# Koji Yakusho

Kōji Hashimoto (橋本 広司, Hashimoto Kōji, born 1 January 1956), known professionally as Kōji Yakusho (役所 広司, Yakusho Kōji), is a Japanese actor. He is known internationally for his starring roles in Shall We Dance? (1996), Cure (1997), 13 Assassins (2010), The Third Murder (2017), The Blood of Wolves (2018), Under the Open Sky (2020) and The Days (2023). For his performance in Perfect Days (2023), he was awarded the Best Actor award at the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

## Early life and education

Yakusho was born in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the youngest of five brothers. After graduation from Nagasaki Prefectural High School of Technology in 1974, he worked at the Chiyoda municipal ward office, or kuyakusho, in Tokyo, from which he later took his stage name.

## Career

In 1976, he saw a production of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths (Played by Tatsuya Nakadai) and was inspired, first to watch, and then later to take part in, as many plays as possible. In the spring of 1978 he auditioned for Tatsuya Nakadai's the Mumeijuku (Studio for Unknown Performers) acting studio, and was one of four chosen out of 800 applicants.
In 1983, he landed the role of Oda Nobunaga in the year-long NHK drama Tokugawa Ieyasu and was catapulted to fame. He also appeared in a TV version of Miyamoto Musashi from 1984 to 1985. For several years, he played Kuji Shinnosuke (or "Sengoku"), one of the title characters in the jidaigeki Sanbiki ga Kiru!. He played a major character in Juzo Itami's 1986 Tampopo.
In 1988, he was given a special award for work in cinema by the Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and continued to appear in films and in a number of TV shows through the '90s.
In 1996 and 1997, Yakusho enjoyed several major successes. The Eel, directed by Shohei Imamura, in which he played the eel-loving lead, won the Palme d'Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. Lawrence Van Gelder in the New York Times called his performance "unerring." Lost Paradise, about a double-suicide, was second only to Princess Mononoke at the Japanese box office.

### International breakthrough: Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance? was such a major hit in Japan that it inspired a domestic dance craze. Ballroom groups and dance schools multiplied in the country after the film's release, and people who previously would never admit to taking lessons announced that they did with pride. Director Masayuki Suo said of his lead, who until that point was known mostly for playing good-looking samurai, "we thought he could play this overworked, tired Japanese businessman, and he did.... He pulled everything off and took his dance training so seriously."
The film also was one of Japan's highest-grossing movies outside the country. It earned $9.5 million in the US and inspired a remake starring Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere, with Gere playing Yakusho's role.
Yakusho next won the Hochi Film Award for Best Actor for Bounce Ko Gals, a film which dealt with high school prostitution specifically, and money worship in general. He collaborated with horror director Kiyoshi Kurosawa in Cure, License to Live, Seance, Charisma, Pulse, Doppelganger, Retribution, and Tokyo Sonata. Yakusho found further recognition with international audiences to some extent with roles in such films as Memoirs of a Geisha and Babel. In the latter, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, he played the father of the deaf-mute played by Rinko Kikuchi.

