Tatsuya Nakadai

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Tatsuya Nakadai
仲代 達矢
Nakadai in 2009
Born
Motohisa Nakadai (仲代 元久)

(1932-12-13) December 13, 1932 (age 91)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationActor
Years active1952–present

Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代 達矢, Nakadai Tatsuya, born Motohisa Nakadai; December 13, 1932) is a Japanese film actor.[1]

He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including The Human Condition trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus Harakiri, Samurai Rebellion and Kwaidan.

Nakadai worked with some of Japan's best-known filmmakers—starring or co-starring in five films directed by Akira Kurosawa, as well as being cast in significant films directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and The Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shirō Toyoda (Portrait of Hell) and Kon Ichikawa (Enjō and Odd Obsession).

Biography[edit]

Nakadai grew up in a very poor family and was unable to afford a university education, prompting him to take up acting. He picked up a liking of Broadway musicals, and travelled once a year to New York City to watch them[citation needed]. Nakadai was working as a shop clerk in Tokyo before a chance encounter with director Masaki Kobayashi led to him being cast in the film The Thick Walled Room. The following year, he made a brief and uncredited cameo in Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai where he is seen for a few seconds as a samurai walking through town.[2] Nakadai's role in Seven Samurai was technically his debut as The Thick-Walled Room's release was delayed for three years due to controversial subject matter. His major breakthrough as an actor came when he was given the part of Jo, a young yakuza in Black River, another film directed by Kobayashi. Nakadai continued to work with Kobayashi into the 1960s and won his first Blue Ribbon Award for his role in Harakiri (his personal favorite among his own films) as the aging rōnin Hanshiro Tsugumo.

Nakadai appeared in two more Kurosawa films from the 1980s. In Kagemusha Nakadai plays both the titular thief turned body-double and the famous daimyō Takeda Shingen whom the thief is tasked with impersonating. This dual role helped him win his second Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor. In Ran Nakadai plays another daimyo, Hidetora Ichimonji (loosely based on King Lear from Shakespeare's play King Lear and inspired by the historical daimyo Mōri Motonari).

He taught and trained promising young actors including Kōji Yakusho, Mayumi Wakamura, Tōru Masuoka, Azusa Watanabe, Kenichi Takitō and others.[3]

