# Hidetoshi Nishijima (actor)

Hidetoshi Nishijima (Japanese: 西島 秀俊, Hepburn: Nishijima Hidetoshi, born March 29, 1971) is a Japanese actor and model. He is widely regarded as one of Japan's leading actors, having appeared in a wide range of films from science fiction films such as Shin Ultraman (2022) to small-scale art films such as Dolls (2002). He gained international recognition for his critically acclaimed leading role in the 2021 film Drive My Car, for which he received the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor.

## Early life

Nishijima became interested in watching films as a child, influenced by his father. He wanted to be a film crew member, but while in college, he passed the acting audition that an acquaintance encouraged him to take, and he became an actor.

## Career

Nishijima made his debut in the contemporary detective television drama series Hagure Keiji Junjōha in 1992.
In 1993, Nishijima gained public recognition for his portrayal of a gay character in the massive hit television series Asunaro Hakusho, which co-starred Takuya Kimura. Nishijima’s subtle performance and good looks in that series attracted attention. in 1994 as Playmode It was published in Playgirl magazine in November 1994 and was photographed naked by Naoko Yamamoto.
In 1990s, Nishijima gained popularity as a young actor in television series, but left a major talent agency to become a film actor, and did not appear on commercial television from 1998 to 2002.
Nishijima played his first leading role in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 1998 film License to Live, and co-starred with Kōji Yakusho. He won the Best Actor award at the Japan Film Professional Awards for the film.
Nishijima attracted attention again later, being selected by Takeshi Kitano for the lead role in Dolls in 2002. The film was a major turning point in his career.
In 2009, he was given the Best Supporting Actor award at the Yokohama Film Festival for his portrayal of a strange death row inmate in Vacation.
While establishing himself as a film actor, Nishijima also resumed appearing in television series.
In the 2010s, Nishijima became one of the most popular actors in Japan, for his performances in hit television series, such as General Rouge no Gaisen, Strawberry Night, Yae's Sakura, and MOZU.
In 2011, Nishijima had his first starring role alongside Korean actress Kim Tae-hee in the television series Boku to Star no 99 Nichi, a romantic comedy drama about the romance between an actress and her bodyguard.
In Amir Naderi's 2011 film Cut, Nishijima played the leading role, which was described by Chris Cabin of Slant Magazine as "the most convincingly pretentious and frustrated cinephile to ever be portrayed on film". His performance in the film was praised by Dan Fainaru of Screen International as "painfully memorable".
Nishijima has also appeared in films such as Akihiko Shiota's Canary and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Loft. He also played the role of Kiro Honjo in Hayao Miyazaki's 2013 animated film The Wind Rises as a voice actor. His other voice work includes dubbing Colin Farrell in Dumbo and Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds) in Pokémon Detective Pikachu. He also portrayed the role of Kotaro Minami in the reimaging of the 1987 Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider Black titled Kamen Rider Black Sun.
In 2017, Nishijima became the first Japanese man to model for Giorgio Armani's Made-to-Measure.
In 2019, Nishijima was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 42nd Japan Academy Film Prize for his performance in Samurai's Promise. He also starred in the television series What Did You Eat Yesterday?, a drama about the daily lives of a middle-aged gay couple. The drama became very popular and was made into a hit film.
In 2021, Nishijima starred in Ryusuke Hamaguchi's film Drive My Car. His performance was highly acclaimed, with The New York Times selecting him as one of the "Best Actors of 2021". The film also won him the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor, Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor, and Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.
In June 2022, Nishijima was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Ghost Pub | Koichi | |
| 1995 | Marks no Yama | Mori | |
| 1995 | Kura | Ryota Takeda | |
| 1997 | 2/Duo | Kei | |
| 1998 | License to Live | Yutaka | Lead role |
| 2000 | Love/Juice | Sakamoto | |
| 2001 | Sekai no Owari to Iu Na no Zakkaten | | Lead role |
| 2002 | Dolls | Matsumoto | |
| 2002 | Tokyo.sora | | |
| 2002 | Last Scene | | Lead role |
| 2004 | Casshern | Lieutenant Colonel Kamijo | |
| 2004 | Tony Takitani | Narrator (voice) | |
| 2004 | The Cat Leaves Home | | |
| 2004 | Kikyo | | |
| 2004 | Angel in the Box | | |
| 2005 | House of Himiko | Hosokawa | |
| 2005 | Sayonara Midori-chan | | |
| 2005 | Su-ki-da | Yosuke | |
| 2005 | Loft | Koichi Kijima | |
| 2005 | Canary | Akira Izawa | |
| 2006 | Oh! Oku | Shingoro Ikushima | |
| 2007 | Freesia: Bullet Over Tears | Toshio Iwasaki | |
| 2007 | Pacchigi! Love & Peace | | |
| 2007 | Shindo | | |
| 2008 | Tokyo Rendezvous | Takashi Nogami | Lead role |
| 2008 | Vacation | Shin'ichi Kaneda | |
| 2008 | Over the Hilltop | Ma Hae-song | |
| 2009 | Kanikōsen | Asakawa | |
| 2009 | Zero Focus | Kenichi Ubara | |
| 2010 | Goodbye, Someday | Yutaka Higashigaito | Lead role; South Korean film |
| 2011 | Cut | Shuji | Lead role |
| 2012 | Seiji: Riku no Sakana | Seiji | Lead role |
| 2013 | Strawberry Night | Kazuo Kikuta | |
| 2013 | Memories Corner | Okabe | |
| 2013 | The Wind Rises | Kiro Honjo (voice) | |
| 2014 | Genome Hazard | Taketo Ishigami | Lead role |
| 2015 | Mozu | Naotake Kuraki | Lead role |
| 2015 | Poison berry in my brain | Yoshida | |
| 2016 | Creepy | Takakura | Lead role |
| 2016 | While the Women Are Sleeping | Kenji | |
| 2017 | The Last Recipe | Yamagata | |
| 2018 | Samurai's Promise | Uneme Sakakibara | |
| 2018 | The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps | Kazumasa Harima | |
| 2018 | Ozland | Yoshihiko Ozuka | |
| 2018 | Penguin Highway | Aoyama's Father (voice) | |
| 2019 | Ninkyō Gakuen | Seiji Himura | Lead role |
| 2019 | Aircraft Carrier Ibuki | Ryōta Akitsu | Lead role |
| 2020 | Voices in the Wind | Morio | |
| 2020 | Silent Tokyo | Shinobu Seta | |
| 2021 | 99.9 Criminal Lawyer: The Movie | Kyōhei Nagumo | |
| 2021 | What Did You Eat Yesterday? | Shirō Kakei | Lead role |
| 2021 | Caution, Hazardous Wife | Yūki Isayama | |
| 2021 | Drive My Car | Yūsuke Kafuku | Lead role |
| 2022 | Shin Ultraman | Kimio Tamura | |
| 2022 | Goodbye Cruel World | Mikiya Anzai | Lead role |
| 2023 | Kubi | Akechi Mitsuhide | |
| 2024 | Serpent's Path | Yoshimura | French-Japanese film |
| 2024 | All About Suomi | Keigo Kusano | |
| 2025 | The Brightest Sun | Satake | Lead role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992 | Hagure Keiji Junjōha | Tsuyoshi Nakagami | Season 5 |
| 1992 | Dinner On Thursday | Tatsuro Miyazawa | |
| 1993 | Asunaro Hakusho | Junichiro Matsuoka | |
| 1997 | Mori Motonari | Aiō Mototsuna | Taiga drama |
| 2003 | Always Smiling | Kazuya Yuzuhara | |
| 2004 | Ōoku | Tokugawa Iemitsu | |
| 2004 | Waltz Of Her Heart | Shinya Minazuki | |
| 2006 | Unfair | Ichiro Sezaki | |
| 2007 | Yama Onna Kabe Onna | Iguchi Shohei | |
| 2009 | Real Clothes | Yusaku Tabuchi | |
| 2010 | General Rouge no Gaisen | Koichi Hayami | |
| 2011 | School | Iori Kirihara | |
| 2011 | Boku to Star no 99 Nichi | Kohei Namiki | Lead role |
| 2012 | Strawberry Night | Kazuo Kikuta | |
| 2013 | Yae's Sakura | Yamamoto Kakuma | Taiga drama |
| 2015 | Mutsu: Mieru Me | Eisuke Tameyori | Lead role |
| 2015 | Second Chance Chauffeur | Kazuo Nagata | Lead role |
| 2016 | Daddy Sister | Takezō Kohashi | Asadora |
| 2017 | Crisis | Saburo Tamaru | |
| 2017 | Blanket Cats | Shusuke Shiina | |
| 2017 | Caution, Hazardous Wife | Yuki Isayama | |
| 2019 | Maison de Police | Soichiro Natsume | |
| 2019–23 | What Did You Eat Yesterday? | Shiro Kakei | Lead role; 2 seasons |
| 2020 | North Light | Minoru Aose | Lead role; miniseries |
| 2021 | Welcome Home, Monet | Satoru Asaoka | Asadora |
| 2021 | Guilty Flag | Ryosuke Sagara | Lead role |
| 2021 | Chef Is A Great Detective | Shinobu Mifune | Lead role |
| 2022 | Riding a Unicorn | Satoshi Kotori | |
| 2022 | Kamen Rider Black Sun | Kōtarō Minami / Kamen Rider Black Sun | Lead role |
| 2023 | Outsider Cops | Eiji Kagawa | Lead role |
| 2024 | Sayonara Maestro | Shunpei Natsume | Lead role |
| 2024 | Sunny | Masa Sakamoto | |

