Veteran scriptwriter and director Toshiyuki Morioka had more than a professional interest in making his new film "Jokyo Monogatari." Based on an autobiographical manga by Rieko Saibara, its story of an aspiring artist coming to Tokyo to learn her trade and make her fortune was his as well.

"I was in the same situation 30 years ago, so I felt that the comic's story and mine overlapped," the Osaka native tells The Japan Times at the Yoyogi office of Phantom Film, the movie's distributor. Like the heroine, Morioka "worked part-time jobs while I followed my dream."

Morioka's first dream was to act, but in 1993 he founded the Straydog theater company, with which he is still associated. In 1995 he earned his first scriptwriting credit with "Shin Kanashiki Hitman (Another Lonely Hitman)," Rokuro Mochizuki's action-drama about a gangster's difficult transition from prison to freedom. The film won a shelf-full of awards and Morioka was soon churning out scripts for yakuza actioners that boosted the international reputations of not only Mochizuki, but also Takashi Miike and Shinji Aoyama.