In 2015, he received the Order of Culture.[4][5]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Director Notes Ref.
1953 The Thick-Walled Room Prisoner Masaki Kobayashi Released 1956; uncredited
1954 Seven Samurai Samurai Wandering Through Town Akira Kurosawa Uncredited
1956 Hi no tori Keiichi Naganuma Umetsugu Inoue
Hadashi no Seishun Yūji Wada Senkichi Taniguchi
Sazae-san Norisuke Namino Nobuo Aoyagi
Oshidori no Ma Andō Keigo Kimura
1957 Black River Joe Masaki Kobayashi
Oban Shin-don Yasuki Chiba
Untamed Kimura Mikio Naruse
Hikage no Musume Motohashi Shūe Matsubayashi
Zoku Oban: Fuun hen Shin-don Yasuki Chiba
A Dangerous Hero (Kiken na eiyu) Imamura Hideo Suzuki
Zokuzoku Oban: Dotou hen Shin-don Yasuki Chiba
Sazae's Youth (Sazae-san no seishun) Norisuke Namino Nobuo Aoyagi
1958 A Boy and Three Mothers Kensaku Seiji Hisamatsu
All About Marriage (Kekkon no subete) Akira Nakayama Kihachi Okamoto
Go and Get It (Buttsuke honban) Hara Kozo Saeki
Enjō Togari Kon Ichikawa
Naked Sun Jirō Maeda Miyoji Ieki
1959 The Human Condition: No Greater Love Kaji Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
Odd Obsession Kimura Kon Ichikawa
The Human Condition: Road to Eternity Kaji Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
Yaju shisubeshi Kunihiko Date Eizo Sugawa Lead role
Three Dolls in Ginza (Ginza no onéchan) Kyōsuke Tamura Toshio Sugie
An'ya Kōro Kaname Shirō Toyoda
1960 When a Woman Ascends the Stairs Kenichi Komatsu Mikio Naruse
Daughters, Wives, and a Mother (Musume tsuma haha) Shingo Kuroki Mikio Naruse
The Blue Beast (Aoi yaju) Yasuhiko Kuroki Hiromichi Horikawa
Get 'em All ("Minagoroshi no uta" yori kenju-yo saraba!) Tsubota Eizō Sugawa
1961 As a Wife, As a Woman (Tsuma to shite onna to shite) Minami Mikio Naruse
Yojimbo Unosuke Akira Kurosawa
The Human Condition: A Soldier's Prayer Kaji Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
Kumo ga chigieru toki James Kimura Heinosuke Gosho
Immortal Love Heibei Keisuke Kinoshita
1962 Sanjuro Muroto Hanbei Akira Kurosawa
Love Under the Crucifix (Oginsama) Takayama Ukon Kinuyo Tanaka Lead role
The Inheritance (Karami-ai) Kikuo Furukawa Masaki Kobayashi
Harakiri Tsugumo Hanshirō Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
Madame Aki Uojirō Tatsumi Shirō Toyoda
1963 High and Low Chief Detective Tokura Akira Kurosawa
Pressure of Guilt (Shiro to kuro) Ichirō Hamano Hiromichi Horikawa Lead role
Legacy of the 500,000 Mitsuru Gunji Toshiro Mifune
Miren Ryōta Kinoshita Yasuki Chiba
A Woman's Life (Onna no rekishi) Takashi Akimoto Mikio Naruse
1964 Arijigoku sakusen Ishiki Takashi Tsuboshima Lead role
Kwaidan Minokichi Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
1965 Saigo no shinpan Jirō Hiromichi Horikawa Lead role
Fort Graveyard (Chi to suna) Sakuma Kihachi Okamoto
Illusion of Blood Iemon Shirō Toyoda Lead role
1966 Cash Calls Hell (Gohiki no shinshi) Oida Hideo Gosha Lead role
The Sword of Doom Ryunosuke Tsukue Kihachi Okamoto Lead role [6]
The Face of Another Mr. Okuyama Hiroshi Teshigahara Lead role
The Daphne (Jinchoge) Professor Kanahira Yasuki Chiba
1967 The Age of Assassins (Satsujin kyo jidai) Shinji Kikyo Kihachi Okamoto Lead role
Kojiro Miyamoto Musashi Hiroshi Inagaki
Samurai Rebellion Asano Tatewaki Masaki Kobayashi
Japan's Longest Day Narrator Kihachi Okamoto
1968 Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die! James Elfego Tonino Cervi
Kill! Genta Kihachi Okamoto Lead role
Admiral Yamamoto Narrator Seiji Maruyama [7]
The Human Bullet Narrator Kihachi Okamoto
1969 Goyokin Magobei Hideo Gosha Lead role
Eiko's 5000 Kilograms (Eiko e no 5,000 kiro) Takeuchi Koreyoshi Kurahara
Battle of the Japan Sea Akashi Motojiro Seiji Maruyama
Hitokiri Takechi Hanpeita Hideo Gosha
Blood End (Tengu-to) Sentarō Satsuo Yamamoto Lead role
Portrait of Hell Yoshihide Shirō Toyoda Lead role
