Shōzō Nanbu has spent most of a working life as a Japanese actor with a filmography that reaches back further than most viewers remember. Elsewhere on the filmography sits 'Sansho the Bailiff'. It began in 1927, at the age of 29. Casting directors have gone to him for drama more than for anything else. Television and film have both stayed in regular use across the career. The single most recognizable credit is 'Ugetsu', playing Shintô Priest.