(16 September 1895 – 24 April 1984) was a Japanese stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 160 films from 1940 to 1975.
Career
A graduate of Ikubunkan Junior High School, Tokyo, Yanagi gave his stage debut at the Yutakuza theatre in 1913.
After working with the troupes of
Masao Inoue and Hanabishi Kawamura, and moving from
shingeki
was a leading form of theatre in Japan that was based on modern realism. Born in the early years of the 20th century, it sought to be similar to modern Western theatre, putting on the works of the ancient Greek classics, William Shakespeare, Moli ...
to
shinpa
(also rendered ''shimpa'') is a modern form of theater in Japan usually featuring melodramatic stories, contrasted with the more traditional ''kabuki'' style. Taking its start in the 1880s, it later spread to cinema.
Art form
Theatre historians ...
theatre,
he formed the Shinsei Shinpa theatre company with Shōtaro Hanayagi and others in 1938,
in which he was active for the next ten years. He also wrote books on shinpa theatre.
Yanagi was also a busy supporting actor in films in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in works of directors such as
Kenji Mizoguchi
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...
,
Yasujiro Ozu,
Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.
Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...
,
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
and
Heinosuke Gosho
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first successful sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shōshimin-eiga (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his ...
.
He made his final film appearance in 1975
and gave his final stage performance in 1982.
Selected filmography
Notes
References
External links
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*
1895 births
1984 deaths
Japanese male film actors
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class
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