### Dubbing roles

* Dumbo (2019), Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell)
* Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019), Detective Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds)

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2000 | 9th Japan Film Professional Awards | Best Actor | License to Live | Won |
| 2006 | 15th Japan Film Professional Awards | Best Actor | Kikyō, Sayonara Midori-chan, Ame Yori Setsunaku | Won |
| 2006 | 20th Takasaki Film Festival [ja] | Best Actor | Kikyō | Won |
| 2009 | 30th Yokohama Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Vacation, Tokyo Rendezvous and Over the Hilltop | Won |
| 2012 | 26th Takasaki Film Festival | Best Actor | Cut | Won |
| 2012 | 21st Japan Film Professional Awards | Best Actor | Cut | Won |
| 2019 | 42nd Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Samurai's Promise | Nominated |
| 2021 | 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Best Performance by an Actor | Drive My Car | Nominated |
| 2021 | 42nd Boston Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Won |
| 2021 | 34th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Nominated |
| 2021 | 34th Nikkan Sports Film Award | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Won |
| 2022 | 76th Mainichi Film Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Nominated |
| 2022 | 35th Takasaki Film Festival | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Won |
| 2022 | 45th Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Won |
| 2022 | 56th National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Won |
| 2022 | 25th Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Nominated |
| 2022 | 20th San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Nominated |
| 2023 | 16th Asian Film Awards | Best Actor | Drive My Car | Nominated |