Ken Takakura

Takakura additionally received the Japanese Medal of Honor with purple ribbon in 1998, the Person of Cultural Merit award in 2006, and the Order of Culture in 2013.

• Name — Ken Takakura • Honorific Suffix — Junior Third Rank • Birth Name — Takeichi Oda • Born — 16 February 1931 • Birthplace — Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan • Died — 10 November 2014 • Place of death — Tokyo, Japan • Education — Meiji University • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1956–2014 • Spouse — * Taka Oda (Common-law marriage 1997-2014 until death, daughter in law from 2013)

Takakura was born in Nakama, Fukuoka in 1931. He was the second of four siblings, two of whom were sons and two of whom were daughters. His father, Toshiro Oda, was a former Imperial Japanese Navy officer, serving on the battleship Hiei during World War II, and mother, Takano was a teacher. As child he suffered from disease, encouraged by his father, Tadahi joined sports when 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 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 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, but divorced in 1971. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, 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 sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum, and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989). He again appeared to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. Takakura was one of the few Japanese actors who experienced popularity in China, due to his appearance in Junya Satō's 1976 crime drama Kimi yo Fundo no Kawa o Watare (known in some territories as Manhunt), the first foreign film shown after the Cultural Revolution. He also starred as the titular assassin in Junya Satō's Golgo 13 (1973), a Japanese–Iranian production and the first live-action adaptation of the Japanese manga series Golgo 13. He appeared in three films since 2000: The Firefly in May 2001, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, by Chinese director Zhang Yimou, in late December 2005, and Yasuo Furuhata's Anata e (Dearest) in late August 2012, after a six-year hiatus. He died of lymphoma on November 10, 2014. Shintaro Ishihara 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 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 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, Paul Schrader, Michael Douglas, John Woo, and Yoji Yamada.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref. References • 1956 — Inner Journey Pt.2 — Yusaku Shinobu — Lead role • Inner Journey — Yusaku Shinobu — Lead role • The Chop Professor • Nippon G-Men Pt.3 • Yūhi to Kenjū — Shintarō Yamaoka • Mother Peacock • Get Rid of the Gun — Lead role • 1957 — Daigaku no Ishimatsu — Lead role • Tajobushin • Nisshin senso fuun hiwa: Kiri no machi • Aoi unabara — Kenji Hamada • Jet Air Base 101 — Jiro Nakata • 1958 — No Advice Taken • Tarao Bannai: Jusan no mao • Romance, Freestyle • Kisetsufu no kanatani — Hideo Sekigawa • Hell's Companion — Mikio Ikari • Detective Duel • With Songs in My Heart • Festival of Forest And Lake — Ichitaro Kazamori — Lead role • Sister within Sister — Hiroshi Ishioka • Guns of Purgatory • 1959 — Tornado Family — Goro Tamura • Men in a Rough Town • Black Finger — Shinkichi Mita — Lead role • Four Hours of Terror — Lead role • The Road That Beasts Take — Lead role • Hyoryū shitaî • 1960 — Zoku beran me-e geisha • Ōinaru tabiji — Kozo's Second Son • Zubekō tenshi • Tenka no Kaidanji Tosshin Tarō — Tarō Tosshin — Lead role • Zoku zoku beran me-e geisha • Otoko nara yattemiro — Lead role • Sabaku o wataru taiyo • Ōzora no muhōmono — Lead role • The Second Bullet Is Marked • 1961 — Tenka no Kaidanji Senpū Tarō — Tarô Senpū — Lead role • Hana to arashi to gyangu • Hibari minyo no tabi beran me e geisha Sado heiku • Mannen Tarô to anego shain — Tarô Mannen — Lead role • Beranme Chunori-san • Akuma no temari-uta — Kindaichi Kōsuke — Lead role • Saigo no kaoyaku • Kashi no onna Ishimatsu • Boku wa jigoku no tehinshi da • Beran me-e geisha makari tōru • 1962 — Minami taiheiyō nami takashi • Beran me-e geisha to Osaka musume • Ni-nirokushiken Daisshutsu • Koi to Taiyo to Gang — Lead role • Komon shacho manyuki • Minyo no tabi: Sakurajima Otemoyan • Sanbyakurokujugoya • Ankoku-gai saigo no hi • Tokyo Untouchable — Yoshio Harada — Lead role • Yumin-gai no Judan • Uragiri mono wa jigoku daze • Sen-hime to Hideyori — Naomori • 1963 — Ankokugai no kaoyaku: juichinin no gyangu — Sawagami • Tokyo Untouchable: Prison Breakers — Yoshio Harada • Ankokugai saidai no kettô — Shimpei Matsuoka • Miyamoto Musashi: Nitôryû kaigen — Sasaki Kojirō • Gyangu Chûshingura — Takumi Asano • Kyôkatsu — Teruo Yabuki — Lead role • Theater of Life: Hishakaku — Miyagawa • Overthrow the Boss — Yoshioka — Lead role • Violent Quarter — Shunsuke — Lead role • 1964 — Tōkyō gyangu tai Honkon gyangu • Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no kettô — Sasaki Kojirō • Jakoman and Tetsu — Tetsu — Lead role • Narazumono — Minami — Lead role • Irezumi totsugekitai • Ankokugai Main Street — Tetsuya Shinobu — Lead role • Nihon kyôkaku-den — Chokichi — Lead role • Wolves, Pigs and Men — Jirō • 1965 — Kaoyaku — Kyōichi Hayami • A Fugitive from the Past — Detective Ajimura • Nihon Kyokaku-den: naniwa-hen — Lead role • Abashiri Prison — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Nihon Kyokaku-den: kanto-hen • Miyamoto Musashi: Ganryū-jima no kettô — Sasaki Kojirō • Shōwa zankyō-den — Seiji Terajima — Lead role • Abashiri bangaichi: Bōkyō hen — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Abashiri bangaichi: Hokkai hen — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • 1966 — Shōwa zankyō-den: Karajishi botan — Lead role • Nihon Kyokaku-den: Ketto Kanda-matsuri — Shinsan — Lead role • Kamikaze Man: Duel at Noon — Fumio Kuroki • Otoko no shōbu — Kotaro Senju • Nihon Kyokaku-den: Kaminari-mon no Ketto — Shintaro Hiramatsu — Lead role • Jigoku no okite ni asu wa nai — Ichiro Takita — Lead role • Showa zankyo-den: Ippiki okami — Lead role • Abashiri Bangaichi: Nangoku no Taiketsu — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Abashiri Bangaichi: Koya no taiketsu — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Abashiri bangaichi: Dai setsugen no taiktsu — Shinichi Tachibana • 1967 — Abashiri bangaichi: Kettō reika 30 do — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Shōwa zankyō-den: Chizome no karajishi — Hidejirô Hanada — Lead role • Abashiri bangaichi: Fubuki no tōsō — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Nihon Kyokaku-den: Shira-ha no Sakazuki — Lead role • Nihon kyokaku-den: kirikomi — Lead role • Kyokotsu ichidai • Kyokakū no okitê — Special appearance • Abashiri Bangaichi: Aku eno Chôsen — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Âa dōki no sakura — First Lieutenant Kenmochi • 1968 — Nihon Kyokaku-den: Zetsuenjō — Lead role • The Drifting Avenger — Ken Kato — Lead role • Red Peony Gambler — Shogo Hanaoka • Gorotsuki — Lead role • Jinsei-gekijō: Hishakaku to kiratsune — Miyagawa • Gion matsuri • Bakuto retsuden — Lead role • Shin Abashiri Bangaichi — Katsuji Suematsu — Lead role • Kyokaku Retsuden • Gokuchu no kaoyaku • 1969 — Hibotan bakuto: Hanafuda shōbu — Shogo Hanaoka • Shōwa zankyō-den: Karajishi jingi — Lead role • Hibotan bakuto: Nidaime shūmei • Nihon kyokaku-den: hana to ryu — Tamai Kingoro — Lead role • Nihon ansatsu hiroku — Saburō Aizawa • Tosei-nin Retsuden • Showa zankyo-den: Hito-kiri karajishi — Lead role • Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Saihate no Nagare-mono — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Runin-masaki no ketto — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Sengo Saidai no Toba — Lead role • Nihon jokyo-den: kyokaku geisha • Brothers Serving Time — Lead role • 1970 — House of Gamblers • The Japan Derby Race — Lead role • Too Late the Hero — Major Yamaguchi — Anglo-American film • Shôwa zankyô-den: Shinde moraimasu — Lead role • Saigo no tokkôtai — Lead role • Nihon kyokaku-den: Nobori Ryu — Lead role • Yukyo-retsuden — Lead role • Sutemi no Narazu-mono — Yajima — Lead role • Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Fubuki no Hagure Okami — Lead role • Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Dai Shinrin no Ketto — Lead role • Nihon jokyo-den: makka na dokyo-bana • 1971 — Nihon yakuza-den: Sôchiyô e no michi — Ryutaro Fudo — Lead role • Gorotsuki mushuku — Isamu Tekada — Lead role • The Man — Lead role • Shin Abashiri Bangaichi: Fubuki no Dai-Dassou — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Showa zankyo-den: hoero karajishi — Lead role • Shin abashiri bangaichi: Arashi yobu shiretoko-misaki — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Nihon kyokaku-den: Dosu — Lead role • Nihon jokyo-den: ketto midare-bana — Yoshioka • 1972 — The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang — Kuramoto • New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Temple Code — Shinichi Tachibana — Lead role • Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die — Lead role • Lullaby for a Tough Guy — Lead role • The Pledge • 1973 — Yakuza of the Present — Ryoichi Shimaya — Lead role • Golgo 13 — Golgo 13 — Lead role • Japan's Top Gangster — Kazuo Taoka — Lead role • 1974 — Sister Street Fighter — Kazuo Taoka — Lead role • The Homeless — Joukichi • The Yakuza — Ken Tanaka — American film • 1975 — Roads for Honor — Ichizo Ryuzaki — Lead role • Great Jailbreak — Ichiro Kozue — Lead role • The Bullet Train — Tetsuo Okita — Lead role • The International Gang of Kobe — Masato Dan — Lead role • 1976 — Manhunt — Fuyuto Morioka — Lead role • 1977 — Mount Hakkoda — Captain Tokushima — Lead role • The Yellow Handkerchief — Yusaku Shima — Lead role • 1978 — Flower of Winter — Hidetsugu Kano — Lead role • Never Give Up — Takeshi Ajisawa — Lead role • 1980 — Dōran — Keisuke Miyagi — Lead role • A Distant Cry from Spring — Kōsaku Tajima — Lead role • 1981 — Station — Eiji Mikami — Lead role • 1982 — Detective Story — Detective Mikami — Cameo • The Longest Tunnel — Go Akutsu — Lead role • 1983 — Antarctica — Akira Ushioda — Lead role • Izakaya Chōji — Chōji — Lead role • 1985 — Yasha — Shūji — Lead role • 1988 — Umi e, See You — Eiji Honma — Lead role • 1989 — Black Rain — Assistant Inspector Masahiro "Mas" Matsumoto — American film • Buddies — Shūzō Kadokura — Lead role • 1992 — Mr. Baseball — Uchiyama — American film • 1994 — 47 Ronin — Ōishi Kuranosuke — Lead role • 1999 — Railroad Man — Otomatsu Satō — Lead role • 2001 — The Firefly — Yamaoka Shûji — Lead role • 2005 — Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles — Gou-Ichi Takata — Lead role; Chinese film • 2012 — Dearest — Eiji Kurashima — Lead role