Kōji Hashimoto (橋本 広司, Hashimoto Kōji, born 1 January 1956), known professionally as Kōji Yakusho (役所 広司, Yakusho Kōji), is a Japanese actor. He is known internationally for his starring roles in Shall We Dance? (1996), Cure (1997), 13 Assassins (2010), The Third Murder (2017), The Blood of Wolves (2018), Under the Open Sky (2020) and The Days (2023). For his performance in Perfect Days (2023), he was awarded the Best Actor award in the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
Koji Yakusho | |
---|---|
Born | Kōji Hashimoto 1 January 1956 Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1978–present |
Spouse | Saeko Kawazu |
Children | 1 |
Early life and education
Yakusho was born in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the youngest of five brothers. After graduation from Nagasaki Prefectural High School of Technology in 1974, he worked at the Chiyoda municipal ward office, or kuyakusho, in Tokyo, from which he later took his stage name.[1]
Career
In 1976, he saw a production of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths (Played by Tatsuya Nakadai) and was inspired, first to watch, and then later to take part in, as many plays as possible.[1] In the spring of 1978 he auditioned for Tatsuya Nakadai's the Mumeijuku (Studio for Unknown Performers) acting studio, and was one of four chosen out of 800 applicants.[1]
In 1983, he landed the role of Oda Nobunaga in the year-long NHK drama Tokugawa Ieyasu and was catapulted to fame. He also appeared in a TV version of Miyamoto Musashi from 1984 to 1985. For several years, he played Kuji Shinnosuke (or "Sengoku"), one of the title characters in the jidaigeki Sanbiki ga Kiru!. He played a major character in Juzo Itami's 1986 Tampopo.[1]
In 1988, he was given a special award for work in cinema by the Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and continued to appear in films and in a number of TV shows through the '90s.[1]
In 1996 and 1997, Yakusho enjoyed several major successes. The Eel, directed by Shohei Imamura, in which he played the eel-loving lead, won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.[2] Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times called his performance "unerring."[3] Lost Paradise, about a double-suicide, was second only to Princess Mononoke at the Japanese box office.[4]
International breakthrough: Shall We Dance?
Shall We Dance? was such a major hit in Japan that it inspired a domestic dance craze. Ballroom groups and dance schools multiplied in the country after the film's release, and people who previously would never admit to taking lessons announced that they did with pride.[5] Director Masayuki Suo said of his lead, who until that point was known mostly for playing good-looking samurai, "we thought he could play this overworked, tired Japanese businessman, and he did.... [H]e pulled everything off and took his dance training so seriously."[5]
The film also was one of Japan's highest-grossing movies outside the country.[1][5] It earned $9.5 million in the US and inspired a remake starring Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere, with Gere playing Yakusho's role.[6]
Yakusho next won the Hochi Film Award for Best Actor for Bounce Ko Gals, a film which dealt with high school prostitution specifically, and money worship in general. He collaborated with horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa in Cure,[1] License to Live,[7] Seance, Charisma,[1] Pulse,[8] Doppelganger,[9] Retribution,[10] and Tokyo Sonata.[11] Yakusho found further recognition with international audiences to some extent with roles in such films as Memoirs of a Geisha and Babel. In the latter, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, he played the father of the deaf-mute played by Rinko Kikuchi.[12]
