Kon Ichikawa
Funakoshi was a favorite actor of internationally renowned director Kon Ichikawa. Perhaps their most notable film was the World War II drama "Fires on the Plain" (Nobi, 1959). Funakoshi played the lead role of Imperial Army Private Tamura, a soldier stationed on Leyte Island in the Philippines. "Fires on the Plain" won awards in Japan and overseas, including prizes for Kon Ichikawa from the Blue Ribbon in Japan and the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.