# Kōichi Satō (actor)

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Koichi Sato (佐藤 浩市, Satō Kōichi, born December 10, 1960) is a Japanese actor. He is the son of actor Rentarō Mikuni. He is known for his acting skills and has won three individual Blue Ribbon Awards in the categories of Best Newcomer (1982), Best Actor (2003), and Best Supporting Actor (2024). He is the first actor to win three individual awards since his father, Rentarō Mikuni.

## Early years

Sato was born in 1960 in Kagurazaka, Shinjuku, Tokyo. His mother was a geisha working there. His father was actor Rentarō Mikuni, and it was Mikuni ‘s third marriage.
Sato’s given name Koichi (浩市) was taken from one Kanji character each from the film directors name Hiroshi Inagaki (稲垣 浩) and Kon Ichikawa (市川 崑), with whom Mikuni was close at the time. Sato was often taken to the filming location by Mikuni since he was a child. However, Mikuni left home when Sato was in the fifth grade, and his parents officially divorced at the following year, when he was eleven years old. A scene where Mikuni took Sato to Jukkoku Pass in Izu, Shizuoka and said, "This is my last farewell to you. You go back to your mother's. I'm going to start a wandering life." is a well-known episode.
Mikuni, known for his free-spirited personality, seldom came home, and his mother was often away from home, so Sato, who was an only child, grew independent from an early age and was used to being on his own. Sato said that he didn't really recognized Mikuni as a father and that it was rather distressing to have dinner with him when he occasionally came home.

## Career

Sato left home during his high school years and entered the film department of Tama Art Academy, a vocational school attached to Tama Art University, but dropped out after one year. In 1980, while still in school, he was invited by an acquaintance of his father to make his acting debut in the NHK TV series Sequel to the Case, starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, and the following year he made his film debut in the movie The Gate of Youth. When he saw this film in the movie theater and saw his own image on the screen, he made a renewed decision to live his life as an actor.
His acting ability was recognized early on, and he went on to win a string of awards for the films he appeared in. For The Gates of Youth, he won Japan Academy Film Prize for Newcomer of the Year and the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Newcomer. He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for KT and Utsutsu in 2002 and Best Supporting Actor in 2023. He is the first actor since his father, Rentarō Mikuni, to win three Blue Ribbon Awards for individual awards.
Sato said that his encounter with the two directors was a major turning point for him. The two directors are Shinji Sōmai, director of the 1983 film The Catch and Junji Sakamoto, director of the 1994 film Tokarev. Director Somai taught him, "Sadness and anger are not one thing. Try to express your anger in ten different ways. You are not sad because you cry, but you laugh because you are sad." In Sakamoto's Tokarev, Sato played the role of an infant kidnapper, and he discussed the character of this villain with the director, expressing his opinions. The director acknowledged Sato's opinion, and they worked while discussing, which Sato said was very stimulating for him to act. He and Sakamoto hit it off and became a regular actor in Sakamoto's films and appeared in many of his films, including Face, KT, Children of the Dark, and Human Trust. Debates about acting can get heated, and Sato and Sakamoto once got into a fight in a bar and were interceded by Yoshio Harada, who was there. In 2023, Sato and his son Kanichiro co-starred in Sakamoto's film Okiku and the World.
Sato also said that his encounter with director Kōki Mitani opened up a new path for him. Sato took on the challenge of a full-fledged comedy in The Magic Hour, a 2008 film directed by Mitani, in which he had never acted before. The scene in which he plays Murata, an unsuccessful actor, comically keeps jumping on a trampoline and licks a knife "with a bizarre look on his face" as described in the script written by Mitani was so impressive that the scene was even imitated by a impersonator. This role, played by Sato, who had a strong image as a serious actor, became a topic of conversation, and the film led Sato to broaden his acting range into the field of comedy.