Continued success
In 2009, he debuted as director of Toad's Oil.[13] In 2010 and 2011 he was part of both ensemble casts in Takashi Miike's samurai films, 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. The latter was in 3D and the first 3D film to be in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.[14]
In the 2011 war drama film Rengō Kantai Shirei Chōkan: Yamamoto Isoroku, Yakusho portrayed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Yakusho was reportedly the only actor considered for the role; had he not accepted it, the film would have been canceled.[15]
In 2018 he was in The Blood of Wolves. For his performance in Perfect Days, directed by Wim Wenders, Yakusho won best actor at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.[16] In the same year, he has been selected 2023 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival’s filmmaker in focus.[17]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Hunter in the Dark | Kuwano | Hideo Gosha | [18] | |
Eireitachi no oenka: saigo no sôkeisen | Kihachi Okamoto | [19] | |||
1980 | Twelve Months | Young soldier (voice) | Kimio Yabuki | [20] | |
1981 | Willful Murder | Journalist | Kei Kumai | [21] | |
1982 | Onimasa | Kondō | Hideo Gosha | [22] | |
Himeyuri no Tô | Otaka | Tadashi Imai | [23] | ||
The Legend of Sayo | Hatsutaro | Tetsutaro Murano | [24] | ||
1985 | Tampopo | Man in White Suit | Juzo Itami | [25] | |
1987 | The Great Department Store Robbery | Cello player | Azuma Morisaki | [26] | |
1988 | Another Way: D-Kikan Joho | Naoto Sekiya | Kōsaku Yamashita | Lead role | [27] |
1990 | Pod severnym siyaniyem | Genzo Tamiya | Toshio Gotō | Lead role | [28] |
1993 | Gurenbana | Kenzo Nakada | Mamoru Watanabe | [29] | |
Drug Connection | Ryosuke Kano | Shōkaku Baba | Lead role | [30] | |
1994 | Osaka Gokudo Senso: Shinoidare | Ippei Yoshikawa | Tatsuoki Hosono | [31] | |
1995 | Kamikaze Taxi | Kantake | Masato Harada | Lead role | [32] |
1996 | Shall We Dance? | Shohei Sugiyama | Masayuki Suo | Lead role | [33] |
Sleeping Man | Kamimura | Kōhei Oguri | [34] | ||
Shabu Gokudo | Makabe | Tatsuoki Hosono | Lead role | [35] | |
1997 | Lost Paradise | Shoichiro Kuki | Yoshimitsu Morita | Lead role | [36] |
The Eel | Takuro Yamashita | Shohei Imamura | Lead role | [37] | |
Bounce Ko Gals | Oshima | Masato Harada | Lead role | [38] | |
Cure | Kenichi Takabe | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role | [39] | |
1998 | Kizuna | Takaaki Ise/Tetsuro Haga | Kichitaro Negishi | [40] | |
Tadon to chikuwa | Kida | Jun Ichikawa | Lead role | [41] | |
1999 | License to Live | Fujimori | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | [42] | |
Charisma | Goro Yabuike | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role | [43] | |
Spellbound | Hiroshi Kitano | Masato Harada | Lead role | [44] | |
2000 | Swing Man | Movie star | Tetsu Maeda | [45] | |
Dora-heita | Koheita "Dora-heita" Mochizuki | Kon Ichikawa | Lead role | [46] | |
Eureka | Makoto Sawai | Shinji Aoyama | Lead role | [47] | |
2001 | Pulse | Ship captain | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Cameo | [48] |
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge | Yosuke Sasano | Shōhei Imamura | Lead role | [49] | |
2002 | The Choice of Hercules | Atsuyuki Sassa | Masato Harada | Lead role | [50] |
2003 | Doppelganger | Michio Hayasaki | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role | [9] |
Fireflies: River of Light | Mr. Takiguchi | Hiroshi Sugawara | [51] | ||