### Continued success

In 2009, he debuted as director of Toad's Oil. In 2010 and 2011 he was part of both ensemble casts in Takashi Miike's samurai films, 13 Assassins and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai. The latter was in 3D and the first 3D film to be in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the 2011 war drama film Rengō Kantai Shirei Chōkan: Yamamoto Isoroku, Yakusho portrayed Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Yakusho was reportedly the only actor considered for the role; had he not accepted it, the film would have been canceled.
In 2018 he was in The Blood of Wolves. For his performance in Perfect Days, directed by Wim Wenders, Yakusho won best actor at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. In the same year, he has been selected 2023 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival’s filmmaker in focus.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1979 | Hunter in the Dark | Kuwano | Hideo Gosha | |
| 1979 | Eireitachi no oenka: saigo no sôkeisen | | Kihachi Okamoto | |
| 1980 | Twelve Months | Young soldier (voice) | Kimio Yabuki | |
| 1981 | Willful Murder | Journalist | Kei Kumai | |
| 1982 | Onimasa | Kondō | Hideo Gosha | |
| 1982 | Himeyuri no Tô | Otaka | Tadashi Imai | |
| 1982 | The Legend of Sayo | Hatsutaro | Tetsutaro Murano | |
| 1985 | Tampopo | Man in White Suit | Juzo Itami | |
| 1987 | The Great Department Store Robbery | Cello player | Azuma Morisaki | |
| 1988 | Another Way: D-Kikan Joho | Naoto Sekiya | Kōsaku Yamashita | Lead role |
| 1990 | Pod severnym siyaniyem | Genzo Tamiya | Toshio Gotō | Lead role |
| 1993 | Gurenbana | Kenzo Nakada | Mamoru Watanabe | |
| 1993 | Drug Connection | Ryosuke Kano | Shōkaku Baba | Lead role |
| 1994 | Osaka Gokudo Senso: Shinoidare | Ippei Yoshikawa | Tatsuoki Hosono | |
| 1995 | Kamikaze Taxi | Kantake | Masato Harada | Lead role |
| 1996 | Shall We Dance? | Shohei Sugiyama | Masayuki Suo | Lead role |
| 1996 | Sleeping Man | Kamimura | Kōhei Oguri | |
| 1996 | Shabu Gokudo | Makabe | Tatsuoki Hosono | Lead role |
| 1997 | Lost Paradise | Shoichiro Kuki | Yoshimitsu Morita | Lead role |
| 1997 | The Eel | Takuro Yamashita | Shohei Imamura | Lead role |
| 1997 | Bounce Ko Gals | Oshima | Masato Harada | Lead role |
| 1997 | Cure | Kenichi Takabe | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role |
| 1998 | Kizuna | Takaaki Ise/Tetsuro Haga | Kichitaro Negishi | |
| 1998 | Tadon to chikuwa | Kida | Jun Ichikawa | Lead role |
| 1999 | License to Live | Fujimori | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | |
| 1999 | Charisma | Goro Yabuike | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role |
| 1999 | Spellbound | Hiroshi Kitano | Masato Harada | Lead role |
| 2000 | Swing Man | Movie star | Tetsu Maeda | |
| 2000 | Dora-heita | Koheita "Dora-heita" Mochizuki | Kon Ichikawa | Lead role |
| 2000 | Eureka | Makoto Sawai | Shinji Aoyama | Lead role |
| 2001 | Pulse | Ship captain | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Cameo |
| 2001 | Warm Water Under a Red Bridge | Yosuke Sasano | Shōhei Imamura | Lead role |
| 2002 | The Choice of Hercules | Atsuyuki Sassa | Masato Harada | Lead role |
| 2003 | Doppelganger | Michio Hayasaki | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role |
| 2003 | Fireflies: River of Light | Mr. Takiguchi | Hiroshi Sugawara | |
| 2004 | The Hunter and the Hunted | Detective Jin Sekikawa | Izuru Narushima | Lead role |
| 2004 | Tokyo: Level One | The Governor of Tokyo | Gen Yamakawa | Lead role |
| 2004 | Lakeside Murder Case | Shunsuke Namiki | Shinji Aoyama | Lead role |
| 2004 | University of Laughs | Mutsuo Sakisaka | Mamoru Hoshi | Lead role |
| 2005 | Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean | Masami Shin'ichi | Shinji Higuchi | Lead role |
| 2005 | Memoirs of a Geisha | Nobu | Rob Marshall | American film |
| 2006 | The Uchōten Hotel | Heikichi Shindo | Kōki Mitani | Lead role |
| 2006 | Babel | Yasujiro Wataya | Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Foreign film |
| 2006 | Over the Hedge | RJ (voice) | Tim & Karey | Japanese version |
| 2006 | Retribution | Noboru Yoshioka | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Lead role |
| 2007 | I Just Didn't Do It | Masayoshi Arakawa | Masayuki Suo | |
| 2007 | Argentine Baba | Satoru Wakui | Naoki Nagao | Lead role |
| 2007 | Silk | Hara Jubei | François Girard | Foreign film |
| 2007 | Walking My Life | Yukihiro Fujiyama | Satoshi Isaka | Lead role |
