--- name: "Akira Ishihama" canonical: "https://film.one/person/akira-ishihama" fi1m_id: "akira-ishihama" imdb_id: "nm0410968" tmdb_id: 76977 wikidata_id: "Q11586838" roles: ["Actor"] born: "29 January 1935" died: "26 July 2022" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-17T23:14:02.418976+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Akira Ishihama ## Identity Akira Ishihama - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/akira-ishihama - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** akira-ishihama - **IMDb ID:** nm0410968 - **TMDB ID:** 76977 - **Wikidata ID:** Q11586838 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Ishihama, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11586838, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0410968/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/76977 Actor. Born 29 January 1935 in Tokyo, Japan. Died 26 July 2022. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 29 January 1935, Tokyo, Japan - **Died:** 26 July 2022 - **Also known as:** Акира Исихама - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Ishihama, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11586838, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0410968/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/76977 ## Fi1m on Akira Ishihama > Akira Ishihama makes the cruelty in *Harakiri* painfully personal. His gift for playing a young man under pressure gives us someone to care about amid the rules and ceremonies; it is the performance to start with. In *Harakiri* (1962), Akira Ishihama's Motome Chijiiwa is in pain, and the people around him have rules to observe. We were horrified by his suffering and by their willingness to treat it as a matter of correct procedure. Tatsuya Nakadai holds our attention through the film's patient storytelling, but Ishihama makes its cruelty difficult to discuss at a comfortable distance. He gives us a young man to worry about whenever samurai honour threatens to become a subject for solemn debate. He began as the lead in Keisuke Kinoshita's *Shōnenki (Boyhood)* (1951), then took leading and supporting parts in Shochiku dramas through the 1950s and early 1960s. He was frequently cast as a young man in period dramas and literary adaptations. Before *Harakiri*, he had played Chin in Masaki Kobayashi's *The Human Condition I: No Greater Love* (1959). In *Harakiri*, that youth matters: the people defending their code cannot make the suffering in front of them look reasonable. Kobayashi gives him firm support without softening the film. Hisashi Sagara's editing places ceremonial order alongside flashbacks of suffering, keeping Ishihama's predicament central to our judgement of those enforcing the rules. Tōru Takemitsu's music adds unease without making the pain feel grand. We would not call the result an easy watch: the storytelling is sometimes demanding, and Kobayashi's severity leaves little room for relief. Ishihama's vulnerability is essential to keeping that severity from becoming merely exhausting. Later came television supporting roles, including Doctor Tokimura in *Choushinsei Flashman* (1986) and appearances in *Mobile Cop Jiban* (1989). Occasional film and television work continued into the 2010s. That longer career deserves attention, though this one performance cannot tell us how well every other part suited him. Start with *Harakiri*, and choose an evening when comfort is not the requirement. ## Biography Akira Ishihama (1935–2022) was a Japanese actor. He is known for his role as Motome Chijiiwa in Masaki Kobayashi's *Harakiri* (1962), as Chin in *The Human Condition I: No Greater Love* (1959), and for appearances in television series such as *Choushinsei Flashman* (1986) as Doctor Tokimura and *Mobile Cop Jiban* (1989) as Seiichi Yanagida. Born in Tokyo on 29 January 1935, Ishihama worked in film and television from the 1950s onwards. He died on 26 July 2022. *Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Harakiri* (1962), Fi1m 91, as Motome Chijiiwa — [page](https://film.one/film/harakiri.md) ## Complete filmography (71) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo* (2002), series, Actor - *Komugironotenshi sugare oi* (1999), Actor - *Ayamariya Business* (1997), Actor - *Abduction* (1997), as Souichiro Atomiya - *Henshin Mou Hitori No Watashi* (1993), Actor - *Hold Me and Kiss Me* (1992), Actor - *Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue* (1992), as Daimon Kazamatsuri - *Super Rescue Solbrain* (1991), series, as Eizo Kansaki - *Onihei Hankachō* (1989), series, as 中山茂兵衛 - *Mobile Cop Jiban* (1989), series, as Seiichi Yanagida - *Kamen Rider Black: Terror! Demon Mansion at Devil's Pass* (1988), as Dr. Makino - *Deluxe Salon Car Engagement Tour Murders* (1987), as Detective - *Choushinsei Flashman* (1986), series, as Doctor Tokimura - *Danchizuma no sakebi* (1983), as Yuhei Mizoguchi - *Furuya Ikkou's Great Detective Kindaichi Kousuke Series* (1983), series, as Hidesuke Tsubaki - *Onna no naka no akuma* (1982), Actor - *Devil's Flute* (1979), as Toshihiko Shingu - *Edogawa Rampo no bijo shirīzu* (1977), series, Actor - *Suddenly, Like a Storm* (1977), as Dr. Yoshikawa - *Case of the Disjointed Murder* (1977), as Mokubei Miyake - *The Corporation* (1976), as President's Secretary - *Hanzaki Daimyojin, Gorosuke no uta* (1972), Actor - *Mysterious Thirteen Nights: Chapter 8 - The Mysterious Cat Beauty Mansion* (1971), Actor - *Orgies of Edo* (1969), as Chokichi - *The Snow Woman* (1968), as Yosaku - *Daydream* (1964), as Kurahashi - *Daigaku kazoe uta senpai kōhai* (1962), Actor - *Harakiri* (1962), as Motome Chijiiwa — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/harakiri.md) - *Mother Country* (1962), Actor - *Drunkard's Paradise* (1962), Actor - *Immortal Love* (1961), as Yutaka - *Towering Waves* (1960), as Henmi - a journalist - *Princess in Edo* (1960), Actor - *Storm on the Silvery Peaks* (1960), as Shigeru Ôta - *Blind Love* (1959), as Shigeki - *Farewell to Spring* (1959), as Kôzô Teshirogi - *Kaze no uchi so to* (1959), Actor - *Bridge* (1959), Actor - *Flower Shop Curtain* (1959), Actor - *The Human Condition I: No Greater Love* (1959), as Chin - *Moon Over the Abandoned Castle* (1958), Actor - *Aozora yoitsu mademo* (1958), Actor - *Monthly Salary: 13,000 Yen* (1958), as Takahiko - *Woman Unveiled* (1958), Actor - *Hanayome no o noroke* (1958), as Heihachiro Hirose - *The Unbalanced Wheel* (1957), Actor - *Skin-Colored Moon* (1957), as Takashi - *Elegy of the North* (1957), as Mikio Hisada - *Forbidden Sands* (1957), as Isamu - *Young Lovers* (1957), Actor - *The Rose on His Arm* (1956), as Masahiro Hase - *Tears* (1956), Actor - *Shochiku Festival: All-Star Lineup – Studio Express / The Birth of an Actress* (1956), Actor - *The Lady Was Pawn* (1956), Actor - *Youth* (1955), Actor - *Christ in Bronze* (1955), as Kichisaburo - *Next Door to Happiness* (1955), Actor - *The Tattered Wings* (1955), as Ryo - *Brotherly Love* (1954), Actor - *Somewhere Beneath the Wide Sky* (1954), as Noboru, Ryoichi's brother - *The Days of Youth are Days of Sadness* (1954), Actor - *Dancing Girls of Izu* (1954), Actor - *Autumn Interlude* (1954), as Hiroshi Sakai - *Kyūkon sannin musume* (1954), Actor - *沖縄健児隊* (1953), Actor - *Sincere Heart* (1953), as Hiroshi - *The Pigeon* (1952), Actor - *Youth of the Son* (1952), as Haruhiko - *The Waves* (1952), Actor - *Fireworks Over the Sea* (1951), as Ippei Nagisa - *Boyhood* (1951), as First son ## Gallery - ![Akira Ishihama](https://film.one/media/person/102961/gallery-0d0248c8ac1c.jpg) Akira Ishihama — 朝日新聞社 (Asahi Shinbun), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Akira_Ishihama_1955_Scan10008_160707.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Chikage Awashima, Akira Ishihama and Shin Saburi in Nami (波) directed by Noboru Nakamura, 1952](https://film.one/media/person/102961/gallery-c85ca1e534dc.jpg) Chikage Awashima, Akira Ishihama and Shin Saburi in Nami (波) directed by Noboru Nakamura, 1952 — Shōchiku, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Chikage_Awashima%2C_Akira_Ishihama_and_Shin_Saburi_in_Nami%2C_1952.jpg/1280px-Chikage_Awashima%2C_Akira_Ishihama_and_Shin_Saburi_in_Nami%2C_1952.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![石濱朗（1954年）](https://film.one/media/person/102961/gallery-01042b87f11d.jpg) 石濱朗（1954年） — 産業経済新聞社（Sankei Shinbun Co., Ltd.）, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Ishihama-Akira-1.jpg/1280px-Ishihama-Akira-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![『惜春鳥』（1959年）](https://film.one/media/person/102961/gallery-fdc849eb8062.jpg) 『惜春鳥』（1959年） — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Sekishuncho-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/akira-ishihama