was a Japanese film actor from Chōshi, Chiba. Okada served in the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was a miner and traveling salesman before becoming an actor. Internationally, his best-remembered roles include Lui ("him" in French) in the 1959 film ''

Hiroshima mon amour ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (, lit. , ), is a 1959 romantic drama film directed by French director Alain Resnais and written by French author Marguerite Duras. Resnais' first feature-length work, it was a co-production between France and Japan, and ...

'', directed by

Alain Resnais Alain Resnais (; 3 June 19221 March 2014) was a French film director and screenwriter whose career extended over more than six decades. After training as a film editor in the mid-1940s, he went on to direct a number of short films which included ...

. In this film, Eiji Okada had to learn the screenplay phonetically because he didn't speak French. He is also known for playing the entomologist Niki Junpei in

Hiroshi Teshigahara was a Japanese avant-garde filmmaker and artist from the Japanese New Wave era. He is best known for the 1964 film ''Woman in the Dunes''. He is also known for directing other titles such as ''The Face of Another'' (1966), ''Natsu No Heitai'' (''S ...

's 1964 film ''

Woman in the Dunes is a 1964 Japanese New Wave drama directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, starring Eiji Okada as an entomologist searching for insects and Kyōko Kishida as the titular woman. It received positive critical reviews and was nominated for two Academy Awa ...

'', an adaptation of

Kōbō Abe , pen name of , was a Japanese writer, playwright, musician, photographer, and inventor. He is best known for his 1962 novel '' The Woman in the Dunes'' that was made into an award-winning film by Hiroshi Teshigahara in 1964. Abe has often bee ...

's novel. He was also second billed under

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

in the 1963 political thriller ''

The Ugly American ''The Ugly American'' is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer that depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia. The book caused a sensation in diplomatic circles and had major political implic ...

''. Okada was married to Aiko Wasa, with whom he ran a theatre company in Japan. He died on 14 September 1995 of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

, at the age of 75.

Selected filmography

* ''Onna no Kao'' (1949) * ''Hana no Sugao'' (1949) * '' Until We Meet Again'' (1950) – Tajima Saburo * ''Shiroi yajû'' (1950) – Iwasaki * ''Gozen reiji no shutugoku'' (1950) * ''Kenjū no Mae ni Tatsu Haha'' (1950) * ''Nakinureta ningyô'' (1951) – Ryûji * ''Fūsetsu Nijūnen'' (1951) * ''Kaze ni soyogu asi (Kouhen)'' (1951) – Mitsujiro Hirose * ''Yamabiko Gakkō'' (1952) * ''Asa no hamon'' (1952) – Kajigoro * ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

'' (1952) – Shinjiro * ''Boryoku'' (1952) * ''Shinkū Chitai'' (1952) – Okamoto * ''Haha wo Kou Uta'' (1952) * ''Reimei hachigatsu jugo-nichi'' (1952) * ''Himeyuri no Tō'' (1953) – Teacher Tamai * ''Hiroshima'' (1953) – Kitagawa * ''Miseraretaru Tamashii'' (1953) * ''Wakaki Hi no Takuboku Kumo wa Tensai De Aru'' (1954) – Takuboku Ishikawa * ''Okuman choja'' (1954) – Monta * ''Hana to Hatō'' (1954) * '' Ningen Gyorai Kaiten'' (1955) * ''Koko ni Izumi Ari'' (1955) * ''Hana no Yukue'' (1955) – Hiroshi Hamamura * ''Gokumonchô'' (1955) – San'nosuke Tsuzuki * ''

Christ in Bronze is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Minoru Shibuya. It was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Eiji Okada * Kazuko Okada * Osamu Takizawa * Shinobu Araki * Akira Ishihama * Kyōko Kagawa * Kinzo Shin * Kōji ...

'' (1955) * ''Bōryokugai'' (1955) * ''Kao no nai otoko'' (1955) – Masahiko Arisaka / Yamada * ''Kenjû tai kenjû'' (1955) * ''Choppu sensei'' (1956) * ''Shonen tanteidan: Nijumenso no akuma'' (1956) – Kogoro Akechi * ''Shonen tanteidan: Daiichibu yokaihakushi'' (1956) * ''Kurama Tengu, Shirouma no Misshi'' (1956) * ''

Jun'ai Monogatari is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Tadashi Imai. It was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival where Imai won the Silver Bear for Best Director. Cast * Shinjirō Ehara as Hayakawa Kantaro * Hitomi Nakahara * Eiji Okada * Isa ...

