お笑いタレント Japanese Comedians
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Takashi Sorimachi was born on 19 December 1973 in Saitama, Japan. He is an actor, known for GTO: The Movie (1999), GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (1998) and Fulltime Killer (2001). He has been married to Nanako Matsushima since 21 February 2001. They have two children.- Kiichi Nakai was born on 18 September 1961 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor, known for When the Last Sword Is Drawn (2002), 47 Ronin (1994) and Tian di ying xiong (2003). He has been married to Mayu Yoshitani since September 2000.
- Tarô Yamamoto was born on 24 November 1974 in Hyogo, Japan. He is an actor, known for Battle Royale (2000), Moon Child (2003) and Get Up! (2003). He was previously married to Julie Warisaya.
- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Noritake Kinashi was born on 9 March 1962 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor and producer, known for Sorobanzuku (1986), Inuyashiki (2018) and Urutoraman Zeasu (1996). He has been married to Narumi Yasuda since 1994. They have three children.- Yoshihiko Hakamada was born on 16 July 1973 in Shizuoka, Japan. He is an actor, known for The Cat Returns (2002), Slight Fever of a 20-Year-Old (1993) and Like Grains of Sand (1995). He was previously married to Ai Kawanaka.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Oda Yuji's career in Japanese entertainment began in the late 80s when he released two record singles that went largely unnoticed. He also played supporting roles in a few films and tv shows. Yuji began to garner attention when he appeared in a 1989 tv romantic comedy called "Mama Haha Boogie", opposite Atsuko Asano (101st Marriage Proposal, Abunai Keiji). But it was not until his appearance in the television mini series Tokyo Love Story (1991) in 1991, however, that he became a celebrated star. Since then Yuji has continued to produce the occasional album but has become most known for his impressive acting. Probably his best known role is as the married-to-the-job cop in Odoru daisosasen (1997) and its various incarnations on tv and film.
Yuji's hobbies include shooting pool, diving and racing cars in Japan's Class C circuit.- Toshirô Yanagiba was born on 3 January 1961 in Daisen, Japan. He is an actor, known for Space Battleship Yamato (2010), Bayside Shakedown (1998) and Odoru daisosasen the movie 2: Rainbow Bridge wo fuusa seyo! (2003).
- Shinsuke Aoki was born on 8 March 1976 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor, known for Messengers (1999), August in the Water (1995) and Mr. Baseball (1992).
- Hideaki Ito was born in 1975 in Gifu, Japan. His father was an official in the Japan Self Defense Force and his mother is a housewife. As a child, he became very sick and was hospitalized for about three years. During this time he said that he wanted to become a pilot because he felt isolated in his hospital bed and wanted to see the world. He originally had no intention of becoming an actor, but when he turned eighteen his friend's sister helped him submit an application to a talent competition for young male actors. He came in second place and was signed on to his first talent agency, marking the beginning of his successful career in acting. Hideaki Ito is most famous for his leading role in "Umizaru", a TV and movie series adapted from a popular manga comic about the lives of rescue diver trainees in Kure, Japan. The series began in 2004 and continued for ten years, finishing in 2014. Each of the Umizaru films ranked in the top 100 highest-grossing films in Japan, including both Japanese and Western films. During this time and since then, Hideaki Ito has been involved in over 50 films and drama series. Notably, he starred in the 2007 film "Sukiyaki Western Django" in which he acted alongside Quentin Tarantino. The film was entered in the 64th Venice Film Festival. In 2015, he won the award for the Best Supporting Actor in the Japan Academy Film Prize for his role in "Wood Job!". Today, Hideaki Ito is an international household name in many Asian countries including Japan, China, Thailand, and beyond.
