, born , was a Japanese actor and singer who appeared in over 200 films. Affectionately referred to as "Ken-san" by audiences, he was best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brought to his roles. He won the

Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role The of the Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本ア� ...

four times, tied with

Koji Yakusho , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor. He is known internationally for his starring roles in Shall We Dance? (1996 film), ''Shall We Dance?'' (1996), ''Cure (film), Cure'' (1997), ''13 Assassins (2010 film), 13 Assassins'' (2010), ''T ...

for the most ever. Takakura additionally received the Japanese Medal of Honor with purple ribbon in 1998, the

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

award in 2006, and the

Order of Culture The is a Japanese Order (decoration), order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japanese Art, Japan's art, Japanese Literature, literature, science, technolog ...

in 2013.

Life and career

Takakura was born in

Nakama, Fukuoka 270px, Cherry Blossoms in Habu Park is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 39,366 in 20466 households, and a population density of 2500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .. It is pe ...

in 1931. He attended Tochiku High School in nearby Yahata City, where he was a member of the boxing team and English society. It was around this time that he gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching ''

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 ...

'' movies. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, ''Showa Zankyo-den'' (''Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era''), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gangs. After graduating from

Meiji University is a Private university, private research university in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Originally founded as Meiji Law School () by three lawyers in 1881, it became a university in April 1920. As of May 2023, Meiji has 32,261 undergradu ...

in Tokyo, Takakura attended an audition on impulse in 1955 at the Toei Film Company while applying for a managerial position. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with ''Denko Karate Uchi'' (''Lightning Karate Blow'') in 1956. In 1959 he married singer

Chiemi Eri was a Japanese singer and actress. Eri was born as on January 11, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She was born to a musician father and a mother who was a singer, thus encouraging her musical career. She started her singing career at the age of 14 with ...

, but divorced in 1971. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film ''

Abashiri Prison is a prison in Abashiri, Hokkaido Prefecture that opened in 1890. The northernmost prison in Japan, it is located near the Abashiri River and east of Mount Tento. It holds inmates with sentences of less than ten years. Older parts of the pris ...

'', and its sequel ''Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen'' (''Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home'', also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura left Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films. He gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film '' Too Late the Hero'' as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1974

Sydney Pollack Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Pollack is known for directing commercially and critically acclaimed studio films. Over his forty year career he received numerous accolades ...

sleeper hit ''

The Yakuza is a 1974 neo-noir crime drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader. ...

'' with

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Holl ...

, and is probably best known in the West for his role in

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's ''

Black Rain Black rain is liquid precipitation polluted with dark particulates, especially soot and ashes (including coal ash) resulting from wildfires, coal combustion, or nuclear explosions (a liquid type of nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is res ...

'' (1989). He again appeared to Western audiences with the 1992

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ;Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline (1984). ''Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include ''The Cha ...

comedy ''

Mr. Baseball ''Mr. Baseball'' is a 1992 American sports comedy film directed by Fred Schepisi, starring Tom Selleck, Ken Takakura, Dennis Haysbert, and Aya Takanashi. It depicts a tumultuous season in the career of veteran New York Yankees first baseman ...

'' starring

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations fo ...

. Takakura was one of the few Japanese actors who experienced popularity in China, due to his appearance in

Junya Satō was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His son, , is also a film director. Career Born in Tokyo, Satō graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1956 with a degree in French literature. He joined the Toei Company, Toei studio and worke ...

's 1976 crime drama ''

Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa o Watare is a 1976 Japanese crime thriller film directed and co-written by Junya Satō. It is based on the novel of the same name by Juko Nishimura, and stars Ken Takakura in the leading role. While ''Manhunt'' received unfavorable critical reviews and ...

'' (known in some territories as ''Manhunt''), the first foreign film shown after the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. He also starred as the titular assassin in Junya Satō's ''

Golgo 13 is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Big Comic'' since October 1968. The series follows the title character, a professional assassin for hire. ''Golgo 13'' is ...

'' (1973), a Japanese–Iranian production and the first live-action adaptation of the Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series ''

''. He appeared in three films since 2000: in May 2001, ''

Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles ''Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles'' (, ) is a 2005 drama film directed by Zhang Yimou and Yasuo Furuhata, and starring Ken Takakura. It premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival on 22 October 2005 and was released in China on 22 Dec ...

'', by

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

director

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 14 November 1950) is a Chinese filmmaker.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008. A leading figure of China's Cinem ...

, in late December 2005, and

Yasuo Furuhata was a Japanese film director. He was a director of Toei film company and he often worked with Ken Takakura in such films as ''Station (1981 film), Eki'' and ''Shin Abashiri Bangaichi''. He won the 2000 Japan Academy Prize for Director of the Yea ...

's ''

Anata e ''Anata e'' (, ''To You'') is a 2012 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. Plot The story follows the journey of a man traveling some 1000 kilometers from Toyama City, Japan to his wife's hometown in Nagasaki Prefecture, in order to scatter h ...

'' (''Dearest'') in late August 2012, after a six-year hiatus. He died of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

on November 10, 2014.

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the Far-right politics, radical right Sunrise Party, later merged with Toru Hashimoto's Japan ...

described him as "the last big star (in Japan)." A huge number of Chinese internet users expressed their sympathies and condolences, including many celebrities in the Chinese movie industry. The spokesman of China's

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Hong Lei said that Takakura made significant contributions to the cultural exchange between China and Japan. A documentary based on Takakura's life entitled ''Ken San'' premiered at the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival took place from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian filmmaker George Miller (filmmaker), George Miller was the president of the jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and ...

and was released in Japanese theaters on August 20, 2016. It was directed by photographer Yuichi Hibi and features interviews with filmmakers and actors such as

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 ...

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the ...

John Woo John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...

, and

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy ('' The Twilight Samurai'', '' The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography Yamada was born in Osaka, but due to his father' ...

Filmography

Honours

Tasuku Honjo Susumu Nakanishi Ikuta Takagi Shinzo Abe Shunichi Iwasaki and Goichi Oda 20131103

:*1978 – as Yusaku Shima, in The Yellow Handkerchief :*1981 – as Kōsaku Tajima, in

A Distant Cry from Spring is a 1980 Japanese film directed by Yoji Yamada. Cast *Ken Takakura as Kōsaku Tajima * Chieko Baisho as Tamiko Kazami *Hidetaka Yoshioka as Takeshi Kazami *Tetsuya Takeda *Hajime Hana * Masanori Hata *Mizuho Suzuki * Tappie Shimokawa *Kiyoshi A ...

:*1982 – as Eiji Mikami, in

Station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

:*1999 – as Otomatsu Satō, in

Poppoya is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Yasuo Furuhata. It was Japan's submission to the 72nd Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee. It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy ...

* Japan Academy Prize for Special Award of Honour from the Association :*2013 *

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan, established in 1950 by , established under the name of the "Association of Tokyo Film Journalists Award", which was formed mainly by film reporters from th ...

:*1977 – as Yusaku Shima, in The Yellow Handkerchief :*1999 – as Otomatsu Satō, in

* Japanese Medal of Honor (Purple Ribbon) (1998) *

(2006) *

(2013) *

Junior Third Rank The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese language, Japanese as ''ikai'' (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the Nation, state. ''Ikai'' as a system was the indication of the rank of burea ...

(2014; posthumous)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Takakura, Ken 1931 births 2014 deaths People from Nakama, Fukuoka Japanese male film actors Male actors from Fukuoka Prefecture Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Persons of Cultural Merit Recipients of the Order of Culture Meiji University alumni Singers from Fukuoka Prefecture Deaths from lymphoma in Japan