# Tsutomu Yamazaki

Tsutomu Yamazaki (山崎 努, Yamazaki Tsutomu, born 1936) is a Japanese actor. He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor in 1984 for The Funeral and Farewell to the Ark. Yamazaki is known for his roles as Goro in Tampopo (1985) and Nenbutsu no Tetsu on the television jidaigeki Hissatsu Shiokinin and Shin Hissatsu Shiokinin.

## Career

Yamazaki graduated from Haiyuza Theatre Company and joined Bungakuza in 1959. He made his film debut in Kihachi Okamoto's Daigaku no sanzôkutachi in 1960. In 1961, he received the Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year. In 1963, he appeared in Akira Kurosawa's High and Low. He worked with Kurosawa twice more: in the director's next film, 1965's Red Beard, then fifteen years later, in Kagemusha.
In 1973, he appeared jidaigeki television drama Hissatsu Shiokinin and he played the same role in Shin Hissatsu Shiokinin again in 1977. He also starred in number of Juzo Itami's films, including his role as a trucker who resembles John Wayne in Tampopo (1985). He co-starred in The Ramen Girl (2008) with Brittany Murphy.
He also played a supporting role in Yōjirō Takita's Departures.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1963 | High and Low | Ginjirō Takeuchi | Akira Kurosawa | |
| 1963 | A Woman's Story | Kohei Shimizu | Mikio Naruse | |
| 1965 | Red Beard | Sahachi | Akira Kurosawa | |
| 1969 | Tora-san's Cherished Mother | | Yoji Yamada | |
| 1970 | Fuji sanchō | Takeshi Ishizuka | Tetsutaro Murano | |
| 1975 | New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Head | Tetsuya Kusunoki | Kinji Fukasaku | |
| 1979 | Demon Pond | | Masahiro Shinoda | |
| 1979 | Aftermath of Battles Without Honor and Humanity | Shingo Takagi | Eiichi Kudo | |
| 1980 | Kagemusha | Takeda Nobukado | Akira Kurosawa | |
| 1982 | Dotonbori River | | Kinji Fukasaku | |
| 1984 | The Funeral | | Juzo Itami | Lead role |
| 1985 | Farewell to the Ark | | Shūji Terayama | Lead role |
| 1985 | Tampopo | Gorō | Juzo Itami | Lead role |
| 1987 | A Taxing Woman | Hideki Gondō | Juzo Itami | |
| 1989 | Rikyu | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | Hiroshi Teshigahara | |
| 1993 | We Are Not Alone | | Yōjirō Takita | |
| 1993 | Samurai Kids | | Nobuhiko Obayashi | Lead role |
| 1998 | A Quiet Life | Father | Juzo Itami | |
| 1998 | Wait and See | | Shinji Sōmai | |
| 2001 | The Guys from Paradise | Katsuaki Yoshida | Takashi Miike | |
| 2001 | Go | Hideyoshi | Isao Yukisada | |
| 2002 | Doing Time | | Yoichi Sai | Lead role |
| 2002 | Copycat Killer | | Yoshimitsu Morita | |
| 2003 | The Thirteen Steps | | Masahiko Nagasawa | |
| 2004 | Crying Out Love in the Center of the World | | Isao Yukisada | |
| 2004 | Blooming Again | | Isshin Inudo | Lead role |
| 2005 | What the Snow Brings | Tamba | Kichitaro Negishi | |
| 2006 | Kurosagi | | Yasuharu Ishii | |
| 2006 | Crickets | | Shinji Aoyama | |
| 2007 | Dolphine Blue | | Tetsu Maeda | |
| 2008 | Departures | Sasaki | Yōjirō Takita | |
| 2008 | Climber's High | Shirakawa | Masato Harada | |
| 2008 | The Ramen Girl | | Robert Allan Ackerman | American–Japanese film |
| 2009 | Kamui Gaiden | Narrator | Yoichi Sai | |
| 2010 | Space Battleship Yamato | Capt Jūzō Okita | Takashi Yamazaki | |
| 2011 | The Woodsman and the Rain | | Shūichi Okita | |
| 2011 | The Wings of the Kirin | Takamasa Kaga | Nobuhiro Doi | Special appearance |
| 2012 | Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home | | Tomoyuki Takimoto | |
| 2013 | Shield of Straw | | Takashi Miike | |
| 2013 | Miracle Apples | | Yoshihiro Nakamura | |
| 2014 | As the Gods Will | Shirokuma | Takashi Miike | Voice role |
| 2015 | The Emperor in August | Kantarō Suzuki | Masato Harada | |
| 2015 | Kakekomi | Takizawa Bakin | Masato Harada | |
| 2016 | The Actor | Kotō | Satoko Yokohama | |
| 2016 | The Magnificent Nine | | Yoshihiro Nakamura | |
| 2017 | Blade of the Immortal | Kensui Ibane | Takashi Miike | |
| 2017 | Mumon: The Land of Stealth | Narrator | Yoshihiro Nakamura | |
| 2018 | The Crimes That Bind | Takamasa Kaga | Katsuo Fukuzawa | |
| 2018 | Killing For The Prosecution | Yūma Shirakawa | Masato Harada | |
| 2018 | Mori, The Artist's Habitat | Morikazu "Mori" Kumagai | Shūichi Okita | Lead role |
| 2019 | A Long Goodbye | Shōhei | Ryōta Nakano | |