| 2008 | Paco and the Magical Book | Onuki | Tetsuya Nakashima | Lead role |
| 2008 | Tokyo Sonata | The Robber | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | |
| 2009 | Mt. Tsurugidake | Morisaku Furuta | Daisaku Kimura | |
| 2009 | Gelatin Silver Love | Client | Kazumi Kurigami | |
| 2009 | Toad's Oil | Takuro Yazawa | Himself | Lead role & director |
| 2009 | Astro Boy | Dr. Bill Tenma (voice) | David Bowers | Japanese version |
| 2010 | 13 Assassins | Shinzaemon Shimada | Takashi Miike | Lead role |
| 2010 | The Last Ronin | Magozaemon Senoo | Shigemichi Sugita | Lead role |
| 2011 | Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai | Kageyu Saito | Takashi Miike | |
| 2011 | Isoroku | Isoroku Yamamoto | Izuru Narushima | Lead role |
| 2011 | Chronicle of My Mother | Kōsaku | Masato Harada | Lead role |
| 2011 | The Woodsman and the Rain | Katsuhiko | Shūichi Okita | Lead role |
| 2012 | A Terminal Trust | Shinzo Egi | Masayuki Suo | |
| 2013 | The Kiyosu Conference | Shibata Katsuie | Kōki Mitani | Lead role |
| 2014 | The World of Kanako | Akikazu Fujishima | Tetsuya Nakashima | Lead role |
| 2014 | A Samurai Chronicle | Shūkoku Toda | Takashi Koizumi | Lead role |
| 2015 | The Emperor in August | Korechika Anami | Masato Harada | Lead role |
| 2015 | The Boy and the Beast | Kumatetsu (voice) | Mamoru Hosoda | Lead role |
| 2015 | Mifune: The Last Samurai | Himself | Steven Okazaki | Documentary film |
| 2017 | Sekigahara | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Masato Harada | |
| 2017 | Oh Lucy! | Komori | Atsuko Hirayanagi | American-Japanese film |
| 2017 | The Third Murder | Misumi | Hirokazu Kore-eda | |
| 2018 | The Blood of Wolves | Shōgo Ōgami | Kazuya Shiraishi | Lead role |
| 2018 | Mirai | Grandpa (voice) | Mamoru Hosoda | |
| 2019 | Wings Over Everest | Jiang Yuesheng | Fay Yu | Lead role; Chinese film |
| 2019 | Whistleblower | Kase | Katsuo Fukuzawa | Cameo |
| 2021 | Under the Open Sky | Masao Mikami | Miwa Nishikawa | Lead role |
| 2021 | The Supporting Actors In Byplaywood | Himself | Daigo Matsui | |
| 2021 | Belle | Suzu's father (voice) | Mamoru Hosoda | |
| 2022 | The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai | Kawai Tsugunosuke | Takashi Koizumi | Lead role |
| 2023 | Perfect Days | Hirayama | Wim Wenders | Lead role; Japanese-German film |
| 2023 | Familia | Seiji | Izuru Narushima | Lead role |
| 2023 | Father of the Milky Way Railroad | Masajirō Miyazawa | Izuru Narushima | Lead role |
| 2023 | Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window | Sōsaku Kobayashi (voice) | Shinnosuke Yakuwa | |
| 2024 | Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality | Takizawa Bakin | Fumihiko Sori | Lead role |
| 2025 | Snowflowers: Seeds of Hope | Hino Teisai | Takashi Koizumi | |
| 2025 | The Brightest Sun | | Tetsuya Nakashima | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes |
| 1980 | Shishi no Jidai | Murakami Taiji | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1981 | Onna Taikōki | Oda Nobutaka | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1983 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Oda Nobunaga | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1984–1985 | Miyamoto Musashi | Miyamoto Musashi | NHK | Lead role |
| 1986 | Inochi | Hamamura | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 1987–1995 | Sanbiki ga Kiru! | Kuji Shin'nosuke | TV Asahi | 7 seasons |
| 1990 | Moeyo Ken | Hijikata Toshizō | TV Tokyo | Lead role; miniseries |
| 1991 | Takeda Shingen | Takeda Shingen | TBS | Lead role; TV movie |
| 1994 | Hana no Ran | Ibuki Saburo Nobutsuna | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 2000 | Aikotoba wa Yūki | Jintaro Akatsuki | Fuji TV | Lead role |
| 2000 | Seance | Sato | Fuji TV | Lead role; TV movie |
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Richard Winters | HBO | Japanese Voiceover |
| 2010 | Wagaya no Rekishi | Narrator | Fuji TV | Miniseries |
| 2011 | Early Autumn | Shinpei Matsubara | TBS | Lead role; TV movie |
| 2014 | Oyaji no Senaka | Sōsuke Aoki | TBS | Lead role; episode 2 |
| 2017 | Ties: A Miraculous Colt | Masayuki | NHK | Lead role; miniseries |
| 2017 | Rikuoh | Kōichi Miyazawa | TBS | Lead role |
| 2017 | The Supporting Actors | Himself | TV Tokyo | Episode 1 |
| 2019 | Idaten | Kanō Jigorō | NHK | Taiga drama |
| 2021 | Pension Metsa | Tsuneki | Wowow | Episode 1 |
| 2021 | Matrilineal Family | Yoshizō Yajima | TV Asahi | Special appearance; miniseries |
| 2023 | The Days | Masao Yoshida | Netflix | Lead role |
| 2023 | Vivant | Nogoon Beki | TBS | |

