Joined Shochiku Ofuna in 1949. After working as an assistant director under figures such as KINOSHITA Keisuke and KAWASHIMA Yuzo, Nakahira transferred to Nikkatsu in 1954. Though he first directed The Shadow of Fear (Nerawareta otoko, 1956), it was the sensational Juvenile Jungle (Kurutta kajitsu, aka Crazed Fruit, 1956), which ended up being released earlier that same year, that catapulted him to fame overnight. While active across a variety of genres, he harbored a predilection for stylish visuals and briskness of tempo, seeking to provide in his work an antithesis to conventional Japanese cinema, as seen in a string of films he made for Nikkatsu that became synonymous with the youthful energy of the recently revived studio. Between his dismissal from Nikkatsu in 1968 and his founding of the independent Nakahira Productions three years later, he was invited to Hong Kong and South Korea where he directed remakes of his own works, resulting in Summer Heat (1968, Hong Kong) and A Crash Landing of Youth (1971, South Korea), among other films. He grandiloquently referred to the filmmakers of the French New Wave as his "disciples" and remained committed to the pursuit of cutting-edge innovation, approaching film first and foremost as a visual artform. Half a century after his death, Nakahira's films still pulse with unconventional beauty, cementing his position as a modernist even after all this time.

(Written by KU Mina / Translated by Adam Sutherland)