--- name: "Ken Takakura" canonical: "https://film.one/person/ken-takakura" fi1m_id: "ken-takakura" imdb_id: "nm0847264" tmdb_id: 73427 wikidata_id: "Q741184" roles: ["Actor"] born: "16 February 1931" died: "10 November 2014" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-04T21:02:37.594753+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." --- # Ken Takakura ## Identity Ken Takakura - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ken-takakura - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** ken-takakura - **IMDb ID:** nm0847264 - **TMDB ID:** 73427 - **Wikidata ID:** Q741184 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Takakura, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q741184, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0847264/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/73427 Actor. Born 16 February 1931 in Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan. Died 10 November 2014. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 16 February 1931, Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan - **Died:** 10 November 2014 - **Also known as:** Goichi Oda, 高仓健, Кэн Такакура, کن تاکاکورا, 小田剛一, Takeichi Oda - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Takakura, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q741184, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0847264/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/73427 ## Fi1m on Ken Takakura > Ken Takakura makes a quiet man worth watching, using glances and posture to suggest what he will not say. We rate that restraint highly, even when his films settle for giving us another honourable outsider. In *Black Rain* (1989), Ken Takakura's Masahiro looks as though he is considering what is happening rather than waiting to deliver his next line. His restraint gives a familiar police story someone worth paying attention to, without asking the film to stop for him. We warmed to Masahiro because we could watch him thinking without being told what every thought meant. Takakura makes that quietness feel natural, and the film is steadier for having him in it. It also makes the script's broad treatment of Japan harder to forgive. That quietness was already central to the honourable outsiders who made him a star in Toei's chivalrous yakuza films of the mid-1960s. *Abashiri Prison* (1965) established him as an ex-con antihero and began a long-running series. He could suggest duty through a glance or the way he held himself, although repeated versions of the stoic outsider risked becoming too familiar. Sydney Pollack's *The Yakuza* (1974), alongside Robert Mitchum, brought that manner to an international production. The move towards character-led drama suited an actor who could suggest feeling through small physical details. Yoji Yamada's *The Yellow Handkerchief* (1977) was an important part of that turn. His continuing work with director Yasuo Furuhata, including *Station* (1981) and *Railroad Man* (1999), made loneliness and duty recurring concerns. The sentimentality of *Railroad Man* also exposes a limitation: Takakura can hold back while the film around him presses too hard for our tears. Ridley Scott gets the benefit of that discipline in *Black Rain*, but does too little with it. Takakura suggests a person with more to say than the script is prepared to explore; the film's cultural contrasts remain broad when his performance offers the chance to be specific. That is why we would separate our admiration for the actor from our qualified interest in the film. Even its strongest performance cannot repair that writing. Try it for him if a familiar police story will do for the evening. ## Biography Ken Takakura (高倉 健), also credited as Goichi Oda, was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films. Born Takeichi Oda on 16 February 1931 in Nakama, Fukuoka, he graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo and joined the Toei Film Company after an impromptu audition in 1955. He made his screen debut in 1956 and became a leading figure in Japanese cinema through yakuza and action roles, notably in the Abashiri Prison series from 1965. Takakura left Toei in 1976. He gained international recognition for roles in Hollywood productions including *Too Late the Hero* (1970), *The Yakuza* (1974) and *Black Rain* (1989), in which he played police inspector Masahiro opposite Michael Douglas. Later credits include *Mr. Baseball* (1992), *Railroad Man* (1999) and *Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles* (2005). He received the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role four times and was awarded the Order of Culture in 2013. Takakura died in Tokyo on 10 November 2014. *Sources: imdb.com, theguardian.com, en.wikipedia.org.