Shinichiro Sawai (1938–2021) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter best known for The Tragedy of “W” (1984), Early Spring Story (1985), Maison Ikkoku (1986), Lovers’ Time (1987), Bloom in the Moonlight (1993), and Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (2007). He began his career at Toei in 1961 as an assistant director, working under Masahiro Makino, before making his directorial debut with The Wild Daisy (1981). Sawai received the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award and the Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year.