Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu has died at the age of 76, less than a week after he was hit by a taxi.

The moviemaker was knocked down by a cab as he crossed a road in Tokyo last Friday (12Oct12), and he passed away from his injuries on Wednesday (17Oct12), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Wakamatsu worked on more than 100 movies during his career, and courted controversy in 1976 by producing the sexually explicit film In the Realm of the Senses.

In more recent years, his 2010 film Caterpillar was nominated for the Golden Bear honour at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany.

He released three movies this year (12) alone and had been active in the weeks leading up to his death - earlier this month (Oct12), he picked up the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award at the Busan International Film Festival in Korea.