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Black Rain* (1989), Fi1m 62, as Masahiro — [page](https://film.one/film/black-rain.md) ## Complete filmography (197) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Dearest* (2012), as Eiji Shimakura - *Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles* (2005), as Gou-ichi Takata - *The Firefly* (2001), as Yamaoka Shuji - *Railroad Man* (1999), as Otomatsu Sato - *SMAP×SMAP* (1996), series, as Bistro Guest - *The detective whose path was crossed by a snake* (1995), Actor - *47 Ronin* (1994), as Kuranosuke Oishi - *Korekara: Umibe no Tabibitotachi* (1993), series, Actor - *Mr. Baseball* (1992), as Uchiyama - *An Elegy of Tyrole* (1992), series, as Tateishi Jiro - *Buddies* (1989), as Kadokura - *Black Rain* (1989), as Masahiro — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/black-rain.md) - *Umi e, See You* (1988), as Eiji Honma - *Demon* (1985), as Shuji - *Choji Snack Bar* (1983), as Eiji - *Antarctica* (1983), as Ushioda - *The Longest Tunnel* (1982), as Go Akutsu - *Karate Cop* (1982), as Detective Mikami - *Station* (1981), as Eiji Mikami - *A Distant Cry from Spring* (1980), as Kosaku Tajima - *The Revolt* (1980), as Keisuke Miyagi - *Never Give Up* (1978), as Takeshi Ajisawa - *Winter's Flower* (1978), as Hidetsugu Kano - *Older brother* (1977), series, as Eiji - *The Yellow Handkerchief* (1977), as Yusaku Shima - *Mount Hakkoda* (1977), as Captain Tokushima - *Manhunt* (1976), as Morioka - *The International Gang of Kobe* (1975), as Masato Dan - *The Bullet Train* (1975), as Tetsuo Okita - *Great Jailbreak* (1975), as Ichiro Kozue - *Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack* (1975), Actor - *The Yakuza* (1974), as Tanaka Ken - *The Homeless* (1974), as Jokichi Anabuki - *Third Generation Boss* (1974), Actor - *Golgo 13* (1973), as Duke Togo / Golgo 13 - *Yakuza of the Present* (1973), as Ryoichi Shimaya - *Japan's Top Gangster* (1973), as Kazuo Taoka - *Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die* (1972), Actor - *New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm* (1972), Actor - *The Pledge* (1972), Actor - *Lullaby for a Tough Guy* (1972), Actor - *The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang* (1972), as Kuramoto - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter* (1971), Actor - *The Man* (1971), Actor - *Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love* (1971), as Hidejiro Hanada - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape* (1971), Actor - *Patience Has An End* (1971), as Isamu Tekada - *Dagger* (1971), Actor - *Bloodiest Flower* (1971), Actor - *The Path of the King* (1971), as Ryutaro Fudo - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow* (1970), Actor - *The Domain: Rising Dragon* (1970), Actor - *The Last Kamikaze* (1970), as Koji Yashiro - *Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny* (1970), Actor - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri* (1970), Actor - *Yukyo-retsuden* (1970), Actor - *Too Late the Hero* (1970), as Major Yamaguchi - *The Japan Derby Race* (1970), Actor - *A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life* (1970), Actor - *House of Gamblers* (1970), Actor - *Brave Red Flower of the North* (1970), Actor - *Gambler's Legacy* (1969), as Tsukuda Ginjiro - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town* (1969), Actor - *Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6* (1969), Actor - *Memoir of Japanese Assassinations* (1969), as Saburo Aizawa - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2* (1969), Actor - *Samurai Geisha* (1969), as Shimada Seikichi - *The Domain: Flower and Dragon* (1969), as Kingoro Tamai - *Brothers Serving Time* (1969), Actor - *The Biggest Gamble* (1969), as Shuzo Honjo - *Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony* (1969), as Koji Yashiro - *Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo* (1969), as Hanada Hidejiro - *Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game* (1969), as Shogo Hanaoka - *New Prison Walls of Abashiri* (1968), as Katsuji Suehiro - *Gambler Biography* (1968), Actor - *The Day the Sun Rose* (1968), Actor - *Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza* (1968), Actor - *Rogue* (1968), as Isamu Oba - *Red Peony Gambler* (1968), as Naoki Katagiri - *Histories of the Chivalrous* (1968), Actor - *The Drifting Avenger* (1968), as Ken Kato - *Prison Boss* (1968), Actor - *The Domain: Severed Relations* (1968), Actor - *A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm* (1967), as Shin-ichi Tachibana - *Code of Chivalry* (1967), Actor - *The Domain: Where The Blade Enters* (1967), Actor - *Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil* (1967), as Shin-ichi Tachibana - *Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4* (1967), Actor - *Classmates* (1967), as First Lieutenant Kenmochi - *The Chivalrous Life* (1967), as Ryuma Ibuki - *Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido* (1967), Actor - *The Domain: White Blade* (1967), Actor - *Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country* (1966), Actor - *Glorious Fights* (1966), as Ichiro Takita - *The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate* (1966), Actor - *Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South* (1966), Actor - *Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf* (1966), Actor - *Showdown of Men* (1966), Actor - *The Kamikaze Guy* (1966), as Fumio Kuroki - *The Bullet and the Horse* (1966), Actor - *The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown* (1966), Actor - *Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2* (1966), Actor - *Prison Walls of Abashiri 4* (1965), as Shin'ichi Tachibana - *Prison Walls of Abashiri 3* (1965), as Shinichi Tachibana - *Brutal Tales of Chivalry* (1965), as Seiji Terajima - *Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro* (1965), as Sasaki Kojiro - *The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry* (1965), Actor - *Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2* (1965), as Shinichi Tachibana - *Abashiri Prison* (1965), as Shinichi Tachibana - *Tokyo Untouchable* (1965), as Yoshio Harada - *The Domain: The Naniwa Story* (1965), Actor - *A Fugitive from the Past* (1965), as Ajimura - *The Boss* (1965), Actor - *Storm Party* (1964), Actor - *Wolves, Pigs & Men* (1964), as Jiro Kuroki, the second brother - *The Domain* (1964), Actor - *Main Street in the Underworld* (1964), Actor - *An Outlaw* (1964), as Minami - *Jakoman and Tetsu* (1964), as Tetsu - *Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple* (1964), as Sasaki Kojiro - *Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang* (1964), Actor - *Gang Loyalty and Vengeance* (1963), as Asano - *Blackmail* (1963), Actor - *Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style* (1963), as Sasaki Kojiro - *Duel of the Underworld* (1963), Actor - *Defeat the Boss* (1963), Actor - *The Big Boss* (1963), Actor - *Life of Hishakaku* (1963), Actor - *Tokyo Untouchable: Escape* (1963), as Yoshio Harada - *Violent Street* (1963), Actor - *Eleven Gangsters* (1963), as Sawagami - *Uragirimono wa jigoku daze* (1962), Actor - *Operation Diamond* (1962), Actor - *Hell's Kitchen* (1962), Actor - *365 Nights* (1962), Actor - *Tokyo's Business District* (1962), Actor - *Song of Kagoshima* (1962), as Shuhei Tategami - *Tales of President Mito* (1962), as Sukesaburo Sasa - *Lady Sen and Hideyori* (1962), as Naomori - *All Rascals* (1962), Actor - *The Escape* (1962), Actor - *The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka* (1962), Actor - *South Pacific Waves Are High* (1962), Actor - *Devil's Nursery Rhyme* (1961), as Kosuke Kindaichi - *Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san* (1961), as Kenichi Oka - *Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues* (1961), as Tarô Mannen - *The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado* (1961), Actor - *Flower, Storm and Gangster* (1961), as 'Smiley' Ken - *A Fishwife's Tale* (1961), Actor - *The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind* (1961), as Tarō Senpū - *I Am The Magician From Hell* (1961), Actor - *The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4* (1961), as Kenichi Hanamura - *If You're Man Enough* (1960), Actor - *Storming Squadron* (1960), Actor - *The Sand City in Manchuria* (1960), as Hari - *The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3* (1960), Actor - *The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Rush* (1960), Actor - *Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy* (1960), Actor - *Delinquent Angel* (1960), Actor - *The Great Road* (1960), Actor - *続べらんめぇ芸者* (1960), Actor - *The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2* (1960), Actor - *The Second Bullet is Marked* (1960), Actor - *The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Eternity* (1960), Actor - *The Counterfeiters* (1959), Actor - *Four Hours of Terror* (1959), as Captain Yamamoto - *The Silent