# Kin'ya Kitaōji

Kin'ya Kitaōji (北大路 欣也, Kitaōji Kin'ya, born February 23, 1943) is a Japanese actor.

## Biography
### Early life

He was born in Kyoto, son of jidaigeki film star Ichikawa Utaemon, and graduated from Waseda University School of Letters, Arts and Sciences II in Tokyo.

### Acting career

Kin'ya made his debut with his father in the 1956 Toei film Oyakodaka in the role of Katsu Kaishū. He is a contemporary of, and was taken to be a rival of, Hiroki Matsukata, who was also the son of a famous actor (Jūshirō Konoe). In 1964, Kin'ya made his first appearance on stage in Cyrano de Bergerac.
The 1960s and 1970s saw him in many contemporary roles. He appeared in Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode as well as Karei naru Ichizoku. The title role in the 1975 film Takehisa Yumeji was his.
On television, Kitaōji portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in the Nippon Television show of the same name. A major historical role was Sakamoto Ryōma in the year-long prime-time NHK taiga drama Ryōma ga Yuku (1968). He landed the title role in the long-running cop show Zenigata Heiji, set in the Edo period. In the 1985 twelve-hour New Year special Fūun Yagyū Bugeichō, he played Yagyū Jūbei, and in the following year's special, he portrayed both Tokugawa Yoshimune and Yagyū Shinrokurō. The role of another shogun fell to him in the following new year as TV Tokyo tapped him to play Tokugawa Iemitsu. Kin'ya returned to NHK for the 1987 Taiga drama Dokuganryū Masamune as Date Terumune, father of title character Date Masamune.
Another role he took had been created by his father. Saotome Mondonosuke was the title character in the series Gozonji! Hatamoto Taikutsu Otoko (The Bored Hatamoto). It ran from 1988 to 1994 on TV Asahi. His father, Ichikawa Utaemon, had appeared in numerous films and a 1973-74 TV series as Mondonosuke.
Kin'ya reprised the part of Miyamoto Musashi in the 1990 New Year's special. Toshirō Mifune had portrayed Musashi in the earlier film, also based on the Eiji Yoshikawa story, that had won an Academy Award. He returned to the New Year's special in 1996, again as the famous swordsman, in Tokugawa Kengōden Sore kara no Musashi.
His first portrayal of Ōishi Kuranosuke was in the 1996 Chūshingura. He took up the role again in 2004 for the NHK Saigo no Chūshingura and in 2007, in the New Year special Chūshingura Yōzei-in no Inbō. Other historical roles from the Sengoku period include Azai Nagamasa, Saitō Dōsan, and Yamamoto Kansuke. In addition to historical parts, he appeared in fictional series. His portrayal of Ogami Ittō in Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf and Cub) (2002-2004), which was a series for Asahi TV in Japan, is representative of these appearances.
In 2008, Kitaōji revisited the role of Katsu Kaishū in the taiga drama Atsuhime. He had portrayed Katsu in his 1956 debut.
He won the award for best actor at the 10th Hochi Film Award for Fire Festival and Haru no Kane. Kitaōji played one of the lead roles in Hideo Nakata's psychological thriller film The Incite Mill.
In recent times, Kitaōji voices the Hokkaido-inu character of "Father" in SoftBank Mobile's White Family advertising campaign.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1956 | Virtue in Spades | Young Katsu Kaishū | Debut role |
| 1956 | Avenging Father | Minamoto no Yoriie | |
| 1957 | The Mansion of Intrigue | | |
