is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and professional
mahjong
Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...
player.
Biography
When Hagiwara was three years old, his parents divorced and he was taken in by his father. However, his father died when he was in the fourth grade, and was then raised by his paternal grandparents in Chigasaki until he was 15 years old. As a result, he spent most of his younger life without his mother.
[ AERA February 8, 1999 issue, pp. 52-56, "Contemporary Portrait: Masato Hagiwara"]
After graduating from Chigasaki Shiritsu Umeda Junior High School, Hagiwara moved to Tokyo. He enrolled in the part-time program at
Tokyo Metropolitan Toyama High School
is a public day school run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The campus is located in Toyama 3-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo.
It has been designated as a Super Science High School (SSH) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and T ...
, but dropped out after only one week.
Later on, he went to the United States for a short period of time and was impressed by the movie audiences he saw in New York City, which led him to become interested in acting as a career. After returning to Japan, when he was helping out at his mother's bar in Shinjuku, he caught the eye of the casting staff for the TV drama ''
Abunai Deka
, often shortened to , is a Japanese television drama aired by Nippon Television between 1986 and 1987. Starring Hiroshi Tachi and Kyōhei Shibata (actor), Kyohei Shibata, the series became very popular and spawned films, spin-off (media), spin-off ...
'' who had come in as customers, and was recruited. Then, in 1987, he made his debut as a young luggage thief in episode 32 of ''
Abunai Deka
, often shortened to , is a Japanese television drama aired by Nippon Television between 1986 and 1987. Starring Hiroshi Tachi and Kyōhei Shibata (actor), Kyohei Shibata, the series became very popular and spawned films, spin-off (media), spin-off ...
''.
He continued to appear in many films as a minor role, but it was his role as Naojirō Matsuoka in the 1990 TV drama ''High School Rakugaki 2'' that brought him to prominence.
In 1991, he formed the theater group "Early Timelies" with
Shōgo Suzuki, Kō Watanabe and Tetsu Sakuma. They performed six shows over a period of seven years. He later established a fanclub in 1993, which disbanded three years later in July 1996.
In 1993, one of the suspects in an assault case at
Chūō-Rinkan Station
is an interchange station, interchange passenger railway station located in the city of Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan. It is operated by the private railway operators Tokyu Corporation and Odakyu Electric Railway.
Lines
Chūō-Rinkan Station is served ...
on the Odakyu Line was accused of resembling Hagiwara. Hagiwara claimed to have an alibi, saying that he was meeting someone at the time of the crime, but refused to reveal the name of the person who could prove it, because it would be a nuisance to the person. This case damaged Hagiwara's public and private life, and for a while his appearances in dramas and other events were drastically reduced. Later, however, the case was dismissed on the grounds that the accuser's testimony contained many inconsistencies and it was just an accusation that Hagiwara resembled the killer.
In November 1995, Hagiwara married actress
Emi Wakui
is a Japanese actress. She has won three Japanese Academy Awards: the 1994 Best Actress award for her performance in ''Rainbow Bridge (Niji no Hashi)'', and the 1992 awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Newcomer for her performance as Sei ...
, with whom he co-starred in the TV drama ''
Natsuko no Sake''. They had a son in October 1999 and divorced in July 2003, with Wakui taking custody of the son.
Career
Hagiwara co-starred in
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film critic and a professor at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he has worked in a variety of genres, Kurosawa is best known for his many contributions to the Japanese horror genre, his honorific ...
's ''
Cure
A cure is a substance or procedure that ends a medical condition, such as a medication, a surgical operation, a change in lifestyle or even a philosophical mindset that helps end a person's sufferings; or the state of being healed, or cured. The ...
'' with
Kōji Yakusho
, known professionally as , is a Japanese actor. He is well known for his starring roles in ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996), ''Cure'' (1997), ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' (2005), '' 13 Assassins'' (2010), ''The Third Murder'' (2017), '' The Blood of Wolv ...
and appeared in
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou Hsiao-hsien (; born 8 April 1947) is a Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. He won the Golden Lion at the Venice ...
's ''
Café Lumière
is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien for Shochiku as homage to Yasujirō Ozu, with direct reference to the late director's '' Tokyo Story'' (1953). It premiered at a festival commemorating the centenary of Ozu's ...
''. He was supposed to perform in the play "''Shinjō Afururu Keihakusa 2001''" at Theatre Cocoon in January 2001, but was forced to cancel his performance in December 2000 due to a
sensorineural hearing loss
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a type of hearing loss in which the root cause lies in the inner ear or sensory organ (cochlea and associated structures) or the vestibulocochlear nerve (cranial nerve VIII). SNHL accounts for about 90% of rep ...
that left him temporarily deaf.
He also had a starring role as a vocalist and saxophonist in a jazz band in
Junji Sakamoto
is a Japanese film director.
Career
After working as a set assistant or assistant director under such filmmakers as Sogo Ishii and Kazuyuki Izutsu, he made his directorial debut in 1989 with '' Dotsuitarunen'' (earning the Directors Guild of Ja ...
's ''Out of This World''.
After having saxophone lessons with others, he practiced by himself in a karaoke box until his lips were swollen. The second prominent time as a vocalist was in 2007 for the cover of a song by
The Blue Hearts
was a Japanese punk rock band active from 1985 to 1995. They have been compared to such bands as the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Ramones. , ''Mirai wa Bokura no Te no Naka'', which was used as an opening theme for the anime TV series ''
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor''.
In 2018, he became a
Riichi Mahjong professional affiliated with the Japan Professional Mahjong League. In the same year he was drafted by the Team RAIDEN professional Mahjong team for the participation of the team Riichi Mahjong tournament M-League.
Filmography
Film
Television
Animated television series
Animated films
Dubbing
;Live-action
;Animation
References
External links
ALPHA AGENCY profile(Japanese)
NHK Talent Records profile(Japanese)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagiwara, Masato
1971 births
Japanese male actors
Mahjong players
Living people
People from Chigasaki, Kanagawa
Male actors from Kanagawa Prefecture