Murder* (1959), Actor - *Night of the Suspicions* (1959), as 久里 / 島 - *Hell's Companion* (1959), Actor - *A Dead Drifter* (1959), Actor - *A Man's Dark Finger* (1959), Actor - *The Happy Family* (1959), Actor - *The Bastards of Lawless Town* (1959), as Fumio Sone - *Sister with Sister* (1958), as Hiroshi Ishioka - *The Outsiders* (1958), as Ichitaro Kazamori - *With Songs in My Heart* (1958), Actor - *Midair Circus* (1958), Actor - *Detective Duel* (1958), Actor - *His Pistol is Hell* (1958), Actor - *Beyond the Seasonal Wind* (1958), Actor - *Romance Freestyle* (1958), Actor - *Monsoon Son Pt.2* (1958), Actor - *Monsoon Son* (1958), Actor - *Man of Thirteen Eyes* (1958), Actor - *No Advice Taken* (1958), Actor - *Jet Air Base 101* (1957), as Jiro Nakata - *Showdown in Blood* (1957), Actor - *The Deep Blue Sea* (1957), Actor - *Men Fighting Whales* (1957), as Yosuke Yamagami - *Employee Full of Fight* (1957), as Tani - *恐怖の空中殺人* (1956), as 島田寿夫 - *Mother Peacock* (1956), Actor - *Manchurian Sunset* (1956), as Shintaro - *G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization* (1956), Actor - *The Chop Professor* (1956), Actor - *Meteor Karate Strike* (1956), Actor - *Lightning Karate Blow* (1956), Actor ## Gallery - ![Ken Takakura](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-d42aa19adb92.jpg) Ken Takakura — 国際情報社　撮影者不明, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Ken_Takakura.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![日本侠客伝シリーズ 第1作『日本侠客伝』（1964年8月13日公開） 予告編 での高倉健 (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-6825fb9290bf.jpg) 日本侠客伝シリーズ 第1作『日本侠客伝』（1964年8月13日公開） 予告編 での高倉健 (2021) — 東映京都俳優部, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Ken_Takakura_-_Nihon_Kyokakuden_Series_1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![日本侠客伝シリーズ 第4作『日本侠客伝 血斗神田祭り』（1966年2月3日公開） 予告編 での高倉健 (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-b9046faf1d68.jpg) 日本侠客伝シリーズ 第4作『日本侠客伝 血斗神田祭り』（1966年2月3日公開） 予告編 での高倉健 (2021) — 東映京都俳優部, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Ken_Takakura_-_Nihon_Kyokakuden_Series_4.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![日本侠客伝シリーズ 第3作『日本侠客伝 関東篇』（1965年8月12日公開） 予告編 での高倉健 (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-b1349d89dd73.jpg) 日本侠客伝シリーズ 第3作『日本侠客伝 関東篇』（1965年8月12日公開） 予告編 での高倉健 (2021) — 東映京都俳優部, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Ken_Takakura_-_Nihon_Kyokakuden_Series_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Ken Takakura](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-df3503c3ee32.jpg) Ken Takakura — Image via TMDB - ![Ken Takakura](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-4c7e0644ab6a.jpg) Ken Takakura — Image via TMDB - ![Ken Takakura](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-112b9f25bfe3.jpg) Ken Takakura — Image via TMDB - ![Ken Takakura and Kyōko Kagawa (1958)](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-a6d26893f807.jpg) Ken Takakura and Kyōko Kagawa (1958) — 国際情報社, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Kagawa-Kyoko-Takakura-Ken-2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Ken Takakura and Kōji Nanbara in Abashiri Prison (1965)](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-95b4105d03da.jpg) Ken Takakura and Kōji Nanbara in Abashiri Prison (1965) — 国際情報社, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Abashiri-Prison-Film-1.jpg/1280px-Abashiri-Prison-Film-1.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Ken Takakura](https://film.one/media/person/5554895/gallery-7c2207f42475.jpg) Ken Takakura — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Other awards — 9 won - Order of Culture 2013: Order of Culture (won) - Kikuchi Kan Prize 2012: Kikuchi Kan Prize (won) - Person of Cultural Merit 2006: Person of Cultural Merit (won) - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor 2000: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor (won) - Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actor 1999: Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actor (won), for *Poppoya* - Medal with Purple Ribbon 1998: Medal with Purple Ribbon (won) - Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor 1978: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actor (won) - Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actor 1977: Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actor (won), for *The Yellow Handkerchief* - Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year 1956: Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year (won) *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/ken-takakura