## Accolades
### Awards and nominations

| Organizations | Year | Category | Work | Result |
| Agency for Cultural Affairs | 1998 | Art Encouragement Prizes | The Eel, Lost Paradise, Bounce Ko Gals, Cure | Won |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2017 | Best Performance by an Actor | The Third Murder | Nominated |
| Asia Pacific Screen Awards | 2023 | Best Performance | Perfect Days | Nominated |
| Asia-Pacific Film Festival | 2023 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Perfect Days | Nominated |
| Asian Film Awards | 2011 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | 13 Assassins | Nominated |
| Asian Film Awards | 2012 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Chronicle of My Mother | Nominated |
| Asian Film Awards | 2019 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Blood of Wolves | Won |
| Asian Film Awards | 2019 | Excellence In Asian Cinema Award | | Honored |
| Asian Film Awards | 2021 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Under the Open Sky | Nominated |
| Asian Film Awards | 2024 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Perfect Days | Won |
| Asian Film Awards | 2025 | Lifetime Achievement Award | | Honored |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 1997 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo | Won |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 1998 | Best Actor | The Eel, Lost Paradise, Cure | Won |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 2016 | Best Actor | The Emperor in August | Nominated |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | The Third Murder, Sekigahara | Nominated |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 2019 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Nominated |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 2022 | Best Actor | Under the Open Sky | Nominated |
| Blue Ribbon Awards | 2024 | Best Actor | Perfect Days | Nominated |
| Cannes Film Festival | 2023 | Best Actor | Perfect Days | Won |
| Chicago International Film Festival | 2001 | Silver Hugo – Best Actor | Warm Water Under a Red Bridge | Won |
| Chicago International Film Festival | 2020 | Silver Hugo – Best Performance | Under the Open Sky | Won |
| Chlotrudis Award | 1998 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance? | Nominated |
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | 2007 | Best Acting Ensemble | Babel | Nominated |
| Deauville Asian Film Festival | 2008 | Tribute | | Won |
| Dubai International Film Festival | 2011 | Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature – Best Actor | The Woodsman and the Rain | Won |
| Elan d'or Awards | 1984 | Newcomer of the Year | | Won |
| Gold Derby Awards | 2007 | Best Ensemble Cast | Babel | Nominated |
| Gotham Awards | 2006 | Best Ensemble Cast | Babel | Won |
| GQ Japan | 2021 | Men of the Year Best Actor | | Won |
| Hawaii International Film Festival | 2012 | Career Achievement Award | | Honored |
| Hochi Film Award | 1996 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo | Won |
| Hochi Film Award | 1997 | Best Actor | The Eel, Lost Paradise, Bounce Ko Gals | Won |
| Hochi Film Award | 2017 | Best Supporting Actor | The Third Murder, Sekigahara | Won |
| Hochi Film Award | 2018 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Won |
| Hochi Film Award | 2021 | Best Actor | Under the Open Sky | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 1991 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Pod severnym siyaniyem | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 1997 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Shall We Dance? | Won |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 1998 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Eel | Won |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 1999 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Kizuna | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2000 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Spellbound | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2001 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Dora-heita | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2002 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Warm Water Under a Red Bridge | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2003 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Choice of Hercules | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2005 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | University of Laughs | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2007 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Uchōten Hotel | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2008 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Walking My Life | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2009 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Paco and the Magical Book | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2011 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | 13 Assassins | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2012 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Last Ronin | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2013 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Chronicle of My Mother | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2013 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Isoroku | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2015 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | A Samurai Chronicle | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2016 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Emperor in August | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2018 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | The Third Murder | Won |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2018 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Sekigahara | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2019 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | The Blood of Wolves | Won |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2022 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Under the Open Sky | Nominated |
| Japan Academy Film Prize | 2024 | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Perfect Days | Won |
| Japan Cuts | 2012 | Excellence in Film | | Honored |
| Japanese Movie Critics Awards | 1996 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo | Won |
| Kinema Junpo Awards | 1997 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance? | Won |
| Kinema Junpo Awards | 1998 | Best Actor | The Eel, Lost Paradise | Won |
| Kinema Junpo Awards | 2022 | Best Actor | Under the Open Sky | Won |
| Kinema Junpo Awards | 2024 | Best Actor | Perfect Days, Familia and Father of the Milky Way Railroad | Won |
| Kyoto International Film and Art Festival | 2014 | Toshiro Mifune Award | | Honored |
| Mainichi Film Awards | 1996 | Best Actor | Kamikaze Taxi | Won |
| Mainichi Film Awards | 1997 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo | Won |
| Mainichi Film Awards | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | The Third Murder | Won |
| Mainichi Film Awards | 2019 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Nominated |
| Mainichi Film Awards | 2022 | Best Actor | Under the Open Sky | Nominated |
| Monte-Carlo Television Festival | 2013 | Golden Nymph for Outstanding Actors | Early Autumn | Nominated |
| Nikkan Sports Film Award | 1996 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance? | Won |
| Nikkan Sports Film Award | 2017 | Best Supporting Actor | The Third Murder, Sekigahara | Won |
| Nikkan Sports Film Award | 2018 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Nominated |
| Nikkan Sports Film Award | 2024 | Best Actor | Perfect Days, Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality | Nominated |
| Nippon Connection | 2017 | Nippon Honor Award | | Honored |
| Osaka Cinema Festival | 2019 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Won |
| Palm Springs International Film Festival | 2007 | Best Ensemble Cast | Babel | Won |
| San Diego Film Critics Society | 2006 | Best Ensemble | Babel | Won |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Babel | Nominated |
| Singapore International Film Festival | 2017 | Cinema Legend Award | | Honored |
| Sitges Film Festival | 2014 | Best Actor | The World of Kanako | Won |
| TAMA Film Awards | 2012 | Best Actor | Isoroku, Chronicle of My Mother, The Woodsman and the Rain | Won |
| TAMA Film Awards | 2021 | Best Actor | Under the Open Sky, The Supporting Actors, Belle | Won |
| Television Drama Academy Awards | 2018 | Best Actor | Rikuoh | Won |
| The Men's Fashion Unity | 2007 | Best Dresser Award | | Won |
| Tokyo International Film Festival | 1997 | Best Actor | Cure | Won |
| Tokyo Sports Film Award | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | The Third Murder | Nominated |
| Tokyo Sports Film Award | 2019 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Nominated |
| Yokohama Film Festival | 1997 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance?, Sleeping Man, Shabu gokudo | Won |
| Yokohama Film Festival | 2005 | Best Actor | University of Laughs, Yudan Taiteki, Tokyo Genpatsu | Won |
| Yokohama Film Festival | 2019 | Best Actor | The Blood of Wolves | Won |
| Yokohama Film Festival | 2025 | Best Actor | Perfect Days and Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality | Won |
| Zenkoku Eiren Awards | 1997 | Best Actor | Shall We Dance? | Won |
| Zenkoku Eiren Awards | 2013 | Best Actor | Chronicle of My Mother | Won |
| Zenkoku Eiren Awards | 2018 | Best Supporting Actor | The Third Murder | Won |
| Zenkoku Eiren Awards | 2022 | Best Actor | Under the Open Sky | Won |

### State honors

| Country | Year | Honor | Ref. |
| Japan | 2012 | Medal with Purple Ribbon | |