| 1957 | Shadow Over Fuji | | |
| 1957 | Golden Spell | | |
| 1958 | Kingdom of Youth | Yamanaka Shikanosuke | Lead role |
| 1959 | The Idle Vassal Pt.13 | | |
| 1961 | The Orphan Brother | Zushiōmaru (voice) | |
| 1962 | Tale of Genji Kuro | Minamoto no Yoshitsune | Lead role |
| 1964 | Wolves, Pigs and Men | Sabu | |
| 1965 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Matsudaira Motonobu | Lead role |
| 1969 | Shinsengumi | Okita Sōji | |
| 1971 | Men and War Part II | Shunsuke Godai | |
| 1973 | Men and War Part III | Shunsuke Godai | |
| 1973 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima | Shoji Yamanaka | Lead role |
| 1974 | Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode | Tamotsu Matsumura | |
| 1974 | Karei-naru Ichizoku | Yoshihiko Ichinose | |
| 1975 | Cross the Rubicon! | Takeshi Kiyomoto | Lead role |
| 1975 | The Bullet Train | Detective | Special appearance |
| 1976 | Fumō Chitai | Kaifu | |
| 1977 | Mount Hakkoda | Captain Kanda | Lead role |
| 1978 | Dynamaite Don Don | Ginji | |
| 1982 | Future War 198X | Wataru Mikumo (voice) | Lead role |
| 1984 | Kūkai | Kūkai | Lead role |
| 1985 | Fire Festival | Tatsuo | Lead role |
| 1985 | Haru no Kane | Rokuheita Narumi | Lead role |
| 1993 | Rainbow Bridge | Chōzaemon | |
| 2010 | The Incite Mill | Yoshiya Ando | |
| 2010 | Sakurada Gate Incident | Tokugawa Nariaki | |
| 2012 | Asura | Buddhist Monk (voice) | |
| 2016 | One Piece Film: Gold | Raise Max (voice) | |
| 2019 | Whistleblower | Ikuo Tokuyama | |
| 2020 | The Confidence Man JP: Episode of the Princess | Raymond | |
| 2023 | The Legend and Butterfly | Saitō Dōsan | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968 | Ryōma ga Yuku | Sakamoto Ryōma | Lead role; Taiga drama |
| 1970 | Momi no Ki wa Nokotta | Sakai Tadakiyo | Taiga drama |
| 1972 | Shin Heike Monogatari | Prince Mochihito | Taiga drama |
| 1987 | Dokuganryū Masamune | Date Terumune | Taiga drama |
| 1991–1998 | Zenigata Heiji | Zenigata Heiji | Lead role; 7 seasons |
| 2001 | Hojo Tokimune | Xie Guoming | Taiga drama |
| 2002-2004 | Lone Wolf and Cub | Ogami Itto | Lead role; 3 seasons |
| 2007 | The Family | Daisuke Manpyo | |
| 2007 | Liar Game | Hasegawa | |
| 2008 | Atsuhime | Katsu Kaishū | Taiga drama |
| 2008 | Genjūrō Hissatsuken | Koyama Genjuro | Lead role |
| 2009 | Genjūrō's Deadly Sword: The Return of Shinigami | Koyama Genjuro | Lead role; TV movie |
| 2010–2018 | Zettai Reido | Hideo Nagashima | 3 seasons |
| 2011 | Gō | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Taiga drama |
| 2012 | Man of Destiny | Prime Minister Sahashi | |
| 2013–2020 | Hanzawa Naoki | Ken Nakanowatari | Special appearance; 2 seasons |
| 2014 | Doctor-X | Yoshihito Tendō | Season 3 |
| 2015 | Burning Flower | Mōri Takachika | Taiga drama |
| 2015 | Massan | Ryūnosuke Uesugi | Asadora |
| 2015–2023 | Seven Detectives | Shuntaro Domoto | 9 seasons |
| 2019–2022 | Kioku Sōsa | Ichiro Onizuka | Lead role; 3 seasons |
| 2021 | Reach Beyond the Blue Sky | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Taiga drama |
| 2024 | Believe: A Bridge to You | Goro Bando | Special appearance |

### Dubbing

| Year | Title | Role | Dub for | Ref. |
| 2009 | Hachi: A Dog's Tale | Professor Parker Wilson | Richard Gere | |

## Honours

* Medal with Purple Ribbon (2007)
* Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2015)
* Person of Cultural Merit (2023)