was a Japanese

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

and film

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Career

Sawamura, whose original name was Yūichi Katō, was born in Tokyo to the kabuki actor Denzō Takeshiba. He studied acting under Sōjūrō Sawamura VII before taking the stage name Kunitarō Sawamura IV in 1926, appearing mostly as an

onnagata , also , are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. It originated in 1629 after women were banned from performing in kabuki performances. There are many specific techniques that actors must learn to master the role of ''onnagata'' ...

. He began his movie career at the film studio Makino Productions in 1929, and later moved to

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

, working most of the time in

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

. After the war, he mainly worked as a

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

Family

Both Sawamura's own family and that of his wife were active in the film industry. Sawamura's younger brother and sister were the actors

Daisuke Katō was a Japanese actor. He appeared in over 200 films, including Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', ''Rashomon'', ''Yojimbo'', and ''Ikiru''. He also worked repeatedly for noted directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi. ...

and

Sadako Sawamura was a Japanese stage and film actress who appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1976. Biography Sawamura was born Sadako Katō in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. After dropping out of Japan Women's University, she was active in left-w ...

. He married Tomoko Makino, the daughter of Shozo Makino, a film director and the head of Makino Productions. His brothers in law were thus the film directors

Sadatsugu Matsuda (まつださだつぐ) (2 November 1906 – 20 January 2003, Tokyo, Japan) was a Japanese film director. He directed films from 1925 to 1969. His name is also incorrectly spelled as Sadaji Matsuda. He was the son of producer and directo ...

(1906–2003),

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza film, yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). ...

(1908–1993), and Shinzō Makino, as well as the producer Mitsuo Makino. Masahiro married the actress

Yukiko Todoroki Yukiko Todoroki ( ''Todoroki Yukiko''; September 11, 1917 – May 11, 1967) was a Japanese people, Japanese actress. Her real name was Tsuruko Nishiyama. She participated in the Takarazuka Revue. At Takarazuka, she was known not by her real name ...

and their son—and thus Sawamura's nephew— Masayuki Makino, is the head of the Okinawa Actor's School. Sawamura fathered the actors

Masahiko Tsugawa , born Masahiko Katō (加藤雅彦 ''Katō Masahiko''; January 2, 1940 – August 4, 2018) was a Japanese actor and director. Career Tsugawa was born January 2, 1940, in Kyoto, Japan. After acting as a child, he made his major debut at 16 in t ...

and

Hiroyuki Nagato , stage name of Akio Kato (加藤晃夫), was a Japanese actor. He starred in ''Season of the Sun'', '' Endless Desire'', '' My Second Brother'', '' Stolen Desire'', and ''Sukeban Deka'', and ''Yo-Yo Girl Cop''. Life and career Nagato was born ...

, both of whom married famous actresses,

Yukiji Asaoka was a Japanese singer and an actress from Chūō, Tokyo. She was the daughter of a famous Japanese painter of shin hanga style woodblock printing, prints, Shinsui Itō, and her second husband was actor Masahiko Tsugawa. Asaoka was in the Takara ...

and

Yōko Minamida was a Japanese actress. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in November 2008, and a television documentary was made about her condition and the efforts of her husband, actor Hiroyuki Nagato, to care for her. She died in Tokyo. Selec ...

respectively.

Selected filmography

*''

The Million Ryo Pot ''The Million Ryo Pot'' (also known as ) is a 1935 Japanese jidaigeki comedy film directed by Sadao Yamanaka. The plot revolves around a pot, which contains the map to a treasure worth a million ryō, that is lost by its owner and comes into the ...

'' (1935) *'' Gate of Hell'' (1953) *''

Ghost of Saga Mansion is a 1953 Japanese horror film directed by Ryohei Arai. It was filmed in Black and White, in academy ratio format (full screen). It was never dubbed in English, nor shown in the United States theatrically. Cast * Kōtarō Bandō * Kunitarō ...

'' (1953) *''

Rokunin no ansatsusha is a 1955 black-and-white Japanese film drama directed by Eisuke Takizawa. The film won 1956 Blue Ribbon Awards for best screenplay by Ryūzō Kikushima.Shin Heike Monogatari'' (1955)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sawamura, Kunitaro Japanese male stage actors Japanese male silent film actors Makino family Sawamura family 1905 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Japanese male actors Kabuki actors Kinokuniya Male actors from Tokyo People from Taitō