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Jirô Satô was born on 7 May 1969 in Aichi, Japan. He is an actor and writer, known for Brothers in Brothel (2019), Memo (2008) and Watashitachi ga Propose sarenai no ni wa, 101 no Riyû ga atte da na (2014).- Ken Shimura was born on 20 February 1950 in Higashimurayama, Japan. He was an actor and writer, known for Ken Shimura's Idiot Feudal Lord (1986), Za.Dorifutazu no kamo da!! Goyo da!! (1975) and Railroad Man (1999). He died on 29 March 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Takayuki Yamada was born on October 20, 1983. He first started out co-starring in a handful of dramas before making a big splash on Waterboys (2003). He followed up with Fireboys (2004), his award winning performance in Sekai no chûshin de, ai wo sakebu (2004), Churasan 3, H2 and legendary independent master piece The Rakugo Movie (2012). His remarkable acting makes sets him apart among the younger generation of Japanese actors.- Aiko Satô was born on 26 September 1977 in Kanagawa, Japan. She is an actress, known for Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), Time Leap (1997) and Anata no tonari ni dare ka iru (2003).
- Actor
- Producer
- Executive
Takaaki Ishibashi was born on 22 October 1961 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor and producer, known for Major League II (1994), Sorobanzuku (1986) and Major League: Back to the Minors (1998). He was previously married to Honami Suzuki and Masayo Ishibashi.- Yoshinori Okada was born on 19 March 1977 in Gifu, Japan. He is an actor, known for Gendai ninkyoden (1997), Oto-na-ri (2009) and Nonchan noriben (2009).
- Masahiro Motoki was born on 21 December 1965 in Okegawa, Saitama, Japan. He is an actor, known for Departures (2008), Chûgoku no chôjin (1998) and Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992). He has been married to Yayako Uchida since July 1995. They have three children.
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
Hitoshi Matsumoto and his childhood friend Masatoshi Hamada teamed up as comedy duo Downtown. When they had their own TV shows in late 80s, they became phenomenal pop culture among young Japanese people. Unlike other comedy duos in Japan, they are still together, and they dominate prime time TV shows in Japan. They are most notably famous for their yearly "batsu" TV special aired on New Years Eve from 18:30 - 00:00 that has been running for 10 consecutive years which gained a large following internationally via YouTube.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Masatoshi Hamada and his childhood friend Hitoshi Matsumoto teamed up as comedy duo Downtown. When they had their own TV shows in late 80s, they became phenomenal pop culture among young Japanese people. Unlike other comedy duos in Japan, they are still together, and they dominate prime time TV shows in Japan.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Kazunari Ninomiya was born on 17 June 1983 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor, known for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Assassination Classroom (2015) and Gantz: Perfect Answer (2011).- Yutaka Takenouchi was born on 2 January 1971 in Chofu, Japan. He is an actor, known for Shin Godzilla (2016), Between Calmness and Passion (2001) and Shin Kamen Rider (2023).
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mike Maki was born on 27 April 1944. He is an actor, known for Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive (1999), Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive: Sudden Shock! A New Warrior (1999) and GoGo Sentai Boukenger (2006).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tsuyoshi Muro was born on 23 January 1976 in Kanagawa, Japan. He is an actor, known for Gintama Live Action the Movie (2017), Ouroboros (2015) and Dance with Me (2019).- Asami was born in Kyoto and raised in Ibaraki, Osaka. She debuted at 13 in an ad for home builder's Asahi Kasei's Hebel Haus in 1997. She won the Grand Prix at the 3rd Miss Tokyo Walker and soon obtained a supporting role in the 2002 horror film, Dark Water. She has gone on to do multiple commercials and appear in even more films like the rejected woman in Close Range Love or the novelist mentee in The Woman Who Buys The Local Newspaper. She is signed with the Atlantis Cast talent agency.