## Arguments with the director

Since his debut, Sato used to insist what he thought as an actor and argued vehemently with the director on the set, as did his father. His attitude was sometimes described as cheeky. When he was over 30 years old, Sato received a letter from Mikuni one day. In the letter, Mikuni wrote only one sentence, "Ikasarete areba koso (生かされてあればこそ)." It meant, "You are kept alive by those around you." Initially, Sato did not quite understand what the words meant. Sato said that Mikuni probably did not think well of his attitude and behavior at the time, as if he was living by himself, and that in later years he gradually came to feel the weight of those words within himself. In addition to that, one day when he was over 40 years old, a veteran female staff member said to him, "You may think you have won by arguing with the director, but it is not only the director who has lost, but all the staff members on site are feeling miserable." He realized that the director represents the entire staff. Since then, he has taken the approach of having the director listen to his opinions in advance and discuss them until he is satisfied.

## Relationship with Mikuni

Since his debut, he has felt conflicted about being called "Rentaro Mikuni's son," and in his 20s and 30s he often felt anger at being called that no matter how hard he worked at acting and achieved results. For many years, Sato had been said to have a feud with Mikuni. Sato and Mikuni first worked together in 1986 in A Promise, but there was little contact between the two in that film. Ten years later, in 1996, the two co-starred in earnest on a film adaptation of a manga series Oishinbo. Mikuni, who was cast to play the role of Yuuzan Kaibara, nominated Sato to play his son Shiro Yamaoka. However, during the press conference, the two called each other "Mikuni-san" and "Sato-kun" as if they were strangers, and they were reportedly at odds over their acting theories, reporting to a father-son feud. However, since the content of the movie was also about a father-son feud, Sato did not dare to deny the "non-getting along" theory at the time. However, after Sato's son Kanichiro was born in 1996, Mikuni dearly loved on his grandson and showed up at his sports event at school, and the father-son rift is said to have disappeared gradually. When Mikuni died in 2013, Sato said of his father, "He was a terrible man as a father. The only thing that existed between him and me was the word 'actor'."
Before his debut, Sato told his father that he would become an actor. Mikuni's only response was "Ah, so." When he later asked, "Why did you say it like that?" Mikuni replied he had been concerned, "Ah, this guy is going to do acting. But what would this guy do if he didn't have anything?" Actually, after Sato's debut, Mikuni went around asking people who were going to work with Sato to take good care of his son. Later Sato's son, Kanichiro, later told him that he also hoped to be an actor, Sato understood the concern his father had felt about him. Sato could only say "Ah, so," like his father.

## Musical Activities

Sato began singing at the urging of senior actor Yoshio Harada, and since his first stage appearance in 2012 at the Yoshio Harada Memorial Live, he has regularly sung on stage with fellow actors. On December 10, 2021, his first album as a singer, Yakusha Uta 60 Alive was released on his birthday. According to Universal Music Japan, the genre in which he sings is blues. This album is a double CD and DVD set, and the DVD includes a live performance without an audience recorded at Blue Note Tokyo. Close actor friends Akira Terao, Ryudo Uzaki, Noritake Kinashi, Yōsuke Eguchi, and Yukiyoshi Ozawa also participated in the live performances as guests.

