed by other Japanese filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu in his lifetime, his work has gained wider traction in the 21st century with Harakiri and The Human Condition III: A Soldier’s Prayer being the two highest rated films on reviewing website Letterboxd. Kobayashi's first job under Kinoshita was as a second assistant director on Phoenix in 1947. In 1953, Sincerity was released, which was Kobayashi's first feature length film. This film included the first appearance of Keiji Sada in a Kobayashi-directed film, who was close friends with Kobayashi and would go on to appear in 6 of Kobayashi's films.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.