Question 1

True or false: Ozu directed over 50 films, all of them in black and white.

Accepted Answer

False. He directed 54 films, but one—'An Autumn Afternoon'—was in color, making this statement false.

Question 2

True or false: Ozu frequently used a high-angle camera position known as the 'tatami shot'.

Accepted Answer

True. He placed his camera low, near the floor, mimicking the eye level of someone seated on a tatami mat—a signature style.

Question 3

True or false: Ozu began his career as a child actor in silent films.

Accepted Answer

False. He started as an assistant cameraman and later a director; he never acted on screen, preferring to stay behind the camera.

Question 4

True or false: Ozu's films were huge box office hits in the United States during his lifetime.

Accepted Answer

False. His quiet domestic dramas were largely ignored in the West until the 1970s; he was little known outside Japan while alive.

Question 5

True or false: Ozu directed only one film in color during his entire career.

Accepted Answer

True. His sole color film was 'An Autumn Afternoon' (1962); he stubbornly preferred black-and-white for its emotional restraint.

Question 6

True or false: Ozu never left Japan, even for film festivals or vacations.

Accepted Answer

True. Despite his global fame, Ozu never traveled abroad; he believed his art was rooted entirely in Japanese everyday life.

Question 7

True or false: Ozu invented the 'pillow shot'—a cutaway to an empty landscape or object.

Accepted Answer

False. While Ozu used transitional shots of objects and scenery, the term 'pillow shot' was coined by critics for director Yasujiro Ozu, but he didn't invent it.

Question 8

True or false: Ozu's grave is marked with the single kanji character for 'nothingness'.

Accepted Answer

True. His tombstone bears the character 'mu' (無), meaning 'nothingness' or 'emptiness', reflecting his Zen-like worldview.

Yasujiro Ozu Trivia Questions