Tetsuya Mariko (born July 12, 1981) is a Japanese film director. Mariko was born on July 12, 1981, in Tokyo , Japan. He began making short films while at Hosei University . He produced The Far East Apartment in 2003 and Mariko's 30 Pirates in 2004, which won the Grand Prix at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival. He made Yellow Kid , his first feature-length film, while a graduate student at the Graduate School of Film and New Media at Tokyo University of the Arts . He won the New Director Grand Prix at Takasaki Film Festival and the New Directors Award at the Japanese Film Professionals Awards for this film.