- Kochi on the island of Shikoku was bombed from the air and razed to the ground by the USA during 1945, but Kochi castle still stands as a historical point of interest. More recently the city has acted as the birth place of short-haired tomboyish singer and actress Hirosue Ryoko. She signed up for the corporate Clearasil/P&G cosmetics' model contest in 1994 when she was 14 and subsequently made her television debut the following year singing on the TK Music Camp program. She began acting for television. She had moved to Kanagawa as a teenager where she had an aunt. By 1997 she was nominated for and won the Best Supporting Actress prize at the 14th Television Drama Academy Awards. She would go on to garner multiple awards for her work on both the small and big screen in the next decade. She released multiple singles and full-length albums of pop music during this time. She enrolled in Waseda University in 1999, but did not graduate. She appeared in the Tokyo-shot French film Wasabi in 2001 where she recited her French lines without understanding them. Hirosue married model Okazawa Takahiro on January 17th, 2004 and gave birth to their son three months later. The marriage actually lasted four years. The relationship though had lasted two since the wedding. She became a single mother at the age of 27. She worked less during her marriage and pregnancy, but had the occasion to appear on screen with Yu Aoi in Hana & Alice in 2004. She had the occasion to work with Yu again in Flowers in 2010. She played alternately an understanding/betraying/compromising wife in Departures in 2008, which won the 81st Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film. She married Izutsu Jun, a candle artist and candle shop owner, in late 2010. She had previously dated Nagai Masaru rumours be believed. They had met in Haiti in March of 2010 participating in earthquake relief there. They have two children. Nonetheless she was caught visiting actor Takeru Sato overnight at his place. Reportedly, she was living alone as she had requested to do during her first marriage, which had lead to that divorce. She cites karaoke and watching movies as favourite pastimes. Like the usual array of celebrities Hirosue fronts for corporate and material goods like NTT, Shiseido and Coca Cola.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Yûsuke Santamaria was born on 12 March 1971 in Oita, Oita, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for Kôshônin: Mashita Masayoshi (2005), Bayside Shakedown (1998) and R246 Story (2008).- Actress
- Soundtrack
The Tokyo born Mizuki Arisa is both an actress and J-pop singer who has done modelling as well as represented corporations in commercials and advertising for their products. Her parents set up a company to support her career, but ended up quarreling and in court. She began her acting career in 1983 at the age of seven and her singing endeavours eight years later in 1991. She began modelling as a child at the age of four. 1991 was the year when she broke through both with the release of her Arisa album and winning the Japan Academy Award for Best Newcomer for Cho Shojo Reiko. She also contributed vocals to a song, Kaze Mo Sora Too Kitto ('Wind Too, Sky Too, Maybe'), for the Sailor Moon anime. Her mother was arrested on drug charges in 2000. Her father was arrested on gambling charges in 2008. She was nominated for Best Actress for her appearance in Bokunchi in 2003. She often starred in and sang songs for the same TV serials. She was associated with successful producer and later fraudster Komuro Tetsuya. Mizuki earned a spot in the Guinness Book Of World Records in 2010 as an actress who has starred in television serials for nineteen consecutive years. This record was extended to thirty by 2017. She married construction company president Koji Aoyama in 2015. Mizuki's lineage is Japanese-American. She attended a school associated with Tokyo's Meiji University, but instead of graduating and attending the university ended up dropping out and not finishing high school. She is managed by Vision Factory.- Issei Ishida was born on 7 December 1974 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor, known for Strange Circus (2005), Confucius (2011) and Yûri (1996). He was previously married to Takako Iimura and Emi Miyake.
- Shinji Takeda was born on 18 December 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. He is an actor, known for Taboo (1999), Pulse (2001) and Gourmet Detective Goro Akechi (2020).
- Daijirô Kawaoka was born on 14 March 1978 in Osaka, Japan. He is an actor, known for Kamen Rider Decade (2009), Kamen Rider Movie War 2010: Kamen Rider vs. Kamen Rider W & Decade (2009) and Space Police (2004).
- Iijima Naoko hails from Yokohama, Japan's second largest city, where she was born. As a child she would walk along the ocean at Yamashita Park and enjoy the views. She was scouted at her part-time job. She began her career in 1988 on the late-night information program Wide Show 11 Pm (which ceased production in 1990) as an assistant on Nippon TV and Yomiuri TV and quickly completed several straight-to-video films, serials and photo shoots. She became a member of the eight-member pop band Ilex in 1989. She was a race queen for Chic in Japan and did gravure modelling as well. She continued doing corporate advertising for the likes of Kirin beer and Coca Cola coffee. She sold a nude photo book. She was in the band W-Nao in 1992. They mostly covered B-z. They had an original single called Rescue Me in 1995. She had a solo single in 1996. She continued appearing on Japanese television and famously married rock and roll musician Maeda Nobuteru of Tube fame in 1997. This lasted a whole four years. She starred in the play Vision! Yokohama as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of that city's port in 2009. She continued to act for various television stations and married a second time on Christmas day to end 2012. She and her CEO beau had dated for three years. She was ranked fourth on a NTT DoCoMo poll of sexiest woman 2013. Yoko Maki was first. She has a tattoo of a red rose on her left arm. She is a fan of the band Lazy.
