Kōji Yakusho


Kōji Hashimoto, known professionally as Kōji Yakusho, is a Japanese actor.

Biography

Yakusho was born in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the youngest of five brothers. After graduation from Nagasaki Prefectural High School of Technology in 1974, he worked at the Chiyoda municipal ward office, or kuyakusho, in Tokyo, from which he later took his stage name. In 1976, he saw a production of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths and was inspired, first to watch, and then later to take part in, as many plays as possible.
In the spring of 1978 he auditioned for Tatsuya Nakadai's the Mumeijuku acting studio, and was one of four chosen out of 800 applicants. While at the school he met actress Saeko Kawatsu, whom he married in 1982. Their son was born in 1985.
In 1983, he landed the role of Oda Nobunaga in the year-long NHK drama Tokugawa Ieyasu and was catapulted to fame. He also appeared in a TV version of Miyamoto Musashi from 1984 to 1985. For several years, he played Kuji Shinnosuke, one of the title characters in the jidaigeki Sambiki ga Kiru!. He played a major character in Juzo Itami's 1986 Tampopo.
In 1988, he was given a special award for work in cinema by the Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and continued to appear in films and in a number of TV shows through the '90s.
In 1996 and 1997, Yakusho enjoyed several major successes. The Eel, directed by Shohei Imamura, in which he played the eel-loving lead, won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times called his performance "unerring." A Lost Paradise, about a double-suicide, was second only to Princess Mononoke at the Japanese box office.

International breakthrough: ''Shall We Dance?''

Shall We Dance? was such a major hit in Japan that it inspired a domestic dance craze. Ballroom groups and dance schools multiplied in the country after the film's release, and people who previously would never admit to taking lessons announced that they did with pride. Director Masayuki Suo said of his lead, until that point was known mostly for playing good-looking samurai, "we thought he could play this overworked, tired Japanese businessman, and he did.... e pulled everything off and took his dance training so seriously."
The film also was one of Japan's highest-grossing movies outside the country. It earned $9.5 million in the US and inspired a remake starring Jennifer Lopez with Richard Gere playing Yakusho's role.
Yakusho next won the Hochi Film Award for Best Actor for Bounce Ko Gals, a film which dealt with high school prostitution specifically, and money worship in general. He collaborated with horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa in Cure, License to Live, Seance, Charisma, Pulse, Doppelganger, Retribution, and Tokyo Sonata. Yakusho found further recognition with international audiences to some extent with roles in such films as Memoirs of a Geisha and Babel. In the latter, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, he played the father of the deaf-mute played by Rinko Kikuchi.

Later work

In 2009, he debuted as director and writer of Toad's Oil. In 2010 and 2011 he was part of both ensemble casts in Takashi Miike's samurai films, 13 Assassins and . The latter was in 3D and the first 3D film to be in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the 2011 war drama film , Yakusho portrayed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Yakusho was reportedly the only actor considered for the role; had he not accepted it, the film would have been canceled.
In 2018 he was in The Blood of Wolves.

Filmography

Film

Television

Dubbing roles

;Live-action
;Animation
;Awards
YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
19848th Elan d'or AwardsNewcomer of the YearHimself
199650th Mainichi Film AwardBest ActorKamikaze Taxi
199621st Hochi Film AwardBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
19969th Nikkan Sports Film AwardBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
199718th Yokohama Film FestivalBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
199751st Mainichi Film AwardBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
199770th Kinema Junpo AwardBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
199739th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
19976th Japanese Film Critics AwardsBest ActorShall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo
199720th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorShall We Dance?
199722nd Hochi Film AwardBest ActorThe Eel, Lost Paradise, Bounce ko GALS
199710th Tokyo International Film FestivalBest ActorCure
199842nd Asia-Pacific Film FestivalBest ActorThe Eel
199821st Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Eel
199840th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorThe Eel, Lost Paradise, Cure
199871st Kinema Junpo AwardBest ActorThe Eel, Cure
199922nd Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorKizuna
200023rd Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorSpellbound
200124th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorDora-heita
2001Chicago International Film FestivalBest ActorWarm Water Under a Red Bridge
200225th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorWarm Water Under a Red Bridge
200326th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Choice of Hercules
200528th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorUniversity of Laughs
200526th Yokohama Film FestivalBest ActorUniversity of Laughs, Yudan Taiteki, Tokyo Genpatsu
200730th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Uchōten Hotel
200831st Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorWalking My Life
200932nd Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorPaco and the Magical Book
20118th Dubai International Film Festival: Muhr AsiaAfrica FeatureBest ActorThe Woodsman and the Rain
201134th Japan Academy PrizeBest Actor13 Assassins
20115th Asian Film AwardsBest Actor13 Assassins
201235th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Last Ronin
20126th Asian Film AwardsBest ActorChronicle of My Mother
201336th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorChronicle of My Mother, Isoroku
201447th Sitges Film FestivalBest ActorThe World of Kanako
20141st Kyoto International Art and Film FestivalToshiro Mifune AwardHimself
201538th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorA Samurai Chronicle
201658th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorThe Emperor in August
201639th Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Emperor in August
201728th Silver Screen AwardsCinema Legend AwardHimself
201742nd Hochi Film AwardBest Supporting ActorThe Third Murder, Sekigahara
201730th Nikkan Sports Film AwardBest Supporting ActorThe Third Murder, Sekigahara
201860th Blue Ribbon AwardsBest Supporting ActorThe Third Murder, Sekigahara
201872nd Mainichi Film AwardsBest Supporting ActorThe Third Murder
201827th Tokyo Sports Film AwardBest ActorThe Third Murder
201827th Tokyo Sports Film AwardBest Supporting ActorThe Third Murder
201841st Japan Academy PrizeBest Supporting ActorThe Third Murder
201841st Japan Academy PrizeBest Supporting ActorSekigahara
201843rd Hochi Film AwardBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201831st Nikkan Sports Film AwardBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201940th Yokohama Film FestivalBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201973rd Mainichi Film AwardsBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201961st Blue Ribbon AwardsBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201928th Tokyo Sports Film AwardBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201914th Osaka Cinema FestivalBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201942nd Japan Academy PrizeBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201913th Asian Film AwardsBest ActorThe Blood of Wolves
201913th Asian Film AwardsExcellence In Asian Cinema AwardHimself

;Honors
YearHonor
2012Medal with Purple Ribbon