1970 Duel at Ezo (Ezo yakata no ketto) Daizennokami Honjo Kengo Furusawa
Bakumatsu Nakaoka Shintarō Daisuke Itō
The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan Kataoka Naojirō Masahiro Shinoda
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival Ronin Kenji Misumi
Will to Conquer (Tenka no abarembo) Yoshida Tōyō Seiji Maruyama
1971 Inn of Evil (Inochi boni furo) Sadashichi Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
Battle of Okinawa Colonel Hiromichi Yahara Kihachi Okamoto Lead role
The Wolves (Shussho Iwai) Seji Iwahashi Hideo Gosha Lead role
1973 Osho Sekine Hiromichi Horikawa
The Human Revolution Nichiren Toshio Masuda
Rise, Fair Sun Sakuzo Kei Kumai Lead role
1974 Karei-naru Ichizoku Teppei Manpyō Satsuo Yamamoto Lead role
1975 The Gate of Youth (Seishun no mon) Jūzō Ibuki Kirio Urayama
Tokkan Hijikata Toshizō Kihachi Okamoto
I Am a Cat (Wagahai wa neko de aru) Kushami Chin'no Kon Ichikawa Lead role
Kinkanshoku Yasuo Hoshino Satsuo Yamamoto Lead role
1976 Banka Setsuo Katsuragi Yoshisuke Kawasaki
Zoku ningen kakumei Nichiren Toshio Masuda
Fumō Chitai Tadashi Iki Satsuo Yamamoto Lead role
1977 Sugata Sanshiro Shōgorō Yano Kihachi Okamoto
1978 Blue Christmas Minami Kihachi Okamoto
Rhyme of Vengeance (Jo-oh-bachi) Ginzo Daidoji Kon Ichikawa
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron Kumokiri Nizaemon Hideo Gosha Lead role
Hi no Tori (Hi no tori) Ninigi Kon Ichikawa
1979 Hunter in the Dark (Yami no karyudo) Gomyo Kiyoemon Hideo Gosha Lead role
1980 Kagemusha Takeda Shingen / Kagemusha Akira Kurosawa Lead role
The Battle of Port Arthur (also known as 203 kochi) General Nogi Maresuke Toshio Masuda Lead role [8]
1981 Willful Murder Yashiro Kei Kumai Lead role
1982 Onimasa Masagoro Kiryuin Hideo Gosha Lead role
1984 Fireflies in the North Takeshi Tsukigata Hideo Gosha Lead role
1985 Ran Lord Hidetora Ichimonji Akira Kurosawa Lead role
The Empty Table (Shokutaku no nai ie) Nobuyuki Kidoji Masaki Kobayashi Lead role
1986 Atami satsujin jiken Denbei Nikaido Kazuo Takahashi Lead role
1987 Hachiko Monogatari Hidejiro Ueno Seijirō Kōyama Lead role
1988 Return from the River Kwai Major Harada Andrew V. McLaglen
Oracion (Yushun) Heihachiro Wagu Shigemichi Sugita
1989 Four Days of Snow and Blood (Ni-ni-roku) Hajime Sugiyama Hideo Gosha
1991 Heat Wave (Kagero) Tsunejiro Murai Hideo Gosha
Florence My Love Sakazaki Seiji Izumi
1992 The Wicked City Daishu (Yuen Tai Chung) Mak Tai-Kit
Basara – The Princess Goh (Goh-hime) Furuta Oribe Hiroshi Teshigahara
Tōki Rakujitsu Sakae Kobayashi Seijirō Kōyama
1993 Lone Wolf and Cub: Final Conflict Yagyu Retsudo Akira Inoue
Summer of the Moonlight Sonata (Gekko no natsu) Kazama (postwar) Seijirō Kōyama
1995 East Meets West Katsu Rintarō Kihachi Okamoto
1996 Miyazawa Kenji sono ai Seijirō Miyazawa Seijirō Kōyama
1999 After the Rain Tsuji Gettan Takashi Koizumi
Spellbound Hideaki Sasaki Masato Harada
2001 Vengeance for Sale (Sukedachi-ya Sukeroku) Umetaro Katakura Kihachi Okamoto
2002 To Dance With the White Dog (Shiroi inu to Waltz wo) Eisuke Nakamoto Takashi Tsukinoki Lead role
Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS Konosuke Matsushita Kiyoshi Sasabe
2003 Like Asura Kotaro Takezawa Yoshimitsu Morita
2005 Yamato Katsumi Kamio (75 years old) Junya Sato
2006 The Inugamis Sahei Inugami Kon Ichikawa
2009 Listen to My Heart Kyozo Hayami Shinichi Mishiro
2010 Haru's Journey Tadao Nakai Masahiro Kobayashi Lead role
Zatoichi: The Last Tendo Junji Sakamoto
2012 Until The Break Of Dawn Sadayuki Akiyama Yūichirō Hirakawa
2013 Human Trust Nobuhiko Sasakura Junji Sakamoto
2015 Yuzuriha no koro Kenichiro Miya Mineko Okamoto
2017 Lear on the Shore Chōkitsu Kuwabatake Masahiro Kobayashi Lead role
2018 The Negotiator: Behind The Reversion of Okinawa Narrator Tsuyoshi Yanagawa
2022 The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai Makino Tadayuki Takashi Koizumi [9]

