Yukio Ninagawa (蜷川 幸雄, Ninagawa Yukio, October 15, 1935 – May 12, 2016) was a Japanese theatre director, actor and film director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of the Greek tragedies as well as Shakespeare—he directed eight distinct renditions of Hamlet.

Although most famous abroad for his touring productions of European classics, Ninagawa also directed works based on contemporary writing from Japan, including the Modern Noh plays of Yukio Mishima (which toured to New York's Lincoln Center in early summer 2005) and several other plays by Japanese dramatists, including Shūji Terayama and Kunio Shimizu.

At the same time, the year 1974 has become the turning point for Ninagawa, when the then Toho theatre producer Tadao Nakane invited him to direct larger productions, and as a result he came to work on a Shakespeare play for the very first time - Romeo and Juliet.

Beginning in 1983 when he directed Medea, Ninagawa continued to do overseas tours every year, adding to his high reputation in Europe, the US and Canada.

In addition he collaborated with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1999 to 2000 and presented King Lear at London and Stratford-upon-Avon.