## Personal life

In his personal life, he married in his 20s and had one child, but later divorced. He remarried in 1993 to stage actress Ayako Hirota, and their first son, Kanichiro, made his acting debut in 2017. Accepting the wishes of his wife, who is a volunteer, he has been working with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Friend Home" program since around 2018 to temporarily care for children from infant homes and orphanages on weekends and during vacations through the foster care system.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1981 | The Gate of Youth | Shinsuke Ibuki | |
| 1981 | Manon | Itaru | |
| 1982 | Dotonbori River | | |
| 1982 | The Gate of Youth: Part 2 | Shinsuke Ibuki | Lead role |
| 1983 | Antarctica | | |
| 1983 | The Catch | | |
| 1983 | Battle Anthem | | |
| 1984 | Fireflies in the North | | |
| 1984 | Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters | | |
| 1984 | Mitsugetsu | | Lead role |
| 1985 | Penguin's Memory | Mike Davis (voice) | Lead role |
| 1985 | Kids | | |
| 1985 | Love Hotel | | |
| 1986 | A Promise | | |
| 1986 | Death Powder | Kiyoshi | Lead role |
| 1986 | Bound for the Fields, the Mountains and the Seacoast | | |
| 1988 | The Silk Road | Zhao Xingde | Lead role |
| 1989 | Shadow of China | Akira Kitayama | |
| 1989 | Company-Sponsored Funeral | | |
| 1990 | Ruten no umi | | |
| 1991 | Psychic Girl Reiko | | |
| 1994 | Crest of Betrayal | Tamiya Iemon | Lead role |
| 1994 | Tokarev | | |
| 1995 | Gonin | Mikihiko Bandai | Lead role |
| 1995 | Pu | Kishore | Lead role |
| 1996 | Oishinbo | Shirō Yamaoka | Lead role |
| 1996 | Gonin 2 | Mikihiko Bandai | |
| 1997 | Lie Lie Lie | | Lead role |
| 1997 | 30 | Suzuki | |
| 1998 | Spiral | Mitsuo Andō | Lead role |
| 1998 | Wait and See | | Lead role |
| 2000 | Face | | |
| 2000 | Whiteout | | |
| 2000 | New Battles Without Honor and Humanity | | |
| 2002 | KT | Masuo Tomita | Lead role |
| 2002 | Utsutsu | | Lead role |
| 2003 | Rockers | | |
| 2003 | When the Last Sword Is Drawn | Saitō Hajime | |
| 2003 | Samurai Resurrection | Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi | |
| 2003 | Wild Berries | | |
| 2004 | Infection | Dr. Akiba | Lead role |
| 2005 | Aegis | | |
| 2005 | What the Snow Brings | Takeo Yazaki | |
| 2005 | Sea Cat | | |
| 2006 | Waiting in the Dark | | |
| 2006 | The Uchoten Hotel | | |
| 2006 | Starfish Hotel | Arisu | Lead role |
| 2006 | A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth | | |
| 2007 | Sukiyaki Western Django | Taira no Kiyomori | |
| 2007 | Smile | | |
| 2007 | Love Never to End | | |
| 2007 | A Gentle Breeze in the Village | | |
| 2008 | The Magic Hour | Taiki Murata | Lead role |
| 2008 | Nobody to Watch Over Me | | Lead role |
| 2008 | Children of the Dark | | |
| 2008 | Free and Easy 19 | | |
| 2009 | Kamui Gaiden | Mizutani Gumbei | |
| 2009 | Brass Knuckle Boys | | |
| 2009 | Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess | | |
| 2010 | Heaven's Story | | |
| 2010 | The Last Ronin | Terasaka Kichiemon | Lead role |
| 2011 | A Ghost of a Chance | Taiki Murata | |
| 2011 | Unfair 2: The Answer | | |
| 2011 | That's the Way!! | | |
| 2011 | Someday | | |
| 2012 | Dearest | Shin'ichi Nanbara | |
| 2012 | Reunion | | |
| 2012 | The Floating Castle | | |
| 2013 | The Kiyosu Conference | Ikeda Tsuneoki | |
| 2013 | Unforgiven | | |
| 2013 | Human Trust | | Lead role |
| 2013 | A Chair on the Plains | | Lead role |
| 2014 | The Vancouver Asahi | | |
| 2014 | Time Trip App | Saigō Takamori | |
| 2015 | The Pearls of the Stone Man | | Lead role |
| 2015 | Terminal | | Lead role |
| 2015 | Hero | | |
| 2015 | Unfair: The End | | |
| 2015 | Gonin Saga | Mikihiko Bandai | Cameo |
| 2015 | Galaxy Turnpike | Taiki Murata | |
| 2016 | 64: Part I | Yoshinobu Mikami | Lead role |
| 2016 | 64: Part II | Yoshinobu Mikami | Lead role |
| 2016 | Midnight Diner 2 | Ishida | |
| 2017 | Flower and Sword | Sen no Rikyū | |