### TV dramas

| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
| 1967 | Sanshimai | Kingoro Aoe/Shinichiro Kosugi | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1972 | Shin Heike Monogatari | Tairano Tokitada | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1972 | Okappiki Dobu | Okappiki Dobu | KTV | Lead role |
| 1972 | Nemuri Kyōshirō | Okappiki Dobu | KTV | Episode17 |
| 1973 | Hissatsu Shiokinin | Nenbutsu no Tetsu | ABC | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1976-77 | Hissatsu Karakurinin Kepuuhen | Dozaemon | ABC | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1978 | Shin Hissatsu Shiokinin | Nenbutsu no Tetsu | ABC | Hissatsu series |
| 1995 | Kumokiri Nizaemon | Kumokiri Nizaemon | Fuji TV | Lead role |
| 1995 | The Abe Clan | Abe Yaichi'emon | Fuji TV | TV movie |
| 1998 | Seikimatsu no Uta/The Last Song | Prof. Natsuo Momose | NTV | |
| 2001 | Gokenin Zankurō | | Fuji TV | Episode 10 |
| 2006 | Kurosagi | Katsuragi Toshio | TBS | |
| 2014 | Roosevelt Game | Takeshi Aoshima | TBS | |
| 2014 | Leaders | Isokichi Ōshima | TBS | Mini-Series |
| 2018 | As a Father of Murderer Son | Katsuhiko Yoshinaga | TV Tokyo | TV movie |

## Awards and honours

| Year | Award | Category | Work(s) | Result |
| 1961 | 6th Elan d'or Awards | Newcomer of the Year | Himself | Won |
| 1980 | 3rd Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Yashagaike | Nominated |
| 1980 | 5th Hochi Film Award | Best Supporting Actor | Kagemusha | Won |
| 1981 | 54th Kinema Junpo Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Kagemusha | Won |
| 1985 | 8th Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Actor | The Funeral, Farewell to the Ark | Won |
| 1985 | 58th Kinema Junpo Awards | Best Actor | The Funeral, Farewell to the Ark | Won |
| 1985 | 27th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Actor | The Funeral, Farewell to the Ark | Won |
| 1985 | 39th Mainichi Film Awards | Best Actor | The Funeral, Farewell to the Ark | Won |
| 1990 | 13th Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Rikyu, Harimau, The Dancing Girl | Nominated |
| 1994 | 17th Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | We Are Not Alone | Nominated |
| 2001 | 14th Nikkan Sports Film Award | Best Supporting Actor | Go | Won |
| 2001 | 26th Hochi Film Award | Best Supporting Actor | Go, The Guys from Paradise, Jogakusei no Tomo | Won |
| 2002 | 75th Kinema Junpo Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Go, The Guys from Paradise, Jogakusei no Tomo | Won |
| 2002 | 23rd Yokohama Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Go, The Guys from Paradise, Jogakusei no Tomo, Go Heat Man! | Won |
| 2002 | 25th Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Go | Won |
| 2002 | 44th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Go | Won |
| 2003 | 26th Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Copycat Killer | Nominated |
| 2009 | 32nd Japan Academy Film Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Departures | Won |
| 2009 | 18th Tokyo Sports Film Award | Best Supporting Actor | Departures, Climber's High | Won |
| 2018 | 43rd Hochi Film Awards | Best Actor | Mori, The Artist's Habitat | Nominated |
| 2019 | 73rd Mainichi Film Awards | Best Actor | Mori, The Artist's Habitat | Nominated |
| 2019 | 28th Tokyo Sports Film Award | Best Actor | Mori, The Artist's Habitat | Nominated |
| 2022 | 45th Japan Academy Film Prize | Distinguished Service Award | Himself | Won |
| Year | Honor | Ref. |
| 2000 | Medal with Purple Ribbon | |
| 2008 | Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette | |