# Toshiyuki Nishida

Toshiyuki Nishida (西田 敏行, Nishida Toshiyuki, November 4, 1947 – October 17, 2024) was a Japanese actor. He won two Japanese Academy Awards for best actor, for The Silk Road (1988) and Tsuribaka Nisshi 6 (1993). He also won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for Get Up! and Tsuribaka Nisshi 14 (2003). Outside Japan he was best known for his role as Pigsy (Cho Hakkai) in the TV series Monkey.
Nishida served as president of the Japan Actors Union and vice president of the Japan Academy Film Prize Organization Committee. He received the Order of the Rising Sun in 2018.

## Personal life

Nishida was born Toshiyuki Imai (今井 敏行) on November 4, 1947, in Kōriyama, Fukushima, to Izumi and Kie Imai. His biological father Izumi worked at the Kōriyama Postal Savings Bureau, and was born to the family of a karō, a top-ranking samurai official. Izumi died when Nishida was young, and Kie raised him while working as a beautician. After Kie remarried, Nishida, five years old at the time, was adopted by Kie's younger sister and her husband, Miyo and Tatsuji Nishida, respectively. His adoptive father's ancestors served Shimazu Nariakira, the daimyo of Satsuma Domain, and defended Satsuma during the Anglo-Satsuma War.
Nishida and his adoptive parents lived at a Shinto shrine's office, and although Tatsuji worked at the Kōriyama City Hall, the family was barely making a living. Tatsuji took him to the movies on the weekends, which inspired Nishida to join the drama club at his elementary school. During middle school, he told his parents that he wanted to become an actor and received strong support from his parents. During high school, he moved to Tokyo to "learn standard Japanese". In 1968, he entered an acting school, and his parents moved to Tokyo to support him.
Nishida was found dead in his home in Setagaya, Tokyo, on October 17, 2024, at the age of 76. He had previously been suffering from a chronic heart condition.

