was a Japanese actor. He primarily acted in

dramas Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been c ...

, of which a handful are

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

series. One of his latest roles was as Taiga Saejima in the tokusatsu series ''

GARO Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

''. He also played

Kamen Rider Gaoh This is a list of characters throughout the Japanese tokusatsu series . DenLiner crew Kamen Rider Den-O fights against the Imagin with the aid of his partners. Most of them reside within the train known as the , a train that traverses the sand ...

in the ''

Kamen Rider Den-O is the seventeenth installment in the popular Kamen Rider Series of tokusatsu programs. It is a joint collaboration between Ishimori Productions and Toei. It premiered January 28, 2007 on TV Asahi, and concluded airing on January 20, 2008. Its le ...

'' movie, '' Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born!''.

Life

Watanabe was born on December 9, 1955, in

Mito Mito may refer to: Places *Mito, Ibaraki, capital city of Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan *Mito, Aichi, a Japanese town *Mito, Shimane, a Japanese town * Mitō, Yamaguchi, a Japanese town * Mito District, a district in the province of Concepción, Per ...

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,871,199 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

. He graduated from

Takushoku University Takushoku University (拓殖大学; ''Takushoku Daigaku'', abbreviated as 拓大 ''Takudai'') is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded in 1900 by Duke Taro Katsura (1848–1913).

, Faculty of Commerce. During his studies at the university, he learned German while working for the German airline company

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

. Watanabe began his career in entertainment by appearing in a

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

television commercial in 1980. He married actress in 1994. Watanabe was found dead at his private gym in the basement of his home on May 3, 2022, and his death was announced by his management agency on May 5. The cause of death was reportedly

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered t ...

Filmography

Films

* ''On the Road'' (1982) * ''

Shinjuku Outlaw , also known as ''Shinjuku Outlaws'', is a 1994 Japanese video (V-cinema) directed by Takashi Miike. Plot Near the end of the Shōwa era, Mr. Tagami of the criminal investigation department takes the guards off of the yakuza boss Muraoka for one ...

'' (1994) * '' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'' (1995) * '' Gamera 2: Attack of Legion'' (1996) * '' Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris'' (1999) * '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001) – Yutaka Hirose * ''

Cromartie High - The Movie Cromartie or Cromarty may refer to: People Sport * Antonio Cromartie (born 1984), American football cornerback * Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith (born 1987), American football safety * Marcus Cromartie (born 1990), American football cornerback * Russell ...

'' (2005) - Freddie * '' Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born!'' (2007) -

* '' Everly'' (2014) - Taiko * ''Day and Night'' (2019) * ''

In Full Bloom ''In Full Bloom'' is the second album released by American funk band Rose Royce on the Whitfield label in July 1977. It was produced by Norman Whitfield. The album was remastered and reissued with bonus tracks in 2016 by Big Break Records. ...

'' (2020) - Tetsuro Tokugawa * ''Iyashi no Kokoromi'' (2020) * ''

Labyrinth of Cinema is a 2019 Japanese anti-war fantasy drama film written, produced, directed and edited by Nobuhiko Obayashi. It stars Takuro Atsuki, Takahito Hosoyamada and Yoshihiko Hosoda as three present-day Onomichi moviegoers who find themselves transported ...

'' (2020) * ''

A Dog Named Palma ''A Dog Named Palma'' (russian: Пальма) is a 2021 Russian children's drama film film directed by Aleksandr Domogarov Jr., based on real events that took place in 1974-1976 at the Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. It was released theat ...

'' (2021) * ''Nobutora'' (2021) -

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

* ''Tears of Persephone'' (2022) * ''Popran'' (2022) * ''1446: An Eternal Minute'' (2022) * ''

Sadako DX ''Sadako DX'' ( ja, 貞子 DX) is a 2022 Japanese supernatural slasher comedy film directed by Hisashi Kimura. It is an installment in the ''Ring'' franchise, and stars Fuka Koshiba as a quick-witted high school student who has to unravel the cu ...

'' (2022, released posthumously) * ''Tora no Ryūgi'' (2022, released posthumously) * ''Tora no Ryūgi 2'' (2022, released posthumously) * ''Ginji the Speculator'' (2022, released posthumously) * ''Ginpei-cho Cinema Blues'' (2023, released posthumously)

Television

* ''

Ai no Arashi AI is artificial intelligence, intellectual ability in machines and robots. Ai, AI or A.I. may also refer to: Animals * Ai (chimpanzee), an individual experimental subject in Japan * Ai (sloth) or the pale-throated sloth, northern Amazonian mam ...

'' (1986), adult Takeshi (Japanese adaptation of

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...

) * ''

Tōyama no Kin-san is a popular character based on the historical Tōyama Kagemoto, a samurai and official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. In kabuki and kōdan, he was celebrated under his childhood name, Kinshirō, shortened to ...

'' (1992) * ''

Onihei Hankachō is a series of historical novels written by Japanese author Shōtarō Ikenami. Following the character Heizo Hasegawa in the Edo period of Japan, Ikegami wrote the first story for the December 1967 issue of the light novel magazine ' published by ...

'' (1994) * ''

Ultraman Gaia is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show and is the 14th show in the Ultra Series. Featuring Chiaki J. Konaka as series composer and produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS TV), ''Ultraman Gaia'' was aired on JNN TV statio ...

'' (1998) - Commander Akio Ishimuro * '' Aoi'' (2000) -

Asano Yoshinaga was a Japanese samurai and feudal lord of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods. His father served as one of the '' Go-Bugyō'' in the late Azuchi–Momoyama period. Asano Yoshinaga was born at Odani, in the Asai district of Ōmi Province, in ...

* ''Oyabun wa Jesus Sama'' (2000) – Jesus Christ * ''Toshiie and Matsu'' (2002) -

Ikeda Tsuneoki , also known as Ikeda Nobuteru (池田信輝), was an Ikeda clan ''daimyō'' and military commander under Oda Nobunaga during the Sengoku period and Azuchi–Momoyama periods of 16th-century Japan. He was a retainer of the famous warlords Oda No ...

* ''

'' (2005-2006) – Taiga Saejima * ''

: Beast of the White Night'' (2006) – Taiga Saejima * ''LoveDeath'' (2006) * ''Karate-Robo Zaborgar'' (2011) * ''No Side Manager'' (2019) - Saburō Tsuda

Japanese dubbing

* ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' –

Bruce Wayne Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

(

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...

) * ''

Batman Returns ''Batman Returns'' is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and written by Daniel Waters. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to '' Batman'' (1989) and the second installment in the 1989–1997 ''Batm ...

'' – Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) * ''

Cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

'' (1991 Fuji TV edition) – Brian Flanagan (

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

) * ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...

'' (1989 Fuji TV edition) – Maverick (Tom Cruise)

References

External links

Unicorn-net.com
- Watanabe's official website * 1955 births 2022 deaths 2022 suicides 20th-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male actors Japanese male film actors Japanese male television actors Japanese male voice actors People from Mito, Ibaraki Suicides by hanging in Japan Takushoku University alumni {{Japan-actor-stub