# Ken Ogata

Akinobu Ogata (緒形 明伸, Ogata Akinobu, 20 July 1937 – 5 October 2008), better known by his stage name Ken Ogata (緒形 拳, Ogata Ken), was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 50 movies and 25 television series. For his merits and contribution to arts in 2000 received Japan's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon.
Among many movie awards and nominations, he received three times Japan Academy Film Prize award for Best Actor for The Demon (1978), The Ballad of Narayama (1983) and House on Fire (1986), and in addition Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for The Catch and Okinawan Boys (1983). Other notable roles were in Shohei Imamura's Vengeance Is Mine (1979), Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book (1996).

## Life

Ogata was born on July 20, 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. He started his acting career in 1958 as part of the Shinkokugeki theater troupe.
His movie debut was 1960s Tooi Hitotsu No Michi, but his starring role as Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1965 NHK Taiga drama Taikōki catapulted him to fame. Ken went on to many prominent roles in subsequent programs. The following year, he portrayed Benkei in Minamoto no Yoshitsune. The network tapped him again for the role of Fujiwara no Sumitomo in the 1976 Kaze to Kumo to Niji to. He returned to playing Hideyoshi in the 1978 Ōgon no Hibi, and returned to the lead as Ōishi Kuranosuke in Tōge no Gunzō, the 1982 Chūshingura. Another featured appearance in a Taiga drama was in Taiheiki (1991, as Ashikaga Sadauji, father of Takauji). His final appearance in the taiga drama was Fūrin Kazan in 2007. Besides the taiga drama series, Ogata portrayed Fujieda Baian in the Hissatsu series Hissatsu Shikakenin, he reprised the character twice in the film series later.
His last lead role was in A Long Walk (2006). Mr. Ogata died of liver cancer on October 5, 2008, just days after finishing his role in the production of the Fuji TV drama Kaze no Garden (Garden of the Winds).
Ogata was a talented calligrapher and held a public exhibition in 1991. His sons Kanta and Naoto are actors as well.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1968 | The Sex Check | | Yasuzo Masumura | |
| 1969 | Samurai Banners | | Hiroshi Inagaki | |
| 1969 | Farewell, My Beloved | | Hideo Ōba | |
| 1969 | Lady with Seven Faces | | Yōichi Maeda | |
| 1973 | Professional Killers: Assassin’s Quarry | Fujieda Baian | Yūsuke Watanabe | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1974 | Hissatsu Shikakenin Shunsetsu shikakebari | Fujieda Baian | Yūsuke Watanabe | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1974 | Castle of Sand | Ken'ichi Miki | Yoshitarō Nomura | |
| 1974 | The Last Samurai | | Kenji Misumi | |
| 1977 | Mount Hakkoda | | Shirō Moritani | |
| 1978 | The Demon | | Yoshitarō Nomura | Lead role |
| 1979 | Vengeance Is Mine | | Shohei Imamura | Lead role |
| 1980 | Virus | | Kinji Fukasaku | |
| 1981 | Samurai Reincarnation | Miyamoto Musashi | Kinji Fukasaku | |
| 1981 | Eijanaika | | Shohei Imamura | |
| 1981 | Edo Porn | Tetsuzō | Kaneto Shindo | Lead role |
| 1982 | Yaju-deka | | Eiichi Kudo | Lead role |
| 1983 | The Ballad of Narayama | | Shohei Imamura | Lead role |
| 1983 | The Catch | | Shinji Sōmai | Lead role |
| 1983 | Okinawan Boys | | Taku Shinjō | |
| 1983 | The Geisha | | Hideo Gosha | Lead role |
| 1985 | Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | Yukio Mishima | Paul Schrader | Lead role |
| 1985 | Oar | | Hideo Gosha | |
| 1986 | House on Fire | | Kinji Fukasaku | Lead role |
| 1987 | Zegen | | Shohei Imamura | Lead role |
