Celebrity Biographies
Nobuhiko obayashi
He died in Sotayaga (Tokyo), on April 10, 2020, the same day that his latest work, “Labyrinth of Cinema”, would have been released if its arrival on screens had not been postponed due to the coronavirus. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 82, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer two years earlier, but he continued to work in a wheelchair to finish his last job.
Born on January 9, 1938 in Onomichi (Hiroshima), his childhood was marked by World War II, and by the psychological consequences of the effects of the first atomic bomb on the population. Although he began to study medicine, he decided to transfer to Seijo University for Arts, with the aim of dedicating himself to cinema. When he finished, he began a stage in experimental cinema, with shorts and medium-length films such as the surrealist Dandanko , from 1960, where he used the ‘stop-motion’ technique. After Confession , from 1968, he decided to dedicate himself to commercials, several of them with Kirk Douglas and Charles Bronson ., who, unable to pronounce his name correctly, shortened it to “Ob”, a nickname by which he would be commonly known in the industry.
In 1977, the Toho production company recruited Nobuhiko Obayashi to direct Hausu , a horror film starring a student who took five classmates to her aunt’s house, which turned out to be haunted. It had a great impact all over the world. From that moment on he lavished himself on feature films, such as Exchange Students , where two young men invoke supernatural methods to carry out an experiment and as a result he begins to live in her body and vice versa. In 2007 he himself signed a remake titled Tenkôsei: Sayonara anata . In the 80s and 90s he did a lot of work as a director, with titles like Shimaizaka, Sabishinbô and Shinjuro., known mainly in Japan.
Married to actress Kyoko Obayashi , who survived him, the marriage produced an only daughter , Chigumi Obayashi . She has followed in the footsteps of her parents, in the world of cinema, since she works as an interpreter.