Takita received an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for his 2008 drama Departures.

Yōjirō Takita entered the film industry through Mukai Productions, where he served as an assistant director.

[1] Takita first came to prominence with the long-running, popular light-comic pink film Molester's Train (痴漢電車, Chikan densha) series, started by Shin'ya Yamamoto in 1975,[2] and which Takita began directing in 1982 at Shintōhō Eiga.

Yomiuri Shimbun writes that Takita's films usually have, "a warm tenderness, reflecting his bright and upbeat personality".

[6] He also won the 2009 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Year, among other accolades, for the film.