| 2018 | Sakura Guardian in the North | | |
| 2018 | My Friend A | Shūji Yamauchi | |
| 2018 | A Banana? At This Time of Night? | | |
| 2019 | The Fable | The Boss | |
| 2019 | Hit me Anyone One More Time | | |
| 2019 | The Promised Land | | |
| 2019 | Red Snow | | |
| 2019 | The Landlady | | |
| 2019 | Aircraft Carrier Ibuki | PM Keiichirō Tarumi | |
| 2019 | Almost a Miracle | Hino | |
| 2020 | Fukushima 50 | Toshio Isaki | Lead role |
| 2020 | The Gun 2020 | | |
| 2020 | I Never Shot Anyone | Michio Kodama | |
| 2020 | Silent Tokyo | Jin Asahina | Lead role |
| 2020 | Bolt | Yoshida (voice) | |
| 2021 | Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction | Ryūji Tōmatsu | |
| 2021 | The Sun Stands Still | Takeshi Kazama | |
| 2021 | The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill | The Boss | |
| 2022 | Soul at Twenty | Ken'ichi Takahashi | |
| 2022 | Kingdom 2: Far and Away | Lü Buwei | |
| 2023 | Baian the Assassin, M.D. 2 | Inoue Hanjūrō | |
| 2023 | Familia | Komaba | |
| 2023 | One Last Bloom | Jin'ichi Hirooka | Lead role |
| 2023 | Nemesis: The Movie | Mado | |
| 2023 | Kingdom 3: The Flame of Destiny | Lü Buwei | |
| 2023 | We're Broke, My Lord! | Ikkosai | |
| 2023 | Okiku and the World | Genbei | |
| 2023 | Masked Hearts | | |
| 2024 | The Box Man | General | |
| 2024 | Sin and Evil | Kasahara | Special appearance |
| 2024 | Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General | Lü Buwei | |
| 2024 | Tomorrow in the Finder | | |
| 2025 | Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses: The Movie | | |
| 2025 | Unforgettable | | |
| 2025 | Teppen no Mukou ni Anata ga Iru | Masaaki Tabe | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1986 | Musashibō Benkei | Kiso Yoshinaka | |
| 1990 | Tobu ga Gotoku | Sakamoto Ryōma | Taiga drama |
| 1991 | Takeda Shingen | Uesugi Kenshin | TV movie |
| 1992 | Shin'ai naru Mono e | | |
| 1993 | Hotel Doctor | | Lead role |
| 1993 | Subarashiki kana Jinsei | | |
| 1993–94 | Homura Tatsu | Minamoto no Yoshiie | Taiga drama |
| 1994 | Yokohama Shinjū | | Lead role |
| 1995 | Koi mo Nidome nara | | |
| 1995 | Koibito yo | | |
| 1995 | The Abe Clan | Abe Yagobei | TV movie |
| 1996 | Tsubasa o Kudasai! | | |
| 1998 | Tabloid | | |
| 1999 | Africa no Yoru | | |
| 1999 | Dokushin Seikatsu | | |
| 2000 | Tenki-yoho no Koibito | Katsuhiko Yano | Lead role |
| 2001 | Aru Hi, Arashi no You ni | | |
| 2001 | Chūshingura 1/47 | Ōishi Kuranosuke | TV movie |
| 2002 | Tengoku e no Kaidan | | Lead role |
| 2003 | Welcome to the High Plains | Seiji Omokawa | Lead role |
| 2004 | Shinsengumi! | Serizawa Kamo | Taiga drama |
| 2004 | Pride | Yūichirō Hyōdō | |
| 2005 | Climber's High | Kazumasa Yūki | Lead role, miniseries |
| 2006 | The Animal Trail | | |
| 2006 | Suppli | Imaoka | |
| 2007 | High and Low | Kingo Gondō | Lead role, TV movie |
| 2009 | The Summer of the Bureaucrats | Shingo Kazakoshi | Lead role |
| 2010 | Wagaya no Rekishi | Taizo Onizuka | Miniseries |
| 2012 | The Locked Room Murders | Gō Serizawa | |
| 2014 | Leaders | Saichiro Aichi | Lead role, miniseries |
| 2015 | Murder on the Orient Express | Tōdō | Miniseries |
| 2016 | Botchan | | Special appearance, TV movie |
| 2016 | Sogeki | | Lead role, TV movie |
| 2017 | Leaders 2 | Saichiro Aichi | Lead role, TV movie |
| 2017 | Ishitsubute | | Lead role |
| 2018 | Jimmy: The True Story of a True Idiot | Keisuke Miyake | |
| 2018 | As a Father of Murderer Son | Keiichi Yoshinaga | Lead role, TV movie |
| 2018 | Cold Case Season 2 | Naoya Terayama | Episode 4 |
| 2020 | The Sun Stands Still: The Eclipse | Takeshi Kazama | Miniseries |
| 2021 | Okehazama | Saitō Dōsan | TV movie |
| 2021 | Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses | Yukio Nonishi | Miniseries |
| 2022 | The 13 Lords of the Shogun | Kazusa Hirotsune | Taiga drama |
| 2023 | What Will You Do, Ieyasu? | Sanada Masayuki | Taiga drama |
| 2024 | Like a Dragon: Yakuza | Masaru Sera | |