'' (1957) – Shitayama * ''Dotanba'' (1957) * ''Shonen tanteidan: Tetto no kaijin'' (1957) – Kogoro Akechi * ''Shonen tanteidan: Kabutomushi no yoki'' (1957) * ''Shingo juban-shobu'' (1959) – Shozaburo Masaki * ''

'' (1959) – Lui * ''Shingo jûban shôbu: dai-ni-bu'' (1959) * ''Shinran'' (1960) – Shiro Amagi * ''Ôzora no muhômono'' (1960) * ''Kaizoku bahansen'' (1960) * ''Restoration Fire'' (1961) – Yamanami Keisuke * ''Kengo tengu matsuri'' (1961) * ''

Rififi in Tokyo ''Rififi in Tokyo'' (French: ''Rififi à Tokyo'') is a 1963 French-Italian crime film directed by Jacques Deray and starring Karlheinz Böhm, Charles Vanel and Barbara Lass.Monaco p.160 Synopsis The veteran gangster Van Hekken arrives in Tokyo t ...

'' (1963) – Danny Riquet * ''

'' (1963) – Deong * ''

Kanojo to kare is a 1963 Japanese drama film directed by Susumu Hani. It was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival where Sachiko Hidari won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award. Plot A middle-class woman in Tokyo, Naoko Ishikawa (Sachik ...

'' (1963) – Eiichi Ishikawa * ''

'' (1964) – Entomologist Niki Jumpei * ''

The Scent of Incense is a 1964 Japanese drama film based on a novel by Sawako Ariyoshi and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. Screened in two parts, it was one of Kinoshita's last cinema productions before working mainly for television. Plot Spanning in time from the Ru ...

'' (''Kôge - Nibu: Mitsumata no shô/Ichibu: Waremokô no shô'') (1964) – Nozawa * '' Ansatsu'' (1964) – Lord Matsudaira * ''The Scarlet Camellia'' (1964) – Genjirô Maruume * ''Haigo no hito'' (1965) – Masaaki Izumida * ''Sanshiro Sugata'' (1965) – Gennosuke / Tesshin * ''

Samurai Spy , also known as ''Spy Hunter'', is a 1965 film directed by Masahiro Shinoda, based on a novel by Koji Nakada. The legendary ninja Sasuke Sarutobi tracks the spy Nojiri, while a mysterious figure named Sakon leads a band of men on their own quest ...

'' (1965) – Tatewaki Koriyama * ''Nihon daikyôkaku'' (1966) – Shuji Onoda * ''Hikô shôjo Yôko'' (1966) – Asai * ''

The Face of Another is a 1964 novel written by the Japanese novelist Kōbō Abe. Like other stories written by this author, the novel explores the alienation of modern man from urban society. It is written in the first person narrative mode, and is divided into ...

'' (1966) – The Boss * ''Bosû wa ore no kenjû de'' (1966) * ''

The X from Outer Space is a 1967 Japanese science fiction '' kaiju'' film that was directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu and stars Eiji Okada and Toshiya Wazaki. Guilala returned in a 2008 Shochiku sequel of sorts called '' Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit''. Plot ...

'' (1967) – Dr. Kato * ''

Portrait of Chieko is a 1967 Japanese drama film directed by Noboru Nakamura. It is based both on the poetry collection ''Chieko-shō'' by Japanese poet and sculptor Kōtarō Takamura, which reminisces about his wife Chieko, and on the novel ''Shōsetsu Chieko-s ...

'' (1967) – Tsubaki * ''Utage'' (1967) – Adachi * ''

The Sands of Kurobe is a 1968 Japanese drama film directed by Kei Kumai. It was Japan's submission to the 41st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. Produced by its stars Toshiro Mifune and Yujiro Ish ...

