was a Japanese stage and film actor active from 1960 to 1993.「個性光る、名脇役」　 Asahi Shimbun読売新聞1993 March 26 朝刊31面 He is mostly associated with the films of director Nagisa Ōshima.

Biography

Toura was born Mutsuhiro Toura in Osaka, Japan. A graduate of

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

, he worked as an English teacher at a private high school before becoming an actor at the Shochiku studios at Ōshima's recommendation. He left Shochiku together with Ōshima the following year and became a freelance actor who often worked with Ōshima, but also repeatedly with director Kaneto Shindō. Toura died of polyarteritis nodosa in 1993 at the age of 62.

Selected filmography

Film

* ''

The Sun's Burial is a 1960 Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. ''The Sun's Burial'' is known for its elements of Japanese nuberu bagu. ''The Sun's Burial'' depicts people at the bottom of the social pyramid. Isao Sasaki was selected for one of the lead r ...

'' (1960) as Masa * ''

Night and Fog in Japan is a 1960 Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. It is an intensely political film both in subject matter (Zengakuren opposition in 1950 and 1960 to the Anpo treaty) and in thematic concerns such as political memory and the interpersonal dynam ...

'' (1960) as Higashiura * ''

Zatoichi and the Chess Expert is a 1965 Japanese ''chambara'' film directed by Kenji Misumi and starring Shintaro Katsu as the blind masseur Zatoichi. It was originally released by the Daiei Motion Picture Company (later acquired by Kadokawa Pictures). ''Zatoichi and the Ches ...

'' (1965) as crippled yakuza * ''

Violence at Noon , also titled ''Violence at High Noon'', is a 1966 Japanese crime drama film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. Plot After housemaid Shino is attacked and tied up and her employer raped and murdered, it turns out that Shino and the intruder, serial ki ...

'' (1966) as Genji * ''

Japan's Longest Day is a 1967 Japanese war film directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The subject of the majority of the movie is the period between noon on August 14, 1945 and noon on August 15, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito's decision to surrender to the Allies in World W ...

'' (1967) as Shun'ichi Matsumoto * '' Double Suicide: Japanese Summer'' (1967) * ''

Tales of the Ninja (also known as ''Band of Ninja'') is a 1967 Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. It is based on Sanpei Shirato's manga ''Ninja Bugeichō''. Rather than being an animated adaption, Ōshima decided to simply shoot the panels of the manga i ...

'' (1967) (voice) * ''

Diary of a Shinjuku Thief is a 1969 Japanese New Wave film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. Synopsis The film centers around Birdie, a young Japanese book thief who is caught by a store clerk named Umeko. As their encounters grow increasingly fraught with tension and desire ...

'' (1968) as himself * ''

Curse of the Blood is a 1968 Japanese jidaigeki Horror film directed by Kazuo Hase and screenplay by Masashige Narusawa. It stars Masakazu Tamura. Curse of the Blood was adapted from the novel ''Kaidan Kasanegafuchi'' written by Renzaburō Shibata. Plot Source: ...

'' (1968) as Fukaya Shinzaemon * ''

Death by Hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

'' (1968) as medical officer * ''

Kuroneko Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). ''Japanese Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Films''. McFarland & Company. is a 1968 Japanese horror film directed by Kaneto Shindo, and an adaptation of a supernatural folktale. Set during a civil war in feudal ...

'' (1968) as a warlord * '' Yokai Monsters: Along with Ghosts'' (1969) (narrator) * ''

Live Today, Die Tomorrow! is a 1970 Japanese drama film written and directed by Kaneto Shindō. It is based on the true story of spree killer Norio Nagayama. Plot Michio Yamada, a recent school graduate from Hokkaido, is sent to Tokyo to work as a fruit packer in a depar ...

'' (1970) as Gondo * '' The Ceremony'' (1971) as Sakurada Mamoru * ''Stray Cat Rock: Beat '71'' (1971) * ''

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

'' (1971) as interpreter * '' Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41'' (1972) as Ministry of Justice officer * '' Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons'' (1973) as Oribe * '' Bodigaado Kiba: Hissatsu sankaku tobi'' (1973) as Karasaki Gen * '' Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs'' (1974) as Tani * '' Military Comfort Women'' (1974) as Yamagami * ''

The Life of Chikuzan is a 1977 Japanese biographical film directed by Kaneto Shindo based on the life of shamisen player Takahashi Chikuzan. It is a coproduction of Kindai Eiga Kyokai and Chikuzan's company "Jean-Jean". Plot The real Chikuzan appears on a stage in ...

'' (1977) as Hikoichi * ''

Sanada Yukimura no Bōryaku is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Sadao Nakajima. The film deals Sanada Yukimura and Siege of Osaka. Cast *Hiroki Matsukata as Sanada Yukimura * Chiezō Kataoka as Sanada Masayuki * Tatsuo Umemiya as Sanada Nobuyuki *Teruhiko Aoi as Sarutobi ...

'' (1979) as Ono Harunaga * ''

Edo Porn ''Edo Porn'' ( ja, 北斎漫画, Hokusai manga) is a 1981 Japanese biographical drama film written and directed by Kaneto Shindō. It is based on Seiichi Yashiro's stage play on the life of Japanese artist Hokusai. Plot Tetsuzō is an unsucces ...