- Tsuyoshi Kusanagi was born on 9 July 1974 in Saitama, Japan. He is an actor, known for Midnight Swan (2020), Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan (2006) and Ballad: Na mo naki koi no uta (2009).
- Okamura is a very popular Japanese comedian who enjoys great success in Japan. His recent movie Moumantai (1999) aka "No Problem" made over 70 million Yen at the Japanese Box-Office. However, his success doesn't extend outside of Japan. In fact, Moumantai (1999), which broke Box-Office records in Japan, failed miserably in Hong Kong. Okamura is hoping for a major breakthrough (in the style of the incredibly successful Hong Kong comedian Stephen Chow)in the Hong Kong market.
- Mitsuru Fukikoshi was born on 17 February 1965 in Aomori, Japan. He is an actor, known for Love Exposure (2008), Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger (2019) and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002). He has been married to Leona Hirota since November 2012. He was previously married to Leona Hirota.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Kei Tani was born on 22 February 1932 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for Zûzûshii yatsu (1964), Sarari man donto bushi - Kiraku na kagyô to kita monda (1962) and Zoku zûzûshii yatsu (1964). He died on 11 September 2010 in Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.- Tamaki Ogawa was born on 11 February 1972 in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, Japan. She is an actress, known for Samurai Fiction (1998), Kansatsu eien ni kimi wo mitsumete (2007) and Hogi Lala (2002). She has been married to Kera since 6 March 2009.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
The boyish Ueno Juri was born in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. Her mother died while Juri was at junior high school. She was athletic at elementary school and also had piano lessons. She began wearing contact lenses at junior high school. She applied to become a model for a fashion magazine, but failed in the year 2000. The agent, however, kept her on. This agency was called Will and later would become part of Amuse. She did commercial work for P&G in 2001. She began acting in the year 2000, but came to the public's attention five years later when she appeared in the popular Swing Girls movie. She had thought about becoming a singer, but had taken her mother's advice to try acting earlier. Her role garnered her the Newcomer Of The Year prize at the Japanese Academy Awards. She actually can play the saxophone and had had lessons since childhood. She was further popular a year later when she was cast and appeared in the TV serial version of the Nodame Cantabile manga series, which was based on the relationship of novice Classical musicians. Her role won the Best Lead Actress price at the 51st Television Drama Academy. The serial was a major commercial success, which naturally meant the role would be reprised several times. These were not her last awards. The press chimed in with Vogue Japan naming her one of its females of the year for 2008. Another monetary success was 2013's Girl In A Sunny Place, which was also based on a novel. She acted in a South Korean film in 2015. Ueno married Triceratops musicians Wada Sho on 26.05.2016. They had been dating for nine months. Her older sister is singer and adult model Ueno Mana. Her oldest sister is a DJ called Saori. She is managed by the Amuse Agency and does corporate advertising for things like construction companies. She likes music, cooking (prefers fish) and playing the saxophone.- Fukatsu Eri was born in the southern prefecture of Oita. She participated in the Miss Harajuku Grand Prix held in Tokyo's Harajuku neighbourhood at age thirteen and, upon winning it, quickly moved into the world of entertainment releasing singles and albums, appearing on the small and big screen and doing commercials for the likes of train companies. She released a photo book in 1989. As early as 1990 Fukatsu was the winner of the Newcomer Of The Year at the 13th Japan Academy Prize for the horror film A Kiss To Moonlight in that year. Eri performed using the Mizuhara Rie and Takahara Rie pseudonyms before reverting back to her own name. She would win many more awards including Best Actress at the Japan Academy Awards for her work in Villain and A Ghost Of A Chance. She was also successful overseas with her being named Best Actress at the 34th Montreal World Film Festival in 2010. Her 2015 film Journey to The Shore would premiere at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). She was part of the travelling troupe from Tokyo's Setogaya Theatre performing the play Shunkin. She has been seeing fashion designer Shirayama Haruhisa for years and dated Ozawa Kenji and Tsubaki Satoshi prior. Fukatsu is managed by the Amuse agency.
- Satoshi Tsumabuki was born on 13 December 1980 in Yanagawa, Japan. He is an actor, known for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Rage (2016) and Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (2003). He has been married to Maiko since 2016.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Ryôko Shinohara was born on 13 August 1973 in Gunma, Japan. She is an actress, known for The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps (2018), Sakura Guardian in the North (2018) and High-Speed Task Force Turboranger (1989). She has been married to Masachika Ichimura since 8 December 2005. They have two children.- Haruka Ayase was born Aya Tademaru in Hiroshima on March 24, 1985. She's a former gravure idol who has gone on to become a mainstream model, singer & actress. She was athletic during her school days & participated in several sports. She began acting with an appearance in NTV TV's "The Files of the Young Kindaichi 3 (2001)" starring Jun Matsumoto in 2001, the short film Justice in 2002, the feature-length Jam Films of 2002 and finally Amemasu No Kawa in 2004. Her debut single, called Piriodo, was released in 2006, making the Japanese charts' top 10. She has subsequently appeared in diverse roles such as a teacher in Oppai Volleyball, as a cyborg in My Girlfriend Is A Cyborg, a blind masseuse in the historical action film Ichi and as a nurse in the Edo period drama, Jin.
Due to the roles as well as her physical appearance, she has become a popular figure in Japan, the subject of photo books, a corporate spokesperson & hostess of many TV shows. She has won several awards & has been nominated for more.
She's signed to the Horipro Talent Agency, where she got her start after competing in the 25th Horipro Talent Scout Caravan upon moving to Tokyo. She cites karaoke as one of her favorite pastimes. - Born in 1986, Satomi began acting professionally in 2003 at age 17 and has not looked back since. Satomi began her acting career in 2003 when she starred in the drama Kimi wa petto (2003), starring Jun Matsumoto and Koyuki. She has devoted equal time to television serials and the world of movies and in the process won several awards such as Best Actress at both the 27th Japan Academy Prize and 46th Blue Ribbon Awards for My Grandpa.
She is known to Japanese television drama audiences for her portrayal as Saeko Takahashi in the Shitsuren Chocolatier (2014). she gained popularity by appearing in a Shitsuren Chocolatier (2014) with Jun Matsumoto in 2014. She was the most searched for actress on Yahoo Japan in 2014 following roles like Shitsuren Chocolatier. - Actor
- Director
Tsutomu Sekine was born on 21 August 1953 in Tokyo, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for Erik the Viking (1989), Ressha Sentai ToQger (2014) and Ressha Sentai ToQger vs. Kyoryuger: The Movie (2015).- Leo Morimoto was born on 13 February 1943 in Aichi, Japan. He is an actor, known for Wings of Honneamise (1987), Shomuni (1998) and Trick (2000).
- Actor
- Music Department
- Sound Department
Tamori was born on 22 August 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan. He is an actor, known for Tales of the Bizarre (1990), Tanba Tetsurô no daireikai 2: Shindara odoroita!! (1990) and Hakatakko junjô (1978).- The short-haired Mitsushima Hikari was born in Okinawa, which is Japan's southernmost prefecture and mostly occupied by the American military since World War II. Mitsushima's grandmother was French-American. Her siblings are a model, a basketball player and an actor. Hikari began her entertainment career in the band Folder and all-girl Folder 5 between 1997 and 2003. before beginning acting intermittently. She did some gravure modelling. She began taking on consistent acting roles in 2009 with Pride and Sion Sono's exotic Love Exposure. Her performance in Love Exposure won her accolades. Hikari starred in the comedy Sawako Decides (2010), which was written and directed by Yuya Ishii, whom she subsequently married in late 2010. They divorced less than six years later. Hikari won the award for Best Actress at the Fantasia Film Festival. The film itself won the award for Best Feature.
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
One-time volleyball player, model, television personality and actress the Shimane-born Esumi Makiko retired at age 50 in 2017 citing a desire to concentrate on her family in general and children in particular, but magazines reported that the decision came amidst news of an extramarital affair and estrangement from her second husband from whom she was living apart. She denied the allegations and described her companion as a business associate. Reports also had it that she was negotiating a restitution on a bad deal from the businessman. She was no stranger to controversy however. She was once associated to a manager caught vandalizing a celebrity's house and also accused of not paying into her own public pension before the turn of the century while being the advertising face for the plan. She sustained an arm injury playing volleyball and instead became a fashion model, reportedly inspired by singer Miki Imai, which in turn lead to a life in acting, music, writing, nude photo books, commercials and product endorsement. Having played prolifically in many series and films, like Koreeda Hirokazu's Maborishi and Suzuki Seijun's Pistol Opera, it was probably her depiction of an OL (Office Lady) with attractive legs in fashionable miniskirts in the TV serial Shomuni that made her most famous. Being considered talented, attractive and youthful her retirement disappointed observers and fans. She had also won Best Actress and Rookie Of The Year awards. Esumi has two children, married, divorced once and lost a brother to cancer.- Ishida Yuriko was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Her family moved to Tokyo soon after. She travelled to and lived in Hyogo Prefecture, Kanagawa Prefecture and Taiwan as a child due to her father's work. During elementary school she participated in the Junior Olympics as a swimmer. She returned to Tokyo at age fifteen. She was scouted to model while at high school. She graduated from Kagawa Junior College's Institute Of Nutrition. She did a commercial for ANA for Okinawa in 1987. Her TV debut came in 1987 and she has been prolific since. She was in a TV serial called Umi No Gunsei ('Sea's Constellation') and movie Kanashi Iro Yanen ('Sad Colours') in 1988. She and her sister opened their own agency in 1999. She won the Japan Academy Awards prize for Best Supporting Actress for the film Kita No Zeronen in 2005. She is a writer and actress who has equal number of voice acting, serial and movies to her credit. Her sister is Ishida Hikari who is also an actress. She won the 91st Television Drama Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress award for Nigeru Wa Haji Da Ga Yaku Ni Tatsu in 2016. Ishida maintain a short masculine haircut. She cites swimming, strolling, taking baths, writing and reading as favourite pastimes. Yuriko is a writer who has some eight books to her name. She has a dog and two cats as of 2017.
- Yoshino Kimura was born on 10 April 1976 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Confessions (2010), Blindness (2008) and Lost Paradise (1997). She has been married to Noriyuki Higashiyama since 23 October 2010.
- Hitomi Nozoe was born on 11 February 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. She was an actress, known for Onna no kyôshitsu (1959), Danryû (1957) and Three Bosses (1960). She was married to Hiroshi Kawaguchi. She died on 4 May 1995.
- Chosuke Ikariya was born in Tokyo in 1931. First a factory worker, he aspired to be an artist. After learning the double bass he managed to become a renowned player of this instrument, performing in various bands, from an amateur Hawaiian music one to a country and western one to the fabulously successful "The Drifters" (from 1962 to 1985). Chosuke Ikariya later became the leader of "The Drifters", giving the band a a slapstick comedy lowbrow humor trend. A very tall person, always prone to antics, he could in no way remained unnoticed, nor was he by talent scouts who detected his acting abilities. Not too sure of his talents, Chosuke Ikariya hesitated but finally tried his luck and soon discovered he was as good an actor as a musician and even won a Japanese Best Supporting Award for his performance of Heihachiro Waku in 'Katsuyuki Motohiro's "Bayside Shakedown" (1998). His most remarkable role though is the Crying Demon who haunts Akira Kurosawa as a young man in his 1990 "Dreams". Ikariya died of cancer in 2004, at the age of 72.