Koji Yakusho
Koji Yakusho | |
|---|---|
 Kōji Yakusho at the 10th Deauville Asian Film Festival in 2008 | |
| Born | Kōji Hashimoto 1 January 1956 Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse | Saeko Kawatsu (1982–present) |
Kōji Yakusho (役所 広司, Yakusho Kōji, born 1 January 1956 in Isahaya, Nagasaki) is a Japanese actor.[1]
Biography
He was born Kōji Hashimoto (橋本 広司, Hashimoto Kōji)[2] 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.[2]
In the spring of 1978 he auditioned for the Mumeijyuku (Studio for Unknown Performers) acting studio, and was one of four chosen out of 800 applicants.[2] 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.[2]
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.[2]
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.[3] Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times called his performance "unerring."[4] A Lost Paradise, about a double-suicide, was second only to Princess Mononoke at the Japanese box office.
International breakthrough: Shall We Dance?
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, Western style social dancing being taboo, announced that they did with pride.[5] 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."[5]
The film also was one of Japan's highest-grossing movies outside the country.[5][2] It earned $9.5 million in the US and inspired a remake starring Jennifer Lopez with Richard Gere playing Yakusho's role.[6]
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,[2] License to Live,[7] Charisma,[2] Pulse,[8] Doppelganger,[9] Retribution,[10] and Tokyo Sonata.[11] 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.[12]
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.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Hunter in the Dark | Kuwano | |
| The Last Game | |||
| 1980 | Twelve Months | Young soldier | Voice |
| 1981 | Willful Murder | Journalist | |
| 1982 | Onimasa | ||
| Eternal Monument | Otaka | ||
| The Legend of Sayo | Hatsutaro | ||
| 1985 | Tampopo | Man in White Suit | |
| 1987 | The Great Department Store Robbery | Cello player | |
| 1988 | Another Way: D-Kikan Joho | Naoto Sekiya | |
| 1990 | Under Aurora | Genzo Tamiya | |
| 1993 | Gurenbana | Kenzo Nakada | |
| Drug Connection | Ryosuke Kano | ||
| 1994 | Osaka Gokudo Senso: Shinoidare | Ippei Yoshikawa | |
| 1995 | Kamikaze Taxi | Kantake | |
| 1996 | Shall We Dance? | Shohei Sugiyama | |
| Sleeping Man | Kamimura | ||
| Shabu gokudo | Makabe | ||
| 1997 | A Lost Paradise | Shoichiro Kuki | |
| The Eel | Takuro Yamashita | ||
| Bounce Ko Gals | Oshima | ||
| Cure | Kenichi Takabe | ||
| 1998 | Bonds | Takaaki Ise/Tetsuro Haga | |
| Tadon to chikuwa | Kida | ||
| 1999 | License to Live | Fujimori | Asia Pacific Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Charisma | Goro Yabuike | ||
| Spellbound | Hiroshi Kitano | ||
| 2000 | Swing Man | ||
| Dora-heita | Koheita Mochizuki, aka Dora-heita | ||
| Eureka | Makoto Sawai | ||
| Seance | Sato | ||
| 2001 | Pulse | Ship captain | |
| Warm Water Under a Red Bridge | Yosuke Sasano | ||
| 2002 | The Choice of Hercules | Atsuyuki Sassa | |
| 2003 | Doppelganger | Michio Hayasaki | |
| Fireflies: River of Light | Mr. Takiguchi | ||
| 2004 | The Hunter and the Hunted | Detective Jin | |
| Tōkyō genpatsu | The Governor of Tokyo | ||
| Lakeside Murder Case | Shunsuke Namiki | ||
| University of Laughs | Mutsuo Sakisaka | ||
| 2005 | Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean | Masami Shin'ichi | |
| Memoirs of a Geisha | Nobu | ||
| 2006 | The Uchōten Hotel | Heikichi Shindo | |
| Babel | Yasujiro Wataya | ||
| Retribution | Noboru Yoshioka | ||
| 2007 | I Just Didn't Do It | Masayoshi Arakawa | |
| Argentine Baba | Satoru Wakui | ||
| Kokoro | |||
| Silk | Hara Jubei | ||
| Walking My Life | Yukihiro Fujiyama | ||
| 2008 | Paco and the Magical Book | Onuki | |
| Tokyo Sonata | The Robber | ||
| 2009 | Mt. Tsurugidake | Morisaku Furuta | |
| Gelatin Silver Love | Client | ||
| Toad's Oil | Takuro Yazawa | Also director and writer | |
| 2010 | 13 Assassins | Shinzaemon Shimada | Nominated–Asian Film Award for Best Actor |
| The Last Ronin | Magozaemon Senoo | ||
| 2011 | Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai | Kageyu Saito | |
| Rengo Kantai Shirei Chōkan: Yamamoto Isoroku | Isoroku Yamamoto | ||
| 2012 | Waga Haha no Ki | ||
| Kitsutsuki to Ame | Katsuhiko | ||
| A Terminal Trust | Shinzo Egi |
References
- ^ "Yakusho Kōji", Nihon jinmei daijiten+Plus, Kōdansha, retrieved 13 February 2012
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Koji Yakusho". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Eel". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ "The Eel:Passion That Seethes Under the Surface". New York Times. 1998-08-21. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
- ^ a b c "Masayuki Suo's Whole Wide Whirl". San Francisco Chronicle. 1997-07-13.
- ^ "Shall We Dance?". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
- ^ Mes, Tom (August 15, 2001). "License to Live". Midnight Eye.
- ^ Kipp, Jeremiah (June 20, 2005). "Pulse". Slant Magazine.
- ^ Mes, Tom (April 15, 2004). "Midnight Eye review: Doppelgänger". Midnight Eye.
- ^ Bourne, Christopher (January 27, 2012). "Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Retribution"". Meniscus.
- ^ Rafferty, Terrence (March 6, 2009). "This Time, the Horror's in the Normality". The New York Times.
- ^ "Review: Babel". LA Weekly. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
External links
- Official website
- Koji Yakusho at IMDb
- Koji Yakusho at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
- Profile on All Movie Guide
- Profile at Japan Zone
- The Film of '97 at Japan File
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