Takashi Miike is an extremely prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He is probably best known in the states for his films Audition (1999) and Ichi the Killer (2001). He recently came out with the film 13 Assassins, which played in theaters earlier this year. Most of his films are extremely violent, although he does do a few family films (such as Ninja Kids!!!), which is strange.
...and Ninja Kids!!! ???
Anyway, you should go to see Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai (Japanese title is Ichimei) when it comes out. It's a remake of Kobayashi Masaki's Harakiri (切腹 Seppuku, 1962) which starred the legendary 仲代 達矢(Tatsuya Nakadai). Although it is pretty depressing, Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai is beautifully shot, well acted, and really worth watching.
