was a Japanese actor. He served as President of the Mingei Theatre Company.

Career

After serving in World War II, he became interested in the theater and helped found the Gekidan Mingei troupe in 1950. He gained fame for his television work from the 1970s, but he also appeared in many films, especially those of

Juzo Itami , born , was a Japanese actor, screenwriter and film director. He directed eleven films (one short and ten features), all of which he wrote himself. He is the namesake of the Juzo Itami Award, founded in 2009 to honor his legacy. Early life ...

. His last film, '' Anata e'', starring

Ken Takakura , born , was a Japanese actor and singer who appeared in over 200 films. Affectionately referred to as "Ken-san" by audiences, he was best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brought to his roles. He won the Japan Academy Pri ...

, was released a few months before his death. He died of lung cancer at his home in Tokyo on 2 October 2012.

Awards

He won the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 1st

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the '' Hochi Shimbun''. Categories *Best Picture *Best International Picture *Best Animated Picture (since 2017) *Best Actor *Best Actress *Best Supporting Actor *Best Supporting Actress *Best New Artist ...

for ''

Brother and Sister "Brother and Sister" (also "Little Sister and Little Brother"; ) is a European fairy tale which was, among others, written down by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 11). It is a tale of Aarne–Thompson Type 450. In Russia the story was more commonly know ...

'', '' Kimi yo fundo no kawa o watare'' and ''

Fumō Chitai is a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It was serialized in the weekly magazine ''Sunday Manichi'' from 1973 to 1978. The novel was partially adapted into a film starring Tatsuya Nakadai and directed by Satsuo Yamamoto in 1976. It was later adapted i ...

''.

Selected filmography

Films

*'' Children of Hiroshima'' (1952) *'' Dobu'' (1954) *'' Black Sun'' (1964) *'' A Man′s World'' (1971) *'' Lake of Dracula'' (1971) * ''

Karei-naru Ichizoku is a 1973 novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It has been adapted into a film in 1974 and then three times as a television series in 1974, 2007, and 2021. Plot Set in the post-World War II climate of the 1960s in Kobe, the show explores the struggle for p ...

'' (1974) *''

The Homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

'' (1974) *''

'' (1976) *'' Kimi yo fundo no kawa o watare'' (1976) *''

'' (1976) *''

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...

'' (1978) *''

Hi no Tori is an unfinished manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered ''Phoenix'' his "life's work"; it consists of 12 parts, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. ...

'' (1978) *''

Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism based on the '' Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declared that the '' Lotus Sutra ...

'' (1979) *''

Kagemusha is a 1980 epic jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class petty thief who is taught to impersonate the dying ''daimyō'' Takeda Shingen to dissuade oppos ...

'' (1980), Yamagata Masakage *'' Dotonbori River'' (1982) *'' The Go Masters'' (1983) *'' The Funeral'' (1984) *''

Tampopo is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first " ramen Western", a play on the term spaghetti ...

'' (1985) *'' Tokyo Blackout'' (1987) *'' Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis'' (1988) *'' Umi e, See You'' (1988) *'' Tales of a Golden Geisha'' (1990) *''

Childhood Days is a 1990 in film, 1990 Cinema of Japan, Japanese film directed by Masahiro Shinoda. It was chosen as Best Film at the 14th Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy Prize ceremony. It is based on the novel ''The Long Road'' by Hyozo Kashiwabara. ...

'' (1990) *'' Minbo'' (1992) *'' Spy Sorge'' (2003) *'' Casshern'' (2004) *'' Memories of Tomorrow'' (2006) *'' The Inugami'' (2006) *'' Dearest'' (2012)

Television

*''

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...

'' (1966) *''

Mito Kōmon is a Japanese ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was on prime-time television from 1969 to 2011, making it the longest-running ''jidaigeki'' in Japanese television history. The title character is the historic Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-' ...

'' (1973) *'' Hissatsu Shiokinin'' (1973) (ep1 Guest) *''

Tsūkai! Kōchiyama Sōshun is a Japanese television jidaigeki or period drama that was broadcast in 1975–1976. The lead star is Shintaro Katsu, his older brother Tomisaburo Wakayama also appeared in the episodes 5, 7 and 25. Plot Kōchiyama Sōshun is a serves as a cha-b ...

'' (1975) *'' Tokusō Saizensen'' (1977-87) *''

Shiroi Kyotō is a 1965 novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It has been adapted into a film in 1966 and then five times as a television series in 1967, 1978, 1990, 2003, and 2019. The 1966 film was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival where it won a ...

'' (1978) *''Kita no Kuni kara'' (1981–1992) - Seikichi Kitamura *''

Dokuganryū Masamune is a 1987 Japanese historical television series. It is the 25th NHK ''taiga'' drama. The broadcast received an average viewer rating of 39.7 percent in the Kanto area with the highest viewing rating of 47.8%. The drama was adapted from the novel ...

'' (1987), Kosai Sōitsu *'' Hoshi no Kinka'' (1995), Shirō Morioka *''Hachidai Shōgun Yoshimune'' (1995), Tokugawa Mitsusada * ''Mōri Motonari'' (1997), Hanshū *''

Sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

'' (2002), James Takero Matsushita

Honours

* Medal with Purple Ribbon (1988) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (1995) *

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

(2011)

References

External links

* 1925 births 2012 deaths Actors from Niigata Prefecture Male actors from Tokyo Deaths from lung cancer in Japan Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class Persons of Cultural Merit {{Japan-screen-actor-stub