## Career

In Japan, he was best known for his fishing comedy series, Tsuribaka Nisshi ("The Fishing Maniac's Diary"), which spans 21 episodes. Outside Japan Nishida was best known for his portrayal of Pigsy in the first season of the TV series Monkey, or for his role in the 2008 film The Ramen Girl, as the sensei of American actress Brittany Murphy's character.
Nishida was nominated 10 times for a Japanese Academy Award and won twice, once for best actor in The Silk Road in 1988 as Gakko, and once for best actor in Tsuribaka Nisshi 6 in 1993. He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor in 2003 for Get Up! and Tsuribaka Nisshi 14.
In 2017, Nishida reprised his role as yakuza underboss Nishino in Takeshi Kitano's Outrage trilogy to positive reviews.
In 2018, Nishida received the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, alongside comedian Takeshi Kitano.
Nishida served as president of the Japan Actors Union and vice president of the Japan Academy Film Prize Organization Committee. He was a 'Frontier Ambassador' for his hometown of Kōriyama City.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | Okita Sōji | Nagakura Shinpachi | |
| 1977 | Ballad of Orin | Suketaro | |
| 1979 | Devil's Flute | Kindaichi Kōsuke | |
| 1981 | Edo Porn | Sashichi | |
| 1984 | Station to Heaven | | |
| 1986 | Uemura Naomi Monogatari | Naomi Uemura | Lead role |
| 1988 | Dun-Huang | Zhu Wangli | Lead role |
| 1988–2009 | Tsuribaka Nisshi series | Hama-chan | Lead role |
| 1992 | Tengoku no Taizai | | |
| 1992 | Dreams of Russia | | |
| 1992 | Kantsubaki | Iwago Tomita | Lead role |
| 1993 | Gakko | Mr. Kuroi | Lead role |
| 1996 | Gakko II | Ryuhei Aoyama | Lead role |
| 2002 | Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS | Shizuo Kagaya | Lead role |
| 2003 | Get Up! | | Lead role |
| 2006 | The Uchōten Hotel | | |
| 2007 | Sukiyaki Western Django | | |
| 2007 | Happy Ever After | | |
| 2008 | The Ramen Girl | | American film |
| 2008 | Flowers in the Shadows | Moses | |
| 2008 | The Magic Hour | Kōnosuke Teshio | |
| 2009 | Castle Under Fiery Skies | | Lead role |
| 2009 | Asahiyama Zoo Story: Penguins in the Sky | Kanji Takizawa | Lead role |
| 2010 | Space Battleship Yamato | Hikozaemon Tokugawa | |
| 2011 | A Letter to Momo | Iwa | Voice role |
| 2011 | Once in a Blue Moon | Sarashina Rokubei | |
| 2012 | Reunion | Aiba | Lead role |
| 2012 | Beyond Outrage | Nishino | |
| 2013 | Emperor | General Kajima | American film |
| 2013 | The Kiyosu Conference | Sarashina Rokubei | |
| 2015 | Maestro! | Tendō | |
| 2015 | Jinuyo Saraba: Kamuroba Mura e | Nakanussan | |
| 2015 | Love & Peace | Pa | |
| 2015 | Galaxy Turnpike | | |
| 2016 | A Living Promise | Gentaro Nishimura | |
| 2017 | Miracles of the Namiya General Store | Yūji Namiya | |
| 2017 | Outrage Coda | Nishino | |
| 2019 | Ninkyō Gakuen | Yūzō Akimoto | Lead role |
| 2020 | Voices in the Wind | Imada | |
| 2020 | The Untold Tale of the Three Kingdoms | Munemitsu Soga | |
| 2021 | A Morning of Farewell | Tōru Senkawa | |
| 2022 | What to Do with the Dead Kaiju? | Prime Minister Kan Nishiōtachime | |
| 2024 | Doctor-X: The Movie | Shigekatsu Hiruma | Posthumous release |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | Shin Heike Monogatari | Hōjō Yoshitoki | Taiga drama |
| 1977 | Kashin | Yamagata Aritomo | Taiga drama |
| 1977–1979 | Tokusō Saizensen | Detective Yōzō Takasugi | |
| 1978–1979 | Saiyuki | Cho Hakkai/Pigsy | |
| 1981 | Onna Taikō-ki | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | Taiga drama |
| 1984 | Sanga Moyu | Tadashi Amō | Lead role, Taiga drama |
| 1986 | Byakkotai | Kayano Gonbei | |
| 1988 | Takeda Shingen | Yamamoto Kansuke | Taiga drama |
| 1990 | Tobu ga Gotoku | Saigō Takamori | Lead role, Taiga drama |
| 1995 | Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune | Tokugawa Yoshimune | Lead role, Taiga drama |
| 1998 | Oda Nobunaga: Tenka wo Totta Baka | Saitō Dōsan | Special appearance, TV movie |
| 2000 | Aoi | Tokugawa Hidetada | Lead role, Taiga drama |
| 2003 | Musashi | Yamanouchi Hanbei | Taiga drama |
| 2003 | The Great White Tower | Mataichi Zaizen | |
| 2005 | Tiger and Dragon | Hayashiyatei Donbei | |
| 2005 | Hiroshima Showa 20 nen 8 Gatsu Muika | elder Toshiaki Yajima | TV movie |
| 2006 | Kōmyō ga Tsuji | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Taiga drama |
| 2007 | The Family | Ichirō Ōkawa | |
| 2009–2011 | Clouds Over the Hill | Takahashi Korekiyo | |
| 2010 | Wagaya no Rekishi | Yame Tokijiro | Miniseries |
| 2010 | Yae's Sakura | Saigō Tanomo | Taiga drama |
| 2010 | Detective Lovesick | Tsukikage Yōzō | |
| 2013–2021 | Doctor-X | Shigekatsu Hiruma | 7 seasons |
| 2014 | Nobunaga Concerto | Saitō Dōsan | |
| 2014 | Tokyo ni Olympic o Yonda Otoko | Masaji Tabata | TV movie |
| 2015 | Tsuribaka Nisshi | Su-san | |
| 2016 | Montage | Shinnosuke Sawada | TV movie |
| 2017 | Kohaku | Katsumi Yoneda | Lead role, TV movie |
| 2018 | Segodon | Narrator / Saigō Kikujirō | Taiga drama |
| 2021 | Story of My Family!!! | Jusaburo Miyama | |
| 2022 | The 13 Lords of the Shogun | Emperor Go-Shirakawa | Taiga drama |
| 2023 | Fixer | Goichi Hongō | Special appearance |

### Variety show

| Year | Title | Notes | Source |
| 2001–2019 | Knight Scoop | as Chairman | |

### Dubbing

* Robots (Bigweld)

## Honours

* Medal with Purple Ribbon (2008)
* Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2018)