Ayuko Tsukahara
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TBS Sparkle
Ayuko Tsukahara | |
|---|---|
| 塚原 あゆ子 | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Chiba University |
| Occupations | Television series director, Film director TBS Sparkle |
| Years active | 1997- |
| Notable work |
|
| Awards | Hochi Film Awards for Last Mile (2024) |
| Website | TBS Sparkle |
Ayuko Tsukahara (Japanese: 塚原 あゆ子, Hepburn: Tsukahara Ayuko) is a director from Saitama Prefecture, Japan.[1] She belongs to TBS Sparkle and has directed many television series for TBS Television and films. Her notable works include the television series Unnatural, La Grande Maison Tokyo, and MIU404. She made her film directorial debut in 2018 with Cafe Funiculi Funicula.
Tsukahara was born and raised in Kuki City, Saitama Prefecture. She was influenced by her mother, who taught the drama club at junior high school, she later worked for a media production company that produced television series.[2] Tsukahara joined Kinoshita Productions (currently TBS Sparkle) in 1997 after graduating from Chiba University with a Bachelor of Arts.[3] When she was a college student, she was just an ordinary college student who liked movies and theater. When she was looking for a job, she saw on a website that they were looking for a screenwriter, and thinking, "I am a major in literature, so I could probably do some writing work," she applied to her current company.[4] After joining the company, she worked as an assistant director for a television series. Her main duties were to find locations and to create the character setting for the television series and to support the director and do other chores. After 10 years of working as an assistant director, she decided that she wanted to work primarily as a director, not as an assistant director.[4] She directed her first television series in 2005 with Yume de Aimashou, followed by the popular Unnatural, La Grande Maison Tokyo, and MIU404. She won the Galaxy Award for Excellence in Television for Unnatural and other awards.[1] She received Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's Art Encouragement Award in 2021 for her production of MIU404.[3][5] She made her film directorial debut in 2018 with Cafe Funiculi Funicula, followed by As Long As We Both Shall Live (My Happy Marriage) in 2023, Last mile and La Grande Maison Paris in 2024, etc. She is actively working not only as a television series director but also as a film director.[6]
Awards
| Years | Awards | Department | Work | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 83rd The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Director (with Takeyoshi Yamamoto and Akihiro Anami) | Testimony of N | [7] |
| 2015 | The 1st Katsumi Oyama Award | [8] | ||
| 2018 | 96th The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Director (with Kentaro Takemura and Yoshiaki Murao) | Unnatural | [9] |
| Tokyo Drama Award 2018 | Best Direction | Unnatural | [10] | |
| 2020 | 103rd The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Director (with Daisuke Yamamuro and Takahiro Aoyama) | La Grande Maison Tokyo | [11] |
| Tokyo Drama Awards 2020 | Best Director | La Grande Maison Tokyo | [12] | |
| 2021 | Art Encouragement Prize, New Face Award, Broadcasting Category | MIU404 | [5] | |
| 110th The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Director (with Takeyoshi Yamamoto and Yoshiaki Murao) | Dearest | [13] | |
| 2022 | Tokyo Drama Award 2022 | Best Director | Dearest | [14] |
| 113th The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Director (with Tsuyoshi Yamamoto) | Ishiko and Haneo: You're Suing Me? | [15] | |
| 2023 | 118th The Television Drama Academy Award | Best Director (with Daisuke Yamamuro, Daiki Hamano and Takayoshi Tanazawa) | Worst to First: A Teen Baseball Miracle | [16] |
| 2024 | The 49th Hochi Film Awards | Best Director | Last Mile | [17] |