| 1988 | A Chaos of Flowers | | Kinji Fukasaku | |
| 1988 | Oracion | | Shigemichi Sugita | |
| 1989 | Shogun's Shadow | | Yasuo Furuhata | Lead role |
| 1989 | Shaso | | Toshio Masuda | Lead role |
| 1989 | Zatoichi, Darkness Is His Ally | Rônin/Masterless samurai | Shintaro Katsu | |
| 1991 | Rainbow Kids | Daigoro Igari | Kihachi Okamoto | |
| 1991 | My Soul Is Slashed | | Shusuke Kaneko | Lead role |
| 1992 | Dreams of Russia | Daikokuya Kōdayū | Junya Sato | Lead role |
| 1996 | The Pillow Book | | Peter Greenaway | |
| 1999 | Shooting Star | Kikujirō Yamamoto | Hiromitsu Yamanaka | Lead role |
| 2000 | Film Noir | Ichihara | Masahiro Kobayashi | |
| 2001 | Man Walking on Snow | Nobuo Honma | Masahiro Kobayashi | Lead role |
| 2002 | 11'09"01 September 11 | | Shohei Imamura | Episode 11: "Japan" |
| 2004 | The Hidden Blade | | Yoji Yamada | |
| 2004 | Izo | | Takashi Miike | |
| 2004 | Last Quarter of the Moon | | Ken Nikai | |
| 2004 | The Man Who Wipes Mirrors | | Seisoku Kajita | Lead role |
| 2005 | The Samurai I Loved | Maki Sukezaemon | Mitsuo Kurotsuchi | |
| 2006 | Love and Honor | | Yoji Yamada | |
| 2006 | A Long Walk | | Eiji Okuda | Lead role |
| 2008 | Kitaro and the Millennium Curse | Nurarihyon | Katsuhide Motoki | Final film role |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
| 1965 | Taikōki | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | NHK | Lead role, Taiga drama |
| 1966 | Minamoto no Yoshitsune | Benkei | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1972 | Shin Heike Monogatari | Dr. Abe no Asadori | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1972 | Hissatsu Shikakenin | Fujieda Baian | ABC | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1975 | Hissatsu Hitchuu Shigotoya Kagyō | Hanbei | ABC | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1975 | Tsūkai! Kōchiyama Sōshun | Chōji | Fuji TV | Episode 15 |
| 1976 | Kaze to Kumo to Niji to | Fujiwara no Sumitomo | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1976 | Hissatsu Karakurinin | Yumeya Tokijirō | ABC | Lead role, Hissatsu series |
| 1976 | Zatoichi Season 2 | Gonnosuke | Fuji TV | Episode 12 "Money And Hell" |
| 1977–78 | Shin Hissatsu Karakurinin | Hiroshige, narrator | ABC | Hissatsu series |
| 1978 | Ōgon no Hibi | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1979 | Ashura no Gotoku Part 1 | Satomi Takao | NHK | |
| 1979 | Zatoichi Season 4 | Hikotarō | Fuji TV | Episode 6 "The Spinning Wheel" |
| 1982 | Tōge no Gunzō | Ōishi Kuranosuke | NHK | Lead role, Taiga drama |
| 1985 | Hagoku | Seitarō Sakuma | NHK | Lead role, TV movie |
| 1988 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | TBS | TV movie |
| 1991 | Taiheiki | Ashikaga Sadauji | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1997 | Mōri Motonari | Amago Tsunehisa | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1997 | Gift | Yujiro Kishiwada | Fuji TV | The final episode |
| 1998 | The Scorching Silk Road | | TBS | Documentary |
| 1999 | Furuhata Ninzaburō | Kengo Kuroiwa | Fuji TV | Episode 27 |
| 1999 | Dear Friend | Kiichi Satake | TBS | TV movie |
| 2003 | Say Hello to Black Jack | Osamu Hattori | TBS | |
| 2005 | Ruri's Island | Yūzō Nakama | NTV | |
| 2006 | Sailor Suit and Machine Gun | Hajime Sandaiji | TBS | Special appearance |
| 2007 | Fūrin Kazan | Usami Sadamitsu | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 2008 | Bōshi | Shunpei Takayama | NHK Hiroshima | Lead role |
| 2008 | Garden of Breeze | Teizō Shiratori | Fuji TV | |

### Japanese dub

* The Golden Compass – Iorek Byrnison (2008)

## Honours

* Medal with Purple Ribbon (2000)
* Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2008)