(3 February 1943 – 1 January 2021) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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. ...

Biography

Fukumoto started acting at age 15 in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, the capital of Japanese

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

. A specialist in film and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

set in the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, he most often played a

rōnin In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...

, but in his hundreds of appearances he took nearly every role. His forte was '' kirareyaku'', the person who loses the sword fight. His signature death move was the Ebi-zori, translated into 'prawn bend'. It is reported he has been killed over 50,000 times on screen. In addition, he appeared in modern dramas in roles such as

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

. The American film ''

The Last Samurai ''The Last Samurai'' is a 2003 American epic period action drama film directed and produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Logan and Marshall Herskovitz from a story devised by Logan. The film stars Tom Cruise, ...

'' brought him before an international audience in the role of the Silent Samurai. Fukumoto played a lead role for the first time in the film '' Uzumasa Limelight''.

Death

Fukumoto died on 1 January 2021, at his home in Kyoto, due to

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

. He was 77 years old.

Filmography

Film

* '' Ninpō-chushingura'' (1965) * ''

Battles Without Honor and Humanity , also known in the West as ''The Yakuza Papers'', is a Japanese yakuza film series produced by Toei Company. Inspired by a series of magazine articles by journalist Kōichi Iiboshi that are based on memoirs originally written by real-life ya ...

'' (1973) * '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima'' (1973) * '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War'' (1973) * '' Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics'' (1974) * '' Gambling Den Heist'' (1975) * '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Head'' (1975) * '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Last Days'' (1976) * '' The Fall of Ako Castle'' (1978) * ''

Nihon no Fixer is a 1979 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. Inspired by Lockheed bribery scandals. Modeling on Kakuei Tanaka and Yoshio Kodama, the film depicts the collusion between Japanese right-wing organizations and the political and business world ...

'' (1979) * '' Sanada Yukimura no Bōryaku'' (1979) * '' Roaring Fire'' (1982) - Ikeda Hinoharu * '' Ninja Wars'' (1982) * '' Shogun's Shadow'' (1989) * '' New Battles Without Honor and Humanity'' (2000) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

Chō Ninja Tai Inazuma! is a Japanese ''tokusatsu'' direct-to-video comedy series produced by Toei Video that was released in June 2006. Its sequel, which began filming on February 23, 2007, is titled , and was released July 21, 2007. The series itself is in the ''jid ...

'' (2006) - Rōnin * '' Engine Sentai Go-onger: Boom Boom! Bang Bang! GekijōBang!!'' (2008) - Samurai * '' OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders'' (2011) - General Black * ''Uzumasa Limelight'' (2014, Leading actor) - Seiichi * ''Gohan'' (2017) - Nishiyama * '' 108: Revenge and Adventure of Goro Kaiba'' (2019) * '' BLACKFOX: Age of the Ninja'' (2019)

Television

* ''

The Yagyu Conspiracy is a Japanese television jidaigeki (period drama) that was broadcast from 1978 to 1979. It is adapted from the 1978 film ''Shogun's Samurai'' starring Sonny Chiba, who reprises his role in the series. Plot After the death of Tokugawa Hidetada, h ...

'' (1978) - Kitano * '' Juuken Sentai Gekiranger'' (33) - Head Samurai * ''

Seibu Keisatsu is a Japanese television drama series produced by and broadcast on TV Asahi. Plot The series portrays the Western Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Division's Sergeant Keisuke Daimon, played by Tetsuya Watari and his subordinates, du ...

'' * ''

The Unfettered Shogun (Abarenbō Shōgun) was a Japanese television program on the TV Asahi network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa ''shōgun''. The program started in 1978 under the title '' ...

V'' - Episode 26

Awards

* Japan Academy Prize Special Award from the Association (2004) *

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

Best Actor Award (2014)

References

External links

*
Actor Makes a Living Getting Killed by Samurai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fukumoto, Seizo 1943 births 2021 deaths Japanese male film actors Male actors from Hyōgo Prefecture 20th-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male actors Japanese male television actors Deaths from lung cancer in Japan