Japanese actor born in Kyoto in 1947, first known as a member of the 1960s rock group The Tigers and later one of the country’s most bookable veteran character actors. From the 1980s onward he became a staple of NHK’s taiga historical dramas and of prime-time crime and family series. He has also been a steady presence on Japanese cinema screens across period pieces and social dramas, moving comfortably between light comedy and severe patriarchs. His long second act as an actor is a textbook case of a pop star maturing into an unshowy screen craftsman. Read more