# Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award

The Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award (日本映画監督協会新人賞, Nihon Eiga Kantoku Kyōkai Shinjinshō) is given annually by the Directors Guild of Japan to a new director of a film released that year who is considered the most "suitable" for the award. The winner is selected by a committee formed of DGJ members. All formats—feature film, documentary, television, video, etc.—are eligible for consideration. In some years when there was no apparent winner, the Guild only issued a "citation" (奨励賞 (shōreishō)) or did not give out the award. Multiple awards have been given in other years. With a long history, many of Japan's major postwar directors have received the award, including Nagisa Ōshima, Susumu Hani, Yoshimitsu Morita, Masayuki Suo, Takeshi Kitano, and Shunji Iwai.

## Recipients

Recipients of the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award
| Year | Winner | Film | Notes |
| 1960 | Nagisa Ōshima | Cruel Story of Youth | |
| 1961 | Susumu Hani | Bad Boys | |
| 1962 | Kirio Urayama | Foundry Town | |
| 1963 | | | No award |
| 1964 | | | No award |
| 1965 | Kei Kumai | Nihon Rettō | |
| 1966 | Sadao Nakajima | Yakuza (893) Gurentai | |
| 1967 | Toshiya Fujita | Hikō Shōnen: Hinode no Sakebi | |
| 1968 | | | No award |
| 1969 | Masanobu Deme | Oretachi no Kōya | Citation only |
| 1970 | Shinsuke Ogawa | Summer in Narita | |
| 1971 | Yōichi Higashi | Yasashii Nipponjin | |
| 1972 | Shunya Itō | Female Convict 701: Scorpion | Citation only |
| 1973 | Noboru Tanaka | Confidential: The Hell of Tortured Prostitutes | Citation only |
| 1974 | | | No award |
| 1975 | | | No award |
| 1976 | Seijirō Kōyama | Futatsu no Hāmonika | Citation only |
| 1977 | Hōjin Hashiura | Hoshizora no Marionetto | |
| 1978 | | | No award |
| 1979 | Claude Gagnon | Keiko | |
| 1980 | Kōhei Oguri | Muddy River | Citation only |
| 1981 | Kazuyuki Izutsu | Gaki Teikoku | Citation only |
| 1982 | | | No award |
| 1983 | Yoshimitsu Morita | The Family Game | |
| 1984 | | | No award |
| 1985 | Shinichirō Sawai | Early Spring Story | |
| 1986 | Kazuo Hara | The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On | |
| 1987 | Masashi Yamamoto | Robinson's Garden | |
| 1988 | Uson Kim | Yun's Town | |
| 1989 | Junji Sakamoto | Dotsuitarunen | Two winners |
| 1989 | Gō Takamine | Untamagiru | Two winners |
| 1990 | Takeshi Kitano | Boiling Point | Two winners; citation only |
| 1990 | Fumiki Watanabe | Shimaguni Konjō | Two winners; citation only |
| 1991 | Masayuki Suo | Sumo Do, Sumo Don't | |
| 1992 | Hideyuki Hirayama | The Games Teachers Play | Multiple winners |
| 1992 | Tsutomu Makiya | Pineapple Tours | Multiple winners |
| 1992 | Yūji Nakae | Pineapple Tours | Multiple winners |
| 1992 | Hayashi Tōma | Pineapple Tours | Multiple winners |
| 1993 | Shunji Iwai | Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? | Two winners |
| 1993 | Yasunori Terada | My Wife Is Filipina | Two winners |
| 1994 | Tomoyuki Furumaya | This Window Is Yours | |
| 1995 | Gō Rijū | Berlin | |
| 1996 | Isshin Inudō | Two People Talking | |
| 1997 | Masato Hara | Twentieth Century Nostalgia | |
| 1998 | Toshiaki Toyoda | Pornostar | |
| 1999 | Akihiko Shiota | Moonlight Whispers Don't Look Back | |
| 2000 | Akira Ogata | Boy's Choir | |
| 2001 | Masato Ishioka | Scoutman aka Pain | |
| 2002 | Sujin Kim | Through the Night | |
| 2003 | Kiyoshi Sasabe | Chirusoku no Natsu | |
| 2004 | Nami Iguchi | Dogs & Cats | |
| 2005 | Izumi Takahashi | The Soup, One Morning | |
| 2006 | Shōtarō Kobayashi | Kazoku no Hiketsu | |
| 2007 | Satoko Yokohama | German + Rain | |
| 2008 | Yuki Tanada | One Million Yen Girl | |
| 2009 | Yū Irie | 8000 Miles | |
| 2010 | Tatsushi Ōmori | Kenta to Jun to Kayo-chan no Kuni | |
| 2011 | Mami Sunada | Death of a Japanese Salesman | |
| 2012 | Ryūichi Shimada | Doko ni mo ikenai | |
| 2013 | Masahide Ichii | Hakoiri musuko no koi | |
| 2014 | Keiichi Kobayashi | About the Pink Sky | |
| 2015 | Daishi Matsunaga | Pieta in the Toilet | |
| 2016 | Shoji Hiroshi | Ken and Kazu | |
| 2017 | Isora Iwakiri | The Blooming | |
| 2018 | Shinichiro Ueda | One Cut of the Dead | |
| 2019 | Toshiyuki Teruya | Senkotsu | |
| 2020 | HIKARI | 37 Seconds | |
| 2021 | Shinzo Katayama | Sagasu | |