2004 | The Hunter and the Hunted | Detective Jin Sekikawa | Izuru Narushima | Lead role | [52] |
Tokyo: Level One | The Governor of Tokyo | Gen Yamakawa | Lead role | [53] | |
Lakeside Murder Case | Shunsuke Namiki | Shinji Aoyama | Lead role | [54] | |
University of Laughs | Mutsuo Sakisaka | Mamoru Hoshi | Lead role | [55] | |
2005 | Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean | Masami Shin'ichi | Shinji Higuchi | Lead role | [56] |
Memoirs of a Geisha | Nobu | Rob Marshall | American film | [57] | |
2006 | The Uchōten Hotel | Heikichi Shindo | Kōki Mitani | Lead role | [58] |
Babel | Yasujiro Wataya | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Foreign film | [59] | |
Over the Hedge | RJ (voice) | Tim & Karey | Japanese version | [60] | |
Retribution | Noboru Yoshioka | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role | [61] | |
2007 | I Just Didn't Do It | Masayoshi Arakawa | Masayuki Suo | [62] | |
Argentine Baba | Satoru Wakui | Naoki Nagao | Lead role | [63] | |
Silk | Hara Jubei | François Girard | Foreign film | [64] | |
Walking My Life | Yukihiro Fujiyama | Satoshi Isaka | Lead role | [65] | |
2008 | Paco and the Magical Book | Onuki | Tetsuya Nakashima | Lead role | [66] |
Tokyo Sonata | The Robber | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | [67] | ||
2009 | Mt. Tsurugidake | Morisaku Furuta | Daisaku Kimura | [68] | |
Gelatin Silver Love | Client | Kazumi Kurigami | [69] | ||
Toad's Oil | Takuro Yazawa | Himself | Lead role & director | [13] | |
Astro Boy | Dr. Bill Tenma (voice) | David Bowers | Japanese version | [70] | |
2010 | 13 Assassins | Shinzaemon Shimada | Takashi Miike | Lead role | [71] |
The Last Ronin | Magozaemon Senoo | Shigemichi Sugita | Lead role | [72] | |
2011 | Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai | Kageyu Saito | Takashi Miike | [73] | |
Isoroku | Isoroku Yamamoto | Izuru Narushima | Lead role | [74] | |
Chronicle of My Mother | Kōsaku | Masato Harada | Lead role | [75] | |
The Woodsman and the Rain | Katsuhiko | Shūichi Okita | Lead role | [76] | |
2012 | A Terminal Trust | Shinzo Egi | Masayuki Suo | [77] | |
2013 | The Kiyosu Conference | Shibata Katsuie | Kōki Mitani | Lead role | [78] |
2014 | The World of Kanako | Akikazu Fujishima | Tetsuya Nakashima | Lead role | [79] |
A Samurai Chronicle | Shūkoku Toda | Takashi Koizumi | Lead role | [80] | |
2015 | The Emperor in August | Korechika Anami | Masato Harada | Lead role | [81] |
The Boy and the Beast | Kumatetsu (voice) | Mamoru Hosoda | Lead role | [82] | |
Mifune: The Last Samurai | Himself | Steven Okazaki | Documentary film | [83] | |
2017 | Sekigahara | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Masato Harada | [84] | |
Oh Lucy! | Komori | Atsuko Hirayanagi | American-Japanese film | [85] | |
The Third Murder | Misumi | Hirokazu Kore-eda | [86] | ||
2018 | The Blood of Wolves | Shōgo Ōgami | Kazuya Shiraishi | Lead role | [87] |
Mirai | Grandpa (voice) | Mamoru Hosoda | [88] | ||
2019 | Wings Over Everest | Jiang Yuesheng | Fay Yu | Lead role; Chinese film | [89] |
Whistleblower | Kase | Katsuo Fukuzawa | Cameo | [90] | |
2021 | Under the Open Sky | Masao Mikami | Miwa Nishikawa | Lead role | [91] |
The Supporting Actors In Byplaywood | Himself | Daigo Matsui | [92] | ||
Belle | Suzu's father (voice) | Mamoru Hosoda | [93] | ||
2022 | The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai | Kawai Tsugunosuke | Takashi Koizumi | Lead role | [94] |
2023 | Perfect Days | Hirayama | Wim Wenders | Lead role; Japanese-German film | [95] |
Familia | Seiji | Izuru Narushima | Lead role | [96] | |
Father of the Milky Way Railroad | Masajirō Miyazawa | Izuru Narushima | Lead role | [97] | |
Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window | Sōsaku Kobayashi (voice) | Shinnosuke Yakuwa | [98] | ||
2024 | Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality | Takizawa Bakin | Fumihiko Sori | Lead role | [99] |
2025 | Snowflowers: Seeds of Hope | Hino Teisai | Takashi Koizumi | [100] | |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Shishi no Jidai | Murakami Taiji | NHK | Taiga drama | [101] |
1981 | Onna Taikōki | Oda Nobutaka | NHK | Taiga drama | [102] |
1983 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Oda Nobunaga | NHK | Taiga drama | [103] |
1984–1985 | Miyamoto Musashi | Miyamoto Musashi | NHK | Lead role | [104] |
1986 | Inochi | Hamamura | NHK | Taiga drama | [105] |
1987–1995 | Sanbiki ga Kiru! | Kuji Shin'nosuke | TV Asahi | 7 seasons | [106] |
1990 | Moeyo Ken | Hijikata Toshizō | TV Tokyo | Lead role; miniseries | [107] |
1991 | Takeda Shingen | Takeda Shingen | TBS | Lead role; TV movie | [108] |
1994 | Hana no Ran | Ibuki Saburo Nobutsuna | NHK | Taiga drama | [109] |
2000 | Aikotoba wa Yūki | Jintaro Akatsuki | Fuji TV | Lead role | [110] |
Seance | Sato | Fuji TV | Lead role; TV movie | [111] | |
2001 | Band of Brothers | Richard Winters | HBO | Japanese Voiceover | [112] |
2010 | Wagaya no Rekishi | Narrator | Fuji TV | Miniseries | [113] |
2011 | Early Autumn | Shinpei Matsubara | TBS | Lead role; TV movie | [114] |
2014 | Oyaji no Senaka | Sōsuke Aoki | TBS | Lead role; episode 2 | [115] |
2017 | Ties: A Miraculous Colt | Masayuki | NHK | Lead role; miniseries | [116] |
Rikuoh | Kōichi Miyazawa | TBS | Lead role | [117] | |
The Supporting Actors | Himself | TV Tokyo | Episode 1 | [118] | |
2019 | Idaten | Kanō Jigorō | NHK | Taiga drama | [119] |
2021 | Pension Metsa | Tsuneki | Wowow | Episode 1 | [120] |
Matrilineal Family | Yoshizō Yajima | TV Asahi | Special appearance; miniseries | [121] | |
2023 | The Days | Masao Yoshida | Netflix | Lead role | [122] |
Vivant | Nogoon Beki | TBS | [123] | ||
Accolades
State honors
Country | Year | Honor | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Japan | 2012 | Medal with Purple Ribbon | [124] |
Awards and nominations
Notes
- On the official website of the Agency for Cultural Affairs definition, "...for New Artists are presented to persons whose outstanding achievements have opened up new vistas in a given year."[125]
- Per Tokyo International Film Festival, "The Excellence in Asian Cinema Award aims to highlight distinguished talents and affirm their achievements and contributions to Asian film industry and culture."[133]
- Per Hawaii International Film Festival, "The HIFF Golden Maile Award for Career Achievement is bestowed to an artist who has reached the career pinnacles very few have achieved via industry awards and accolades and a body of work that is known globally."[154]
- Reporting from Movie Walker Press, "Cut Above Award for Excellent in Film, which was established to honor the contributions made to the film industry over the years."[181]
- Kyoto International Film and Art Festival describes the award, "The Toshiro Mifune Award... honors an actor who has great potential for international success."[188]
- Quoted verbatim from the 22nd Nippon Connection Film Festival, "The award... honors outstanding personalities for their merits in the Japanese film industry."[199]
- Singapore International Film Festival wrote, "The Cinema Legend Award is awarded to a luminary Asian actor who has made an indelible mark with his/her performance, celebrating outstanding achievements in bringing Asia’s story to life on screen."[205]
References
External links
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