Kuranosuke Sasaki

• Name — Kuranosuke Sasaki • Native Name — 佐々木 蔵之介 • Birth Name — Hideaki Sasaki • Born — 4 February 1968 • Birthplace — Kyoto, Japan • Occupation — Actor • Years Active — 1990–present • Website — www.k-factory.net/profiles/kuranosuke-sasaki

He was born into a family of a sake brewery in Kyoto, Japan. After graduating from Kobe University and resigning from an advertising agency, he played an active part in a Japanese theatrical group called "Planet Pistachio," as a stage actor, from 1990 to 1998. He later extended the range of activities to TV dramas and movies, and has played important roles in many works in Japan. He made his film debut starring in Mamiya Kyodai in 2006, and his TV series debut starring in Gira Gira in 2008. When Sasaki was a freshman and received a phone call from his college company to decide on a stage name, his father suggested the name Kuranosuke, with a double meaning; for Kura, a sake cellar/brewery for their sake brewery, and for Ōuchi Kuranosuke, a famous historical drama role. Sasaki's initial plan was to join the family business of sake brewing as the eldest son when he graduated from college. Learning sales strategy at an advertisement company was also part of his plan. His family was not supportive when he aspired to be an actor, until he played a part in Audrey (NHK, 2000). His father sold sake named "Audrey", and then a premium junmai sake Hancho for a limited period while the TV drama was aired; Kuranosuke played a lead in Hancho. Talking about his stage expressiveness, theatre scholar Octavian Saiu praised Sasaki for a unique ability to convey emotions through words as well as silences.

• Year — Title — Role — Note — Ref • 2000 — Audrey — Kohtaro Miki — Asadora • 2001 — Handoku!!! — Makoto Takano • 2003 — Bijo ka Yajū — Hiroshi Kobukuro • The Great White Tower — Yūta Takeuchi • 2004 — Last Present — Satoshi Oda • 2004–05 — Rikon Bengoshi — Toshifumi Yanagida — 2 seasons • 2005 — Roomshare no Onna — Shūhei Sugita • M no Higeki — Akira Kubo • Kon-ya hitori no bed de — Shunsuke Kuzumi • 2006 — Shimokita Sundays — Tsubasa Akutagawa • Boku no aruku michi — Hideharu Ohtake • 2006–14 — Team Medical Dragon — Keisuke Fujiyoshi — 4 seasons • 2007 — Fūrin Kazan — Sanada Yukitaka — Taiga drama • Bambino! — Atsushi Kuwabara • 2008 — Saitō-san — Tōru Mano • Shikaotoko Awaniyoshi — Shigehisa Fukuhara • Absolute Boyfriend — Gaku Namikiri • Monster Parent — Keigo Miura • Gira Gira — Kōhei Nanase — Lead role • 2009 — Triangle — Ryō Akimoto • Orthros no Inu — Takayuki Sawamura • The Waste Land — Seiki Akitsu • Challenged — Keiichirō Hanawa — Lead role • 2009–13 — Hanchō — Tsuyoshi Adumi — Lead role; 6 seasons • 2010 — Himitsu — Heisuke Sugita • 2011 — Boku to Star no 99 Nichi — Yamato Takanabe • 2016 — Kaitō Yamaneko — Shūgo Sekimoto • 2017 — Hiyokko — Shogo Makino — Asadora • 2019 — Ieyasu, Edo wo Tateru — Ōkubo Tadayuki — Miniseries • Sherlock: Untold Stories — Reiji Etō • 2020 — The Man Who Stood for Autonomy of Japan: Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru — Hayato Ikeda — TV movie • 2020–21 — Awaiting Kirin — Hashiba Hideyoshi — Taiga drama • 2023 — My Home Hero — Tetsuo Tosu — |Lead role • 2024 — Dear Radiance — Fujiwara no Nobutaka — Taiga drama

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref • 2003 — Bayside Shakedown 2 • Densha Otoko — Hisashi • 2005 — Summer Time Machine Blues — Kōtarō Hoseki • 2006 — Kenchō no hoshi — Keita Sakurai • Mamiya kyodai — Akinobu Mamiya — Lead role • Rainbow Song — Shinsuke Higuchi • 2007 — Tsukigami — Sahei Bessho • Tsubaki Sanjūrō — Kimura • 2008 — 700 Days of Battle: Us vs. the Police — Chūzai-san • After School — Masayuki Kitazawa • 20th Century Boys: Beginning of the End — Fukubē • 2009 — 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope — Fukubē • 20th Century Boys 3: Redemption — Fukubē • Daremo mamotte kurenai — Kōji Umezawa • 2010 — Ōoku — Fujinami • 2011 — Gaku — Masato Noda • 2013 — A Boy Called H • 2014 — Samurai Hustle — Naito Masaatsu — Lead role • 2015 — Solomon's Perjury 1: Suspicion — Fujino • Solomon's Perjury 2: Judgment — Fujino • Till Death Do Us What? — Kōta Shimizu — Lead role • 2016 — The Inerasable — Yoshiaki Hiraoka • Samurai Hustle Returns — Naito Masaatsu — Lead role • 2017 — Flower and Sword — Maeda Toshiie • March Comes in Like a Lion — Kai Shimada • Hamon: Yakuza Boogie — Yasuhiko Kuwabara — Lead role • A Beautiful Star — Katsumi Kuroki • 2018 — We Make Antiques! — Sasuke Noda — Lead role • Recall — Hirohisa Aizawa • 2019 — Aircraft Carrier Ibuki — Toshiya Niinami — Lead role • Iwane: Sword of Serenity — Sasaki Reien • We Are Little Zombies • One Night — Michio Dōshita • 2020 — The Memory Eraser — Takahara • We Make Antiques! Kyoto Rendezvous — Sasuke Noda — Lead role • 2021 — The Woman of S.R.I. The Movie — Wataru Kagano • Akira Shimada — Narrator — Documentary • 2022 — The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai — Koyama Ryōun • Homestay — Osamu Kobayashi • The Hound of the Baskervilles: Sherlock the Movie — Reiji Etō • 2023 — We Make Antiques! Osaka Dreams — Sasuke Noda — Lead role • Shylock's Children — Michiharu Kuroda • Godzilla Minus One — Seiji Akitsu • 2024 — My Home Hero: The Movie — Tetsuo Tosu — Lead role • 2025 — The Final Piece — Tsuyoshi Ishiba • Emergency Interrogation Room: The Final Movie — Hiromichi Morishita • 2026 — Kyoto Hippocrates — Lead role • Nameless — Kunieda • F(r)iction — Kato • Bayside Shakedown: N.E.W — Ikuto Kitaoka • Godzilla Minus Zero — Seiji Akitsu • Four Outs — Iwahashi • 2027 — Samurai Hustle: Full Throttle — Naito Masaatsu — Lead role

• 2016 Suntory non-alcohol beverage • 2016 Kansai Electric Power Company