is a Japanese

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. ...

and comedian. He was interested in plays since childhood. After he graduated from Toyotama High School in Japan, he joined a theatrical company and appeared on the stage. Later, he jumped at the opportunity to be an entertainer when he took the gold medal at the audition called "Birth of Comedians". Then, he started garnering roles on Japanese TV. Shows he appeared on include

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

's ''Evil Grandmother'' and

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's ''RinRinto''. He performs in ''Life Never Stops'' by himself at GyanGyan Theater in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

. Furthermore, he has had starring roles in major art-house films, including Ota in Edward Yang's '' Yi Yi'', the title character in

Jun Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He was first a director of television commercials before adding filmmaking to his creative activities. His most famous film outside Japan is '' Tony Takitani'', an adaptation of a short story by Har ...

's '' Tony Takitani'' (an adaptation of the

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for hi ...

short story), the role of Japanese Emperor

Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

in Aleksandr Sokurov's ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

'', and Inoue Masashige in

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

's ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

''.

Filmography

Films

* '' Sorekara'' (1985), Terao * '' Sorobanzuku'' (1986), Hanazuki * '' Tora-san's Bluebird Fantasy'' (1986), Train conductor * '' Tora-san Goes North'' (1987), The doctor * '' Bu Su'' (1987), Kitazaki * '' Tora-san Plays Daddy'' (1987), Police officer * '' Kaisha monogatari: Memories of You'' (1988), Salesman * '' Shaso'' (1989), Hirofumi Takeshita * '' Tora-san Goes to Vienna'' (1989), Travel agency worker * '' Tora-san, My Uncle'' (1989), Old man on the train * '' Future Memories: Last Christmas'' (1992), Mysterious man * '' Yi Yi'' (2000), Ota * '' Tony Takitani'' (2004), Tony Takitani * ''

'' (2005),

* '' The Homeless Student'' (2008), Ichirō Tamura * '' Library War: The Wings of Revolution'' (2012), Kurato Tōma * ''Teacher and Stray Cat'' (2015), Kyoichi Morii * ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

'' (2015), Takao Kinoshita * ''

'' (2016), Inoue Masashige * ''Magic Kimono'' (2017) (

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n and Japan co production) * ''When Will You Return?'' (2017), Tadashi Ashimura * ''The Miracle of Crybaby Shottan'' (2018), Kazuo Kudō * ''The Manga Master'' (2018),

Kitazawa Rakuten , better known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist and '' nihonga'' artist. He drew many editorial cartoons and comic strips during the years from the late Meiji era through the early Shōwa era. He is considered by many historians t ...

* '' Sorokin no mita Sakura'' (2019) * ''Hakai no Hi'' (2020) * '' Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle'' (2021), Yoshimi Taniguchi * '' Deemo: Memorial Keys'' (2022), Nutcracker * '' Phoenix: Reminiscence of Flower'' (2023), Sudarban (voice) * '' The Imaginary'' (2023), Mr. Bunting (voice)

Television

* ''

Dokuganryū Masamune is a 1987 Japanese historical television series. It is the 25th NHK ''taiga'' drama. The broadcast received an average viewer rating of 39.7 percent in the Kanto area with the highest viewing rating of 47.8%. The drama was adapted from the novel ...

'' (1987), Kokubu Morishige * '' Priceless'' (2012), Shū Zaizen * '' Smoking Gun'' (2014), Shigeru Tasaka * ''

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

'' (2017), Yutaka Iemori * ''Sakanoue Animal Clinic Story'' (2018), Zenjirō Tokumaru * '' Manpuku'' (2018), Kazutaka Gōda * '' Idaten'' (2019), Hidejirō Nagata * '' Scarlet'' (2019) * ''Yuganda Hamon'' (2019), Kakiuchi * ''Taiyō no Ko'' (2020) * ''

Reach Beyond the Blue Sky is a Jidaigeki, Japanese historical drama television series starring Ryo Yoshizawa as Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". The series is the 60th NHK taiga drama, premiered on Febru ...

'' (2021), Minomura Rizaemon * ''We're Not "Gaijin"!'' (2021) * ''Taiga Drama ga Umareta Hi'' (2023) * '' What Will You Do, Ieyasu?'' (2023), Torii Tadayoshi * '' Phoenix: Eden17'' (2023), Sudarban (voice) * ''Beyond Goodbye'' (2024), Shinoda

Dubbing

* '' Legend of the Demon Cat'' (2018), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ( Zhang Luyi)

References

* The Japan Times
"Issey Ogata: Comic chameleon" (6 March 2005)
Retrieved on 11 March 2009.

External links

Official website
* Japanese male actors Living people People from Fukuoka Japanese male comedians 1952 births {{Japanese-voice-actor-stub