TOKYO (AP) -- Keisuke Kinoshita, a prominent Japanese director noted for tackling contemporary social problems in his films, died at his home in Tokyo on Wednesday, his family said. He was 86.
The cause of death was a stroke, said a family member.Kinoshita, a native of Hamamatsu in central Japan, joined what is now Shochiku Co., one of Japan's major movie companies, in 1933.
He made his directorial debut with "Hanasaku Minato" (The Port where Flowers Bloom) in 1943, the same year Akira Kurosawa directed his first film. Kurosawa, one of Japan's most famous filmmakers, died at the age of 88 on Sept. 6.
Kinoshita's most successful and best known film was "Nijushi No Hitomi" (Twenty-four Eyes), which won the Kinema Jumpo Award, one of Japan's top cinema prizes, as the best movie of 1954.
It depicts the warm relationship between a female teacher and 12 pupils over the course of three decades, including the devastation of World War II.
"Kinoshita depicted the feelings and beauty of human weakness, in contrast to Kurosawa, who depicted people's strength," said Taichi Yamada, a noted Japanese playwright.
Kinoshita's other famous films include "Karumen Kokyo Ni Kaeru" (Carmen Comes Home) in 1951 and "Narayama-Bushi Ko" (The Ballad of Narayama) in 1958.
According to critics, a hallmark of Kinoshita's work was his fondness for long, panoramic shots that offer the viewer a feel for the setting of his films.