## Awards and nominations
### Awards won

| Years | Awards | department | work | Result |
| 1982 | 24th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best New Actor | The Gate of Youth | Won |
| 1982 | 5th Japan Academy Prize | Newcomer of the Year | The Gate of Youth | Won |
| 1984 | 8th Elan d'or Awards | Newcomer of the Year | | Won |
| 1995 | 18th Japan Academy Prize | Best Actor | Crest of Betrayal | Won |
| 1995 | 7th Nikkan Sports Film Award | Best Actor | Crest of Betrayal | Won |
| 1995 | 16th Yokohama Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Tokarev | Won |
| 1996 | 10th Takasaki Film Festival | Best Actor | Gonin | Won |
| 2001 | 24th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Whiteout | Won |
| 2001 | 15th Takasaki Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Face | Won |
| 2003 | 12th Japanese Movie Critics Awards | Best Actor | KT | Won |
| 2003 | 45th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Actor | KT | Won |
| 2004 | 27th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | When the Last Sword Is Drawn | Won |
| 2006 | 32nd Hōsō-Bunka Foundation Award | Performance Award | Climber's High | Won |
| 2007 | 61st Mainichi Film Awards | Best Actor | What the Snow Brings | Won |
| 2007 | 18th Tokyo International Film Festival | Best Actor Award | What the Snow Brings | Won |
| 2007 | 61st Japan Broadcast Film and Arts Awards | Excellence Award | What the Snow Brings | Won |
| 2008 | 1st International Drama Festival in Tokyo | Best Actor | Kaze no Hate, Tengoku to Jigoku, and Honto to Uso to Tequila | Won |
| 2009 | 63rd Japan Broadcast Film and Arts Awards | Best Actor Award | Honto to Uso to Tequila | Won |
| 2012 | 16th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2012) | Best Supporting Actor | Kagi no Kakatta Heya | Won |
| 2015 | 40th Hochi Film Award | Best Actor | Kishūteneki Terminal and The Pearls of the Stone Man | Won |
| 2016 | 29th Nikkan Sports Film Award | Best Actor | 64: Part I and 64: Part II | Won |
| 2017 | 40th Japan Academy Prize | Best Actor | 64: Part I | Won |
| 2018 | 5th Kyoto International Art and Film Festival | Toshiro Mifune Award | | Won |
| 2024 | 45th Yokohama Film Festival | Best Supporting Actor | Familia, Baian the Assassin, M.D. 2, Okiku and the World and Masked Hearts | Won |
| 2024 | 66th Blue Ribbon Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Okiku and the World, Masked Hearts and One Last Bloom | Won |

### Awards nominated

| Years | Awards | department | work | Result |
| 1984 | 7th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | The Catch | Nominated |
| 2007 | 30th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | The Uchoten Hotel | Nominated |
| 2007 | 61st Japan Broadcast Film and Arts Awards | Best Actor | Honto to Uso to Tequila | Nominated |
| 2009 | 32nd Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | The Magic Hour | Nominated |
| 2012 | 35th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | The Last Ronin | Nominated |
| 2013 | 36th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | Anata e | Nominated |
| 2013 | 36th Japan Academy Prize | Best Supporting Actor | The Floating Castle | Nominated |
| 2016 | 39th Japan Academy Prize | Best Actor | Kishūteneki Terminal | Nominated |