Jōji Matsuoka (松岡 錠司, Matsuoka Jōji, born November 7, 1961) is a Japanese film director. After studying filmmaking in the College of Art at Nihon University,[1] he won an award for his independent short Inaka no hōsoku at the Pia Film Festival in 1984.[2] He directed his first commercial feature, Bataashi kingyo, in 1990 and received a number of awards for best new director, including the Hochi Film Award.[3] He won the Japan Academy Prize for best director for his film Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad.[4] Matsuoka is known for his delicate depictions of complicated romantic and familial relationships, including a homosexual triangle in Kirakira Hikaru, a daughter caring for an abusive but now senile mother in Akashia no Michi, and a son caring for a cancer-stricken mother in Tokyo Tower. He has also shot many television commercials.[1] His best known and most successful TV show is Midnight Diner.[5]
