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Tadanobu Asano's a Japanese film actor. His father suggested he take on what became his first role in the TV show Kimpachi Sensei at 16. His film debut was Swimming Upstream (1990) though his first major critical success was in Shunji Iwai's Fried Dragon Fish (1993). His first critical success in the West was in Kore-eda Hirokazu's Maborosi (1995), in which he played a man who inexplicably throws himself in front of a train, widowing his wife & orphaning his infant son. His best known works internationally are the samurai films Taboo (1999) & The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003). It was on the set of Iwai's Picnic (1996) that he met & fell in love with J-Pop idol Chara. They married soon after learning she was pregnant with their first child, Sumire. While best known for characters who are psychologically offbeat, if not downright psychotic (e.g. Kakihara in Ichi the Killer (2001)), he has been described by those who know him as a down-to-earth family man. He has directed commercial TV spots for Chara. Hesistant to identify himself as an actor, he most readily describes himself as a vocalist, referring to Mach 1.67, the band he has w/ director Gakuryû Ishii. He's also an artist & sometimes works as a model, most notably for the Japanese designers Takeo Kikuchi & Jun Takahashi.- Masanobu Andô was born on 19 May 1975 in Kanagawa, Japan. He is an actor, known for Battle Royale (2000), Kids Return (1996) and Sukiyaki Western Django (2007). He has been married to unknown since 2014. They have one child.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Takayuki Yamada was born on October 20, 1983. He first started out co-starring in a handful of dramas before making a big splash on Waterboys (2003). He followed up with Fireboys (2004), his award winning performance in Sekai no chûshin de, ai wo sakebu (2004), Churasan 3, H2 and legendary independent master piece The Rakugo Movie (2012). His remarkable acting makes sets him apart among the younger generation of Japanese actors.- The uniquely beautiful and talented Ryuhei Matsuda was born May 9, 1983, in Tokyo, to Miyuki Matsuda and Yûsaku Matsuda. Six years later, Ryuhei's life took a tragic turn when his father died from bladder cancer at the age of 40. Ryuhei and his mother persevered, and unlike most offspring of famous actors, he didn't give much thought to acting as a child. Nine years later, at the age of 15, that would all change when Ryuhei was approached by Nagisa Oshima with a life changing offer: to take on the prominent role as the androgynous youth, Samurai Sozaburo Kano in the controversial Gohatto. Ryuhei took the role head on, preparing himself emotionally and physically by practicing ken do for two months straight. His film debut was a success, and acted on par with the likes of Takeshi Kitano and Tadanobu Asano. For his hard work, Ryuhei was rewarded with critical acclaim and numerous awards. Shortly thereafter, he dropped out of high school to fully devote his time and efforts on his burgeoning film career, and with much success. Lightning would strike again for Ryuhei in 2001, in the dark, thought provoking high school drama, Blue Spring, directed by Toshiaki Toyoda. Such as with his debut, Ryuhei received yet more acclaim and this time, more widespread recognition for his role as the laid back, brutal, yet introspective high school gang leader, Kujo. The film roles kept coming, such as the 2003 reunion with writer director Toshiaki Toyoda in the acclaimed film 9 Souls, and a bit part in the flashy, comedic anime-to-film live action adaptation of Cutie Honey in the following year. Ryuhei's trend of working with some of Japan's most talented actors and directors continued in 2004 and in 2005 in the violent Takashi Miike action film, Izo, co-starring Takeshi Kitano and the upcoming Ranpo jigoku, co-starring Tadanobu Asano. With his charisma, talent, and ability to take on roles varying from the comedic, outrageous, moving, and controversial, the sky's the limit for this young man.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Takeshi Kitano originally studied to become an engineer, but was thrown out of school for rebellious behavior. He learned comedy, singing and dancing from famed comedian Senzaburô Fukami. Working as a lift boy on a nightclub with such features as comic sketches and striptease dancing, Kitano saw his chance when a comedian suddenly fell ill, and he went on stage in the man's place. With a friend he formed the comic duo "The Two Beat" (his artist's name, "Beat Takeshi", comes from this period), which became very popular on Japanese television.
Kitano soon embarked on an acting career, and when the director of Violent Cop (1989) (aka "Violent Cop") fell ill, he took over that function as well. Immediately after that film was finished he set out to make a second gangster movie, Boiling Point (1990). Just after finishing Getting Any? (1994), Kitano was involved in a serious motorcycle accident that almost killed him. It changed his way of life, and he became an active painter. This change can be seen in his later films, which are characterized by his giving more importance to the aesthetics of the film, such as in Fireworks (1997) and Kikujiro (1999).- Susumu Terajima is a Japanese actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Yakuza figures, most notably in the films of Takeshi Kitano. He is normally cast in supporting roles.
Terajima was born in Tokyo, Japan, where he still resides. He made his acting debut in 1986's A-Homance, and has been steadily furthering his career ever since. Terajima is part of Office Kitano, the former production / management company of Takeshi Kitano. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Ryo Kase was born on November 9, 1974, in Kanagawa, Japan.
Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Washington, United States, where he spent most of his childhood.
Kase began his acting career in 2000 and gained his first starring role in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's Antena (2003). He then went on to work with several internationally-renowned Japanese film directors, including Takeshi Kitano, Kore-eda Hirokazu, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. His first appearance in an international film was Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). He continued to appear in several high-profile international films including Gus Van Sant's Restless (2011), Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone in Love (2012), Hong Sang-soo's Hill of Freedom (2014), and Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016).
He is a recipient of multiple awards, including a nomination for Japan Academy Award, Blue Ribbon Award, and Hochi Film Award.- An actor's actor whose versatility allows him to deftly assume a wide range of characters, Shiina's first true breakthrough performance was in the 1993 film Nûdo no yoru (1993) opposite 'Jinpachi Netzu'. His portrayal of a young yakuza enamored with his boss led to a Best New Actor Award at the 9th Takasaki Film Festival. Since then Shiina has kept busy with regular roles in television dramas, further filling out his burgeoning filmography with lead film roles and the infrequent return to his roots in live theater.
Shiina has largely managed to keep his private life private, which is quite a feat in a country with particularly overzealous paparazzi. The actor declines to talk much about himself in interviews, citing that his personal life is largely irrelevant for audiences that should be occupied with his characters instead. According to an interview with Yomiuri Shinbun, however, we do know that he was once quite the soccer player, with presumably enough talent to match his aspirations to play in Japan's professional league. When he attended Aoyama Gakuin University, though, he fell in love with acting and that was that. Also, according to the folks at his artist management firm, Humanite, he's talented in the boxing ring.
For those who do want little smidgens of insight from the usually private actor, he does have his own personal homepage (www.kippei.net). It is pretty bare bones and unpolished, with only occasional notes from the man himself, but these days it's fun to see a website that's not overproduced or pretentious. - Actress
- Writer
- Producer
One goes to Atsugi to see the American war machine at work or see where one of Japan's leading pop singers was born. Born in Kanagawa just south of Tokyo in 1966, Koizumi Kyoko participated in and won the Staa Tanjo! ('A Star Is Born') television talent program in 1981 and subsequently released her first single in March of 1982. She shaved her hair at age 17 in 1984 in order to portray a different image than the other pop idols and defy her agent at Burning Production. She landed a number 1 hit in the Japanese charts in 1984 and quickly became a Japanese idol at age eighteen. She appeared on the annual New Year's Eve variety show Kohaku Uta Gassen in 1984. She ruled the Japanese charts for the next ten years. She introduced the JD Salinger novel Catcher In The Rye on the radio, which made the novel better-known in Japan. Ironically, she later admitted to having not read the book at the time. She also had her own radio show. She married character actor Nagase Masatoshi in 1995 and divorced in 2004. They had met at the magazine AnAn where she was a staff photographer. Kyoko shifted her focus to acting and was in films like Onmyoji in 2001, Tokyo Tower and the superlative Tenten both in 2007 and Tokyo Sonata in 2008 among others. She returned to the small screen to work with Kurosawa Kiyoshi of Tokyo Sonata on the Penance serial in 2012. She participated in the Yell From Nippon charity group to buy soccer balls for Eritrean children in 2006. She was romantically connected to Kazuya Kamenashi of the group KAT-TUN, who was half her age, in 2006. Koizumi and her two-decade long friends of Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra performed a cover version of Makana Tayou ('Red Sun') by Misora Hibari in 2011. She won the award for Best Actress at the 66th Mainichi Film Awards for Mainichi Kaasan. She was back in the top ten of the Japanese charts when Shiosai No Memori ('Memories By The Waterside') from the NHK serial Amachan, in which she also acted, in 2013. She was dating actor Toyohara Kosuke, who was still married but separated, as of 2015. Like all celebrities she has pushed products like Shiseido, Lotte, JR, Suzuki and Kirin beer. She is self-managed.- Shinji Takeda was born on 18 December 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. He is an actor, known for Taboo (1999), Pulse (2001) and Gourmet Detective Goro Akechi (2020).
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Debut as an actor in Japanese TV series "The Kindaichi Case Files" (1995). Gained success with the performance in "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" (2000). Awarded Japan Academy Prize for both Best Newcomer and Best Actor in 2001, youngest ever at the time. First Hollywood film appearance in Martin Scorsese's "Silence" and played a role as "Kichijiro" which was one of the key character of the story. In 2019 co-starred in BBC/Netflix series "Giri/Haji" which was filmed in in both Japan and UK. In 2023, made appearance in Japan-Korea produced film "Knuckle Girl" and "Tokyo Vice - Season 2" airing on MAX from February 2024.
Many appearances in both domestic and International films as well as many more to be released. Critically acclaimed stage performance for theater director Yukio Ninagawa and Toshiaki Toyoda. Well-known for his multiple talent as a Fashion Model and Writer. Also known to produces his own YouTube Channel and Golf Apparel brand.