Animated film[edit]

Year Title Role Director Notes
1973 Kanashimi no Belladonna The Devil Eiichi Yamamoto
1983 Final Yamato Narrator Tomoharu Katsumata / Yoshinobu Nishizaki / Takeshi Shirado / Toshio Masuda
2013 The Tale of Princess Kaguya Sumiyaki no Roujini Isao Takahata
2014 Giovanni's Island[10] Junpei Senō (Present) Mizuho Nishikubo

Theater[edit]

Year Title Role Director Notes
1964 Hamlet Hamlet Koreya Senda
1968 Yotsuya Kaidan Tamiya Iemon Eitaro Ozawa
1971 Othello Othello Koreya Senda
1974 Richard III Richard Toshikiyo Masumi
1975 The Lower Depths Satine Toshikiyo Masumi
1978 Oedipus Rex Oedipus Tomoe Ryu (Yasuko Miyazaki)
1982 Macbeth Macbeth Tomoe Ryu (Yasuko Miyazaki)
1990 Cyrano de Bergerac Cyrano de Bergerac Tomoe Ryu (Yasuko Miyazaki)
2000 Death of a Salesman William "Willy" Loman Kiyoto Hayashi
2001 The Merry Wives of Windsor John Falstaff Kiyoto Hayashi
2005 Driving Miss Daisy Hoke Ikumi Tanno
2008 Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes Ikumi Tanno
2010 John Gabriel Borkman John Gabriel Borkman Tamiya Kuriyama
2013 Bluebeard's Castle The Bard Michiyoshi Inoue
2014 Barrymore John Barrymore Ikumi Tanno
2014 Romeo and Juliet Father Lawrence Ikumi Tanno

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Network Notes
1971 Shin Heike Monogatari Taira no Kiyomori NHK Lead role, Taiga drama
1977 Castle of Sand Eitaro Imanishi Fuji TV Lead role
1990 13 Assassins (Jusan-nin no Shikaku) Shimada Shinzaemon Fuji TV Lead role
1995 Daichi no Ko Kōji Matsumoto NHK Lead role
1996 Hideyoshi Sen no Rikyū NHK Taiga drama
2004 Socrates in Love Kentarō Matsumoto TBS Special appearance
2007 Fūrin Kazan Takeda Nobutora NHK Taiga drama
2014 Zainin no Uso Kenzō Haneda Wowow
2015 Haretsu Kuraki NHK
Hatashiai Sanosuke Jidaigeki Senmon Channel Lead role, TV movie
2016 Kyoaku wa Nemurasenai Yōhei Tachibana TV Tokyo
Cold Case Wowow
2017 Henkan Kōshōnin Narrator NHK TV movie
2020 The Return Unokichi Jidaigeki Senmon Channel Lead role, TV movie

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tatsuya Nakadai". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2013-10-08.
  2. ^ Stephens, Chuck. "The Eighth Samurai: Tatsuya Nakadai". Current. Retrieved 2013-10-10.
  3. ^ "無名塾公演「おれたちは天使じゃない」 @ウェスタ川越 大ホール". ARK. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  4. ^ "Two Nobel scientists to receive Order of Culture award". The Japan Times. 2015.
  5. ^ "Tokyo: Tatsuya Nakadai Set to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honor". The Hollywood Reporter. 24 October 2019.
  6. ^ Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
  7. ^ "連合艦隊司令長官 山本五十六". eiga.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  8. ^ The Battle of Port Arthur (203 Kochi) in the Internet Movie Database
  9. ^ "峠 最後のサムライ". eiga.com. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  10. ^ "Full Trailer for I.G's Hand-Drawn Anime Film Giovanni's Island Posted". Anime News Network. 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2013-12-21.

Further reading[edit]

  • Dowsing, Martin. The Face of an Actor - The Life and Films of Tatsuya Nakadai. Testudines, 2021. ISBN 9798476336891

External links[edit]