Masahiro Motoki

The recorded working language is Japanese. Distinctions recorded are Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year, Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor and Asian Film Award for Best Actor.

• Name — Masahiro Motoki • Birth Name — Masahiro Motoki (本木雅弘) • Born — 21 December 1965 • Birthplace — Okegawa, Saitama, Japan • Children — 3 • Years Active — 1981–present

Motoki started his entertainment career as a member of boy band Shibugakitai (the name of the band contains a portmanteau of Shibui and ガキ, a homonym of astringent persimmon). The band made its debut in 1982 under the management of Johnny & Associates and was popular for a good part of the 1980s. After the band broke up Motoki turned to acting. His first main role in a film was as a Zen monk in the comedy Fancy Dance directed by Masayuki Suo. Motoki also starred in Suo's next film, Sumo Do, Sumo Don't, which practically introduced him to audiences outside Japan. He then worked with directors such as Takashi Miike (The Bird People in China) and Shinya Tsukamoto (Gemini). Motoki's breakthrough to international fame came with the 2008 film Departures directed by Yōjirō Takita, in which he plays a cellist turned mortician. The film received the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 81st Academy Awards, as well as six acting awards for Motoki. The film project started from an idea of Motoki's after he read a book written by a professional mortician.

He married essayist and musician Yayako Uchida, the daughter of actress Kirin Kiki and rock'n roll singer Yuya Uchida, in 1995. As a mukoyōshi, he took his wife's surname, which is thus his legal surname. The couple have three children.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Ref. References • 1981 — Sempachi Sensei — Subaru Morita • 1991 — Taiheiki — Chigusa Tadaaki — Taiga drama • 1998 — Tokugawa Yoshinobu — Tokugawa Yoshinobu — Lead role; Taiga drama • 2009–11 — Clouds Over the Hill — Akiyama Saneyuki — Lead role • 2012 — Man of Destiny — Ryōta Yuminari — Lead role • 2019 — Giri/Haji — Fukuhara — British television series • 2020 — Awaiting Kirin — Saitō Dōsan — Taiga drama • 2021 — Ryūkō Kanbō — Naoya Shiga — Lead role; television film • 2023 — Friendship: Seiji Hirao and Shinya Yamanaka — Seiji Hirao — Lead role; television film • 2025 — Asura — Takao Satomi • The Man Who Carries the Voice of August — Tamotsu Tsujihara — Lead role; television film

Masahiro Motoki is recorded as having received Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year, Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor. Recorded at birth as 本木 雅弘.