was a Japanese character actor who made many appearances in films and on television from 1939 to 1989. He was a close friend of

Kaneto Shindo was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...

and one of his regular cast members. He was also an essayist. In 1950 he helped form the film company

Kindai Eiga Kyokai Kindai may refer to: * Kindai, Tanzania, an administrative ward * Kindai High School, Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan * Kindai University, Osaka, Japan * Kanazawa University Kanazawa University ( ja, 金沢大学, Kanazawa Daigaku, abbreviated to ...

with Shindo and

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director in 1934, but continued working as an assistant director for such filmmakers as Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu ...

. He served in the

Japanese military The Japan Self-Defense Forces ( ja, 自衛隊, Jieitai; abbreviated JSDF), also informally known as the Japanese Armed Forces, are the unified ''de facto''Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws the formation of armed forces, th ...

in China in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and considered himself to have narrowly escaped from death. He was married but also had a mistress and maintained relationships with both women until the end of his life. He was a keen reader of detective stories and a fan of jazz music. He wrote a series of semi-autobiographical essays under the title , meaning "third rate actor".

wrote a biography of Tonoyama called ''Sanmon yakusha no shi'',三文役者の死 meaning "The death of a third-rate actor", which he also filmed as ''

By Player is a 2000 Japanese biographical film directed by Kaneto Shindo based on the life of actor Taiji Tonoyama. The film is a series of vignettes from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by Nobuko Otowa, addr ...

''.

Filmography (selected)

Books

Notes

References

External links

* *
Goo Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonoyama, Taiji 1915 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Japanese male actors Military personnel of the Second Sino-Japanese War