Masuda Toshio is a Japanese film director and screenwriter from Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.

In 1944, he entered Kobe Prefectural First Kobe Middle School and then enrolled in Niihama Technical College. However, in July 1945, he was expelled from the school for opposing the military training conducted by the institution. Just a month later, World War II ended, and he restarted his education at Osaka School of Foreign Studies, majoring in Russian language.

After graduating from the Russian Language Department of Osaka School of Foreign Studies, he initially intended to become a teacher. However, his interest in film was sparked after being moved by a screening of classic French cinema. He decided to pursue a career as a film director and moved to Tokyo after graduating from university.

In 1949, he joined the Shintoho Scenario School in Tokyo to study screenplay writing. The following year, in August 1950, he joined the assistant director department of Shintoho Film Company. While working as an assistant director, he also began writing screenplays of his own.

In 1954, when he joined Shintoho, he spent his assistant director years under Inoue Umeji. Later, around the same time, he transferred to Nikkatsu, which had resumed production activities.

In 1957, after serving as an assistant director in "Eagle and Hawk," he was promoted to director. The following year, in 1958, he made his directorial debut with "Journey of the Heart and Body," where he also served as the screenwriter. Masuda was still only 29 years old at the time of his promotion to director, which was remarkably fast by the standards of the film industry at that time.

During his time as an assistant director, he sometimes lodged temporarily at Inoue Umeji's residence. While staying at Inoue's house, he would draft several screenplays for films. The experience of drafting scenarios under Inoue's guidance proved invaluable for Masuda's later career as a scriptwriter.

In 1969, he left Nikkatsu and became a freelance director.

(Source: Japanese = Wikipedia || Translation = kisskh) Edit Biography