'' (1981) * ''

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence , also known in many European editions as , is a 1983 war film co-written and directed by Nagisa Ōshima, co-written by Paul Mayersberg, and produced by Jeremy Thomas. The film is based on the experiences of Sir Laurens van der Post (portra ...

'' (1983) as interpreter * ''

Early Spring Story is a 1985 Japanese film directed by Shinichirō Sawai. Plot summary 17-year-old Hitomi Okino's mother died four years ago, and her father has remarried, causing Hitomi to worry that her father is throwing away all memory of her mother. During ...

'' (1985) * ''

Tree Without Leaves is a 1986 Japanese autobiographical film written and directed by Kaneto Shindō. Plot Haru, an aged scriptwriter living alone in a house in the mountains, reminiscences his childhood in Hiroshima Prefecture. The youngest child of four, Haru gro ...

'' (1986) as bailiff * '' Yearning'' (1993)

Television

* '' Akō Rōshi'' (1964) as

Takebayashi Takashige was a Samurai in the early Edo period of Japan. He was involved in the revenge of the Forty-seven ''rōnin'' incident (also known as the Akō incident) as one of the ''rōnin''. Takashige was originally a subordinate of the ''daimyō'' Asano N ...

* '' Taikoki'' (1965) as

Hosokawa Fujitaka , also known as , was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Fujitaka was a prominent retainer of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the last Ashikaga shōgun. When he joined the Oda, Oda Nobunaga rewarded him with the fief of Tango and went o ...

* ''

Ten to Chi to is a 1990 Japanese film, directed by Haruki Kadokawa and starring Takaaki Enoki, Tsugawa Masahiko, Asano Atsuko, Zaizen Naomi and Nomura Hironobu. The film was released in Japan in June 1990, and an English version was released in North Ameri ...

'' (1969) as

Suwa Yorishige (1516–1544) was a Japanese samurai and head of the Suwa clan. He was defeated by Takeda Shingen, and his daughter Suwa Goryōnin (諏訪御料人, real name unknown) was taken as Shingen's concubine. She later gave birth to the Takeda clan heir T ...

* ''

Kunitori Monogatari is a 1973 Japanese television series. It is the eleventh NHK ''taiga'' drama. Plot The series is set in the Sengoku period. Based on Ryōtarō Shiba`s novel of the same name. The story chronicles the lives of Dosan Saito and Nobunaga Oda. Pr ...

'' (1973) as

Shimozuma Rairen (1537 – 1626), famously known as , was a Japanese Shin Buddhist priest within Hongan-ji. He led on the defence of Siege of Ishiyama Hongan-ji between 1570 and 1580. During that time the temple was in conflict from Oda Nobunaga. Rairen pl ...

* ''

Katsu Kaishū Count , best known by his nickname , was a Japanese statesman and naval engineer during the late Tokugawa shogunate and early Meiji period. Kaishū was a nickname which he took from a piece of calligraphy (Kaishū Shooku ) by Sakuma Shōzan. H ...

'' (1974) as

Takano Chōei was a prominent scholar of ''Rangaku'' (western science) during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. Life Chōei was born as Gotō Kyōsai, the third son of Gotō Sōsuke, a middle-ranking samurai in Mizusawa Domain of Mutsu Province in what is now p ...

* ''

Kusa Moeru is a 1979 Japanese television series. It is the 17th NHK taiga drama. Story Kusa Moeru deals with the Kamakura period. Based on Michiko Nagai's novels "Hojo Masako" and "Enkan". The story chronicles the life of Hōjō Masako. Cast Minamot ...

'' as

Minamoto no Yukiie was the brother of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and one of the commanders of the Minamoto forces in the Genpei War at the end of the Heian period of Japanese history. In 1181, he was defeated at the Battle of Sunomatagawa by Taira no Shigehira. After ...

* ''

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fel ...

'' as

Hirate Masahide was a Japanese samurai who served the Oda clan for two generations. His original name was . Life Masahide first served Oda Nobuhide. He was a talented samurai as well as skilled in sado and waka. This helped him to act as a skilled diplom ...

* ''

Unmeitōge is a Japanese jidaigeki or period drama that was broadcast in prime-time in 1974. It is based on Renzaburō Shibata's novel of the same title. The lead star is Masakazu Tamura. Plot Akizuki Rokurōta was born as a child of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but ...

'' (1974) as Yami no Hichibei * ''Miyamoto Musashi'' (1985) as

Sakai Tadatoshi was a Japanese samurai daimyō of the Edo period. He was head of a cadet branch of the Sakai clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Sakai" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', ...

* ''

Sanada Taiheiki is a Japanese television jidaigeki or period drama that was broadcast on NHK in 1985–1986. It is based on Shōtarō Ikenami's novel Sanada Taiheiki. The drama focuses on the history of the Sanada clan during the late Sengoku period. The comple ...

'' (1985-86) as Ninja Nakayama Nagatoshi

References

External links

* * 1937 births 1993 deaths Male actors from Osaka 20th-century Japanese male actors {{Japan-actor-stub