Shunya Itō

is a Japanese film director known for starting the ''Sasori'' / ''Female Prisoner Scorpion'' series of 1970s exploitation films starring Meiko Kaji. Itō worked for Toei Company for most of his career. In 1972, he won a Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Citation for his first film, ''Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion''.

He won Picture of the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards in 1985 with his film ''Gray Sunset'', a story of a man suffering from Alzheimer's disease. This thus became Japan's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film instead of Akira Kurosawa's ''Ran'', which caused a slight uproar in Western media as many critics thought ''Ran'' had a real chance of winning whereas ''Gray Sunset'' was not even shortlisted. (Galbraith)

In 1995, he directed ''Lupin III: Farewell to Nostradamus''. In 1998, he directed the World War II drama ''Pride: The Fateful Moment'', presenting a sympathetic view of Hideki Tōjō on trial at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, attracting accusations of revisionism. Provided by Wikipedia