, real name , is a well-known stage and movie

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

who is best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, was a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle bui ...

'' produced by

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

Biography

Kaga was born on October 12, 1950, in the city of

Kanazawa is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Overview Cityscape File:もてな ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...

. His first experience on stage was at the age of seven when he joined the Kanazawa City Boys choral group. In 1972, he joined the Japanese theatrical company

Gekidan Shiki is one of Japan's best-known and largest theatre companies. Shiki Theatre Company employs over 800 actors and staff, and stages about 2800 performances a year. Shiki Theatre Company operates nine theaters for their exclusive use. Originally, t ...

. While with the company, he played the role of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in the Japanese stage production of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

'' (1973), and role of Tony in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'' (1974). In 1980 he left Shiki to play the role of Sanada in the movie '' The Beast To Die''. He starred in several movies throughout the 1980s, but his most famous role would be that of "Chairman Kaga", the eccentric and flamboyant host of '' Ryōri no Tetsujin'', a cooking competition show (1993–1999). It became very popular, not only in Japan, but around the

English-speaking world Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest languag ...

. Previously broadcast on the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

, then on the

Fine Living Network Fine Living (Sometimes called Fine Living Network or FLN) was a European television channel, initially owned and operated by Scripps Networks Interactive and later by Discovery Inc., from 2018 onwards. It broadcast from to . It featured document ...

in the United States and on SBS in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, under the name ''

'', the show is now being carried on the

Cooking Channel Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting p ...

in the United States, and in the UK i
Iron Chef UK
The host of ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, whi ...

'',

Mark Dacascos Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor, martial artist and television personality. He won numerous karate and kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18. He is known for his roles as Wo Fat in ''Hawaii Five-0'' ...

, is claimed on ''ICA'' to be Takeshi's nephew, though the stated relationship is actually between the fictional characters played by the two men. Despite his international fame with the show, he has not given up his love for musicals. In 1987 he starred in the popular Japanese production of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

'' as

Jean Valjean Jean Valjean () is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables''. The story depicts the character's struggle to lead a normal life and redeem himself after serving a 19-year-long prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his ...

and

Javert Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a polic ...

. He reprised his role as Valjean in 1995 as the representative of Japan during the encore of the 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London. During the encore, Valjeans from 17 countries joined the cast on stage. He also starred in ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' in 2000, and in ''

Jekyll & Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' as well as in ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...

'' in 2001. In 2009, he starred in a Japanese-language version of '' La Cage aux Folles ''. He has also lent his voice to

ese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

. Notably, he voiced Jirarudan, an antagonist, in 1999's '' Pokémon the Movie: Revelation Lugia'', the second

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

movie, and also sung his theme song, "Ware Wa Collector." He also notably voiced Dr. Kiriko in 2005's ''

Black Jack Blackjack is a popular casino-gambling card game. Black Jack or Blackjack may also refer to: Places Australia * Black Jack, Queensland, a locality in Queensland * Black Jack, a civil parish of Pottinger County, New South Wales * Black Jack H ...

: The Two Doctors of Darkness.'' After ''Iron Chef'' ended, he returned to acting in movies and

drama 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 ...

s. He also hosted '' Time Shock 21'', a quiz show on

Asahi Television JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

in Japan. In 2005, Kaga performed as the lead in the Japanese production of

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the Mo ...

's ''

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

'' and starred in the blockbuster film ''

Sengoku Jieitai 1549 ''Samurai Commando: Mission 1549'', known in Japan as , is a 2005 Japanese feature-length film and manga series focusing on the adventures of a modern-day Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) element that accidentally travels through tim ...

''. Kaga also appeared in both installments of the highly successful ''

Death Note ''Death Note'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to May ...

'' film series as Soichiro Yagami.

Filmography

Films

Television

Stage

References

External links

Official Website

from FineLiving.com *
Daisuke & Yasuyoshi's Takeshi Kaga Unofficial Fan & Fun Page

The Official Time Shock 21 Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaga, Takeshi 1950 births Living people Japanese male actors People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Actors from Ishikawa Prefecture Taiga drama lead actors