Shusuke Kaneko (born June 8, 1955) is a Japanese filmmaker and screenwriter. Kaneko began his career at Nikkatsu and would serve as a writer for film and anime. Establishing himself as an up and coming director, Kaneko would win accolades at various film festivals. His film Summer Vacation 1999, would garner him his first award for best director at the Yokohama Film Festival. As a lifelong fan of the original Godzilla films, Kaneko would be chosen as the director for Daiei's revival of the Gamera franchise. Kaneko's work on the Gamera films were met with unprecedented critical acclaim. He would be honored with the Director's Award at the 17th Yokohama Film Festival for his work on Gamera: Guardian of the Universe. This film would also go on to top Kinema Junpo's best films of the year list and earn Blue Ribbon awards for best Director and Best supporting actress. Kaneko would go on to direct the most successful Godzilla film of the millennium series as well as the live action adaptations of Death Note. Kaneko has also contributed to various documentaries on kaiju films, particularly those of Ishiro Honda, championing their artistry and imagination

Shūsuke Kaneko wurde am 8. Juni 1955 in Tokio geboren. In seinen Teenagerjahren begann er, Amateurfilme zu drehen, studierte jedoch an der Tokyo Gakugei University Pädagogik. Nach seinem Abschluss fand er eine Anstellung beim großen japanischen Filmstudio Nikkatsu. Kaneko gab im Februar 1984 sein Regiedebüt bei Nikkatsu mit Wet and Swinging. Das Jahr 1988 markierte einen Wendepunkt in Kanekos Karriere als Regisseur. Kaneko konzentrierte sich ganz auf den Mainstream-Film. Mitte bis Ende der 1990er Jahre erhielt Kaneko breite Anerkennung für die Regie der Kaiju-Filme Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995), Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (1996) und Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999). Im folgenden Jahrzehnt inszenierte er Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), der heute als einer der besten Godzilla-Filme aller Zeiten gilt.