Sakura Guardian in the North

Yojiro Takita (滝田 洋二郎 Takita Yōjirō, born December 4, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker. His 2008 film Departures (おくりびと Okuribito) won the Best Foreign Language Film at the U.S. 81st Academy Awards, in an upset over the Israeli Animated documentary, Waltz with Bashir. He also won the 2009 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year, among other accolades, for the film.