'' (1968) – Yoshino * ''Irezumi muzan'' (1968) * ''Shin irezumi muzan tekka no jingi'' (1968) * ''Showa no inochi'' (1968) * ''Tarekomi'' (1969) – Toru Kijima * ''Dankon'' (1969) – George Kitabayashi * ''Nyotai'' (1969) – Nobuyuki Ishidô * ''Jotai'' (1969) – Nobuyuki Ishido * '' Mujo'' (1970) * ''Senketsu no kiroku'' (1970) * ''Yomigaeru daichi'' (1971) – Mitsuo iwashita * ''Yami no naka no chimimoryo'' (1971) – Ikezoe * ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the ce ...

'' (1971) – Inoue Chikugonokami * ''Tsuji-ga-hana'' (1972) * ''Bara no hyôteki'' (1972) -Tachibana Mike * ''Zatoichi's Conspiracy'' (1973) – Shinbei of Hitachiya * '' Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons'' (1973) – Wakita * '' Lady Snowblood'' (1973) – Gishirô Tsukamoto * ''Waga michi'' (1974) – Lawyer * ''Mesu'' (1974) – Kokubo * ''

The Yakuza ''The Yakuza'' is a 1974 neo-noir crime drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader. ...

'' (1974) – Tono * ''

ESPY An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...

'' (1974) – Salabad * ''I am a cat'' (1975) – Bunmei * ''

Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa o Watare , known as ''Manhunt'', ''Hot Pursuit'' or ''Dangerous Chase'' in some translations, is a 1976 Japanese crime thriller film directed by Junya Satō. It is based on the novel of the same name by Juko Nishimura, and stars Ken Takakura in the leadi ...

'' (1976) * '' Lullaby of the Earth'' (1976) – Evangelist * ''Utareru mae-ni ute!'' (1976) – President Kudo * ''Permanent Blue: Manatsu no koi'' (1976) – Boy's father * ''Arasuka monogatari'' (1977) – Amaohka * ''Seishun no mon: Jiritsu hen'' (1977) – Minoru Yuki * ''Utamaro: Yume to shiriseba'' (1977) – Tanuma * ''Wakai hito'' (1977) – Mr. Okajima * ''Nihon no jingi'' (1977) – Yohei Inada * ''Genshiryoku sensô'' (1978) – Professor Kamiyama * '' Ogin-sama'' (1978) – Ankokuji * ''

Furimukeba Ai , also titled "Take Me Away!"The title "Take me away!" appears in the beginning credits of the film itself, before the title "ふりむけば愛" in Japanese script. is a 1978 Japanese film starring Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura and directed ...

'' (1978) – Ryunosuke Tamaru * ''Kôtei no inai hachigatsu'' (1978) – Tokunaga * '' Blue Christmas'' (1978) * ''Ôgon no inu'' (1979) – Shuhei Agata * ''Kôsatsu'' (1979) – Yoshio Morikawa * ''Jishin rettô'' (1980) * ''Kofukugo shuppan'' (1980) * '' The Gate of Youth'' (1981) – Tôno, Chika's step father * '' Crazy Fruit'' (1981) – Yuzo Dojima * ''

Nankyoku Monogatari is a 1983 Japanese drama film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and starring Ken Takakura. Its plot centers on the 1958 ill-fated Japanese scientific expedition to the South Pole, its dramatic rescue from the impossible weather conditions on the re ...

'' (1983) – Chief Ozawa * ''Akujo kamakiri'' (1983) – Taichi Dôjima * ''

Haru no kane is a 1985 Japanese film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara. Cast *Kin'ya Kitaōji * Yūko Kotegawa *Yoshiko Mita *Akira Nakao * Shinsuke Ashida *Eiji Okada * Mariko Kaga Awards and nominations 10h Hochi Film Award * Won: Best Actor - Kin'ya Kita� ...

'' (1985) – Hachiro Ishimoto * ''Ôidippsu no katana'' (1986) – Shunsuke's uncle * ''Oedipus no yaiba'' (1986) – Shunsuke's uncle * ''Guriin rekuiemu'' (1988) – Zenichiro Okada * ''Shishiohtachi no natsu'' (1991) – Kazumichi Sakagami * ''Kagerô'' (1991) – Masakichi Ono * ''Jutai'' (1991) – Ichimatsu, Grandfather * ''Harukana jidai no kaidan o'' (1995) – White man * ''Hitodenashi no koi'' (1995) – (final film role)

References

External links

* 1920 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Japanese male actors Japanese male film actors People from Chōshi Actors from Chiba Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II {{Japan-film-actor-stub