Masaki Kobayashi February 14 1916October 4 1996 was a Japanese director Among his films is Kwaidan 1965 a collection of four ghost stories drawn from the book by Lafcadio Hearn each of which has a surprise ending Kobayashi also directed The Human Condition a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist The total length of the films is over 9 hours Other notable films include Harakiri 1962 and Samurai Rebellion 1967 Harakiri won him an award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival solidifying his place in the history of cinema In 1969 he was a member of the jury at the 19th Berlin International Film Festival He was also a candidate for directing the Japanese sequences for Tora Tora Tora once Akira Kurosawa left the film But instead Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda were chosen Kobayashi himself a pacifist was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II but refused to fight and refused promotion to a rank higher than private Description above from the Wikipedia article Masaki Kobayashi licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia