Juzo Itami; Leading Japanese Filmmaker

Juzo Itami, a top Japanese filmmaker who directed biting satires on tax evasion and organized crime, apparently jumped to his death from the roof of an eight-story building, a studio spokesman said. He was 64.

Itami, director of the internationally acclaimed film “Tampopo,” died at a Tokyo hospital Saturday evening, said Toho Co. spokesman Masahiko Suzuki.

He said that police had determined that Itami’s death was a suicide. Tokyo police would tell reporters only that they do not comment on suicides.

There were no signs of a struggle in his third-floor office or on the roof, but Itami’s fingerprints were found on the roof’s railing, Kyodo News service reported.

Itami was the forerunner to a recent resurgence of Japanese movie-making reflected in the awards won at international festivals this year.

Itami’s offbeat “The Funeral,” which marked his debut as a director in 1984, won favorable reviews not only in Japan but in the United States.

He went on to direct nine other films, almost all starring his wife, Nobuko Miyamoto. In “A Taxing Woman,” his 1987 hit, she played a no-nonsense investigator standing up to corrupt tax evaders.

In 1985, he won acclaim in Japan and abroad with “Tampopo,” starring Miyamoto as a noodle shop owner. The film juxtaposed her battles to concoct a savory bowl of noodles with humorous side stories, all centered around the theme of food.

Miyamoto told Toho she had no idea what might have driven Itami to suicide, according to Suzuki.

In May 1992, Itami was slashed in the face and neck in front of his Tokyo home, less than a week after the release of his film “Minbo no Onna,” or “The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion.”

Five gangsters were convicted in the stabbing last year and are in prison.

“I won’t be giving up. I hope we can all continue to struggle together,” Itami wrote in a letter from his hospital bed after the attack.