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Naomi Kawase

Naomi Kawase

Director, writer, producer, editor and actor · Born May 30, 1969 (57) · Nara, Japan

Naomi Kawase (河瀨直美 Kawase Naomi, born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director. She graduated from Visual Arts Osaka in 1989. Many of her works have been documentaries, including Embracing, about her search for the father who abandoned her as a child, and Katatsumori, about the grandmother who raised her. Aside from being a filmmaker, she is the founder and Executive Director for the Nara International Film Festival.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
May 30, 1969 (57)
From
Nara, Japan
Works as
Director, writer, producer, editor and actor
Titles
11 on MovieCove · 72 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 37 days to Oct 26Up 22% in 30 days

What are Naomi Kawase's films like?

Across their 9 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Survival.

Themes

share of theme weight
Bonds
33%
Survival
26%
Self
25%
Ideas
9%
Society
6%
Friendship2 titles, browse their movies with this themeMortality2 titles, browse their movies with this themeMemory2 titles, browse their movies with this themeParenthood2 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this themePurpose2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 9 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Stylized: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their stylized movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

A split, not a type: Grounded 6 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 1

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 4 · Charged 4 · Intense 1

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 7 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 1

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 4 · Engaged 5 · Full focus 0

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 1 · Open-ended 6 · Ambiguous 2

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative
7
Melancholic
8
Hopeful
3
Tense
1
Warm
1
Other
1

How their films linger

Hopeful5 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHaunting3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteBittersweet3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteWistful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end

  • Bittersweet5
  • Ambiguous3
  • Cyclical1

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Naomi Kawase's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 5 of their 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Naomi Kawase's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

72 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Echoes of Motherhood (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Actor

  • Transit in Flamingo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)

    Executive Producer

  • The Wolf, the Fox and the Leopard(2025)

    as Tanaka

    Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films

  • Emergency Exit(2025)

    Actor

    Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films

  • Yakushima's Illusion(2025)

    Director · Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all films

  • Beyond the Fog (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Producer

  • echo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)

    Director

  • Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side B (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Director

  • Official Film of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 Side A (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)

    Director

  • To The Future (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor

  • Tracing Her Shadow (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Executive Producer

  • What Kento Nakajima Wants to Know About Movies Now (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Show 1 episode · Actor

  • True Mothers(2020)

    Director · Cinematographer · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films

  • Homemade (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)

    Show 1 episode · Director

  • Shizukana ame(2019)

    as Koyomi's Mother

    Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films

  • The Nikaidos' Fall (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)

    Executive Producer

  • The Moon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director · Writer

  • Vision (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Cinema Fighters (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director · Writer

  • Parallel World (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)

    Director

  • Where Does the Sand Go? (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director · Writer

  • Radiance(2017)

    Director · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films

  • Amami (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Director · as Self

  • Lies (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Director

  • Seed (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Director · Writer

  • A Midsummer's Fantasia (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Producer

  • Sweet Bean(2015)

    Director · Associate Producer · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films

  • Amami (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Director · as Narrator (voice)

  • Still the Water(2014)

    Director · Editor · Producer · Screenplay

    Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films

  • The Tale of Iya (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

    as Dr. Amamiya

  • Shining Besides Funny Moon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)

    Actor

  • Hikaru Utada: Sakura Nagashi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Director

  • Trace (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Writer · as Self

  • Inori (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Producer

  • Hanezu (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer · Screenplay

  • 60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero(2011)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films

  • 3.11 A Sense of Home Films(2011)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 33rd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)

  • Destroy Vicious (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2011)

    Actor

  • Genpin (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)

    Director · Producer · Writer

  • Koma (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director

  • Haiku (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director

  • Cinematic Correspondences: Isaki Lacuesta - Naomi Kawase (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor

  • Nanayo (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    Director · Editor · Producer · Screenplay

  • Rien ne s'efface (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)

    as elle-même

  • The Mourning Forest (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)

    Director · Producer · Screenplay

  • Birth/Mother (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)

    Director · Cinematographer · as Self

  • Shara (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)

    Director · Writer · as Reiko

  • Letter from a Yellow Cherry Blossom (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Writer · as Self

  • Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, Earth (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Writer · as Self

  • Firefly (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)

    Director · Composer · Editor · Writer

  • Kaleidoscope (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Writer · as Self

  • The Weald (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer · Writer

  • Love & Pop(1998)

    as Woman speaking to Hiromi (voice)

    Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films

  • Suzaku (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1997)

    Director · Writer

  • Sun on the Horizon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)

    Director · Camera Operator · Writer · as Self

  • This World (A Correspondence Between Naomi Kawase and Hirokazu Koreeda) (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)

    Director

  • Memory of the Wind (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)

    Director · as Herself

  • Kaze no kioku: Shibuya ni te 1995.12.26 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)

    Director

  • See Heaven (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)

    Director · as Self

  • Katatsumori (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer · Writer · as Self

  • White Moon (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)

    Director

  • Embracing (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)

    Director · Cinematographer · Editor · Producer · Sound Recordist · Writer · as Self

  • Like Happiness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)

    Director

  • The Girls' Daily Bread (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)

    Director

  • My Sole Family (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Director

  • A Small Largeness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Director

  • Presently, (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1989)

    Director

  • The Concretization of These Things Flying Around Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Director

  • Papa's Ice Cream (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Director

  • My J-W-F (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Director

  • I Focus on That Which Interests Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)

    Director

  • Untitled Naomi Kawase Film (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director

Career shape

A full career of 72 titles, 70 of them dated from 1988 to 2026.

Biggest box office

Sweet Bean (2015)

$4.7M worldwide

Highest rated

Sweet Bean (2015)

Midcredits 93rd

Most popular right now

Yakushima's Illusion (2025)

Film career

By role

only this rolewith another role
Acting12 of 72: 10 only acting, 2 with another roleDirecting56 of 72: 27 only directing, 29 with another role · typical Midcredits score70thWriting25 of 72: 0 only writing, 25 with another role · typical Midcredits score72ndProducing16 of 72: 6 only producing, 10 with another roleMusic1 of 72: 0 only music, 1 with another roleCinematography12 of 72: 0 only cinematography, 12 with another roleEditing13 of 72: 0 only editing, 13 with another roleOther crew2 of 72: 0 only other crew, 2 with another role

72 titles, 29 with more than one role — directing and writing overlap on 25 of them.

By decade

1980s7 · crew1990s14 · 1 acting · 13 crew2000s11 · 2 acting · 10 crew2010s24 · 4 acting · 21 crew2020s14 · 4 acting · 10 crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

How do Naomi Kawase's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 62nd percentile, the median of all 11; across their 9 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 65th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

65thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 9

Approval · how many liked their films

56thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 9

Reach · how many have seen their films

77thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 9

Midcredits score across 11 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up3
  • 50th to 74th5
  • 25th to 49th2
  • Below 25th1

Shape of the crowd

6 of their 11 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Divisive1
  • Cult Classic2
  • Crowd Pleaser6
  • Mixed2

Most divisive · director

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero (2011)

90th percentile spread · 35% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · director, writer, producer

Sweet Bean (2015)

Midcredits 93rd · 82% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 75/100 and the pacing 40/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Naomi Kawase work with?

People who share at least 2 of Naomi Kawase's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Tina Baz shares the most, 5.

Actors

Cinematographers and editors

Producers

Mixed roles