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Kōji Yakusho

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Full Name
  
Koji Hashimoto

Years active
  
1979–present

Role
  
Actor

Children
  
Ichiro Hashimoto

Occupation
  
Actor

Name
  
Koji Yakusho

Spouse
  
Saeko Kawatsu (m. 1982)


Born
  
1 January 1956 (age 68) (
1956-01-01
)
Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan

TV shows
  
Aikotoba wa Yuki, Miyamoto Musashi, Otona no Otoko

Awards
  
Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Movies
  
The World of Kanako, 13 Assassins, Shall We Dance?, The Woodsman and the R, Babel

Similar People
  
Tetsuya Nakashima, Masato Harada, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Koki Mitani, Takashi Miike

Japan cuts 2012 koji yakusho


Kōji Hashimoto (橋本 広司, Hashimoto Kōji, born 1 January 1956), known professionally as Kōji Yakusho (役所 広司, Yakusho Kōji), is a Japanese actor.

Contents

Koji yakusho the woodsman and the rain japan cuts q a july 20 2012 meniscus magazine


Biography

Kōji Yakusho Koji Yakusho Photos Photos Premiere Of Summit Entertainment And

Yakusho was born in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the youngest of five brothers. After graduation from the Nagasaki Prefectural High School of Technology in 1974, he worked at the Chiyoda municipal ward office, or yakusho, in Tokyo, from which he later took his stage name. In 1976, he saw a production of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths and was inspired, first to watch, and then later to take part in, as many plays as possible.

Kōji Yakusho Koji Yakusho Koji Yakusho Pinterest

In the spring of 1978 he auditioned for Tatsuya Nakadai's the Mumeijuku (Studio for Unknown Performers) acting studio, and was one of four chosen out of 800 applicants. While at the school he met actress Saeko Kawatsu, whom he married in 1982. Their son was born in 1985.

In 1983, he landed the role of Oda Nobunaga in the year-long NHK drama Tokugawa Ieyasu and was catapulted to fame. He also appeared in a TV version of Miyamoto Musashi from 1984 to 1985. For several years, he played Kuji Shinnosuke (or "Sengoku"), one of the title characters in the jidaigeki Sambiki ga Kiru!. He played a major character in Juzo Itami's 1986 Tampopo.

Kōji Yakusho Koji Yakusho Zimbio

In 1988, he was given a special award for work in cinema by the Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and continued to appear in films and in a number of TV shows through the '90s.

Kōji Yakusho Kji Yakusho Wikipedia

In 1996 and 1997, Yakusho enjoyed several major successes. The Eel, directed by Shohei Imamura, in which he played the eel-loving lead, won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times called his performance "unerring." A Lost Paradise, about a double-suicide, was second only to Princess Mononoke at the Japanese box office.

International breakthrough: Shall We Dance?

Kōji Yakusho Koji Yakusho Alchetron The Free Social Encyclopedia

Shall We Dance? was a major hit in Japan that inspired a domestic dance craze. Ballroom groups and dance schools multiplied in the country after the film's release, and people who previously would never admit to taking lessons announced that they did with pride. Director Masayuki Suo said of his lead, until that point was known mostly for playing good-looking samurai, "we thought he could play this overworked, tired Japanese businessman, and he did.... [H]e pulled everything off and took his dance training so seriously."

Kōji Yakusho httpsimagesnasslimagesamazoncomimagesMM

The film also was one of Japan's highest-grossing movies outside the country. It earned $9.5 million in the US and inspired a remake starring Jennifer Lopez with Richard Gere playing Yakusho's role.

Yakusho next won the Hochi Film Award for Best Actor for Bounce Ko Gals, a film which dealt with high school prostitution specifically, and money worship in general. He collaborated with horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa in Cure, License to Live, Seance, Charisma, Pulse, Doppelganger, Retribution, and Tokyo Sonata. Yakusho found further recognition with international audiences to some extent with roles in such films as Memoirs of a Geisha and Babel. In the latter, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, he played the father of the deaf-mute played by Rinko Kikuchi.

Further evolution

In 2009, he debuted as director and writer of Toad's Oil. In 2010 and 2011 he was part of both ensemble casts in Takashi Miike's samurai films, 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. The latter was in 3D and the first 3D film to be in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

In the 2011 war drama film Rengō Kantai Shirei Chōkan: Yamamoto Isoroku, Yakusho portrayed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Yakusho was reportedly the only actor considered for the role, and that had he not accepted it, the film would have been canceled.

Dubbing roles

  • Astro Boy – Dr. Tenma
  • Band of Brothers – Richard Winters (Damian Lewis)
  • Over the Hedge – RJ
  • Awards and honors

    Awards
    Honors

    References

    Kōji Yakusho Wikipedia