Harada was born in
Numazu,
Shizuoka Prefecture and graduated from Higashi High School. In 1972, he went to
London to learn English. He then attended Tokyo Visual Arts College and
Pepperdine University. During the latter part of the decade, he lived in
Los Angeles, where he was a US correspondent for
Kinema Junpo and
Takarajima magazines, writing criticism and news about the American film industry. He cited American filmmakers
Howard Hawks,
Sam Peckinpah, and
Don Siegel as influences, and befriended Hawks after meeting him at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival. ==Career==