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1-50 of 273
- British actress Pamela Franklin has worked with many notable actors and directors throughout her career. A somewhat underrated actress, she had a wide range of emotions that she brought to her many versatile characters. Franklin was born in Yokohama, Japan, and her father was an importer/exporter. She initially studied dance at the Elmhurst School of Ballet in England (now the Elmhurst School for Dance). She made her film debut at age 11 as "Flora" in The Innocents (1961) alongside Deborah Kerr and a year later appeared as "Tina" in The Lion (1962) with William Holden and Trevor Howard. She has worked with many directors including Ronald Neame, Jack Clayton, and John Huston. Franklin is most remembered for her performance as the rebellious "Sandy" in the The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) which starred Maggie Smith and also as the hapless kidnap victim in The Night of the Following Day (1969) in which she appeared with Marlon Brando and Rita Moreno.
Franklin later carved out a niche as a "scream queen" in a handful of 1970s horror features. She portrayed the psychic medium in The Legend of Hell House (1973) which also featured Roddy McDowall. For many years, Franklin made several guest appearances on hit TV shows. In the early 1970s, she married actor Harvey Jason whom she met on the set of Necromancy (1972) and had two children. Franklin retired from acting in the early 1980s. - Actor
- Director
- Composer
Tadanobu Asano's a Japanese film actor. His father suggested he take on what became his first role in the TV show Kimpachi Sensei at 16. His film debut was Swimming Upstream (1990) though his first major critical success was in Shunji Iwai's Fried Dragon Fish (1993). His first critical success in the West was in Hirokazu Koreeda's Maborosi (1995), in which he played a man who inexplicably throws himself in front of a train, widowing his wife & orphaning his infant son. His best known works internationally are the samurai films Taboo (1999) & The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003). It was on the set of Iwai's Picnic (1996) that he met & fell in love with J-Pop idol Chara. They married soon after learning she was pregnant with their first child, Sumire. While best known for characters who are psychologically offbeat, if not downright psychotic (e.g. Kakihara in Ichi the Killer (2001)), he has been described by those who know him as a down-to-earth family man. He has directed commercial TV spots for Chara. Hesistant to identify himself as an actor, he most readily describes himself as a vocalist, referring to Mach 1.67, the band he has w/ director Gakuryû Ishii. He's also an artist & sometimes works as a model, most notably for the Japanese designers Takeo Kikuchi & Jun Takahashi.- Actor
- Writer
- Music Department
Takehito Koyasu was born on 5 May 1967 in Yokohama, Japan. He is an actor and writer, known for Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997), Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone (2007) and Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (2009).- Suzuka Ohgo was born on 5 August 1993 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Gokusen (2002) and Kamen Rider Zero-One (2019).
- Robert Eddison was born on 10 June 1908 in Yokohama, Japan. He was an actor, known for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Theban Plays by Sophocles (1986) and The Eustace Diamonds (1959). He died on 14 December 1991 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ryo Kase was born on November 9, 1974, in Kanagawa, Japan.
Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Washington, United States, where he spent most of his childhood.
Kase began his acting career in 2000 and gained his first starring role in Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's Antena (2003). He then went on to work with several internationally-renowned Japanese film directors, including Takeshi Kitano, Hirokazu Koreeda, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa. His first appearance in an international film was Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). He continued to appear in several high-profile international films including Gus Van Sant's Restless (2011), Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone in Love (2012), Hong Sang-soo's Hill of Freedom (2014), and Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016).
He is a recipient of multiple awards, including a nomination for Japan Academy Award, Blue Ribbon Award, and Hochi Film Award.- Animation Department
- Art Department
- Writer
Graduated from Yokohama High School in 1968. After a few years working as animator at Mushi Production Animation, the company went bankrupt in 1972 and he joined Madhouse Studio. In the 70s he was promoted to animation director and finally debuted as film director in 1984's "SF New Century Lensman", jointly with the more experienced Kazuyuki Hirokawa (Kawajiri also did the character design along with Kazuo Tomizawa). His first film in solitaire (and doing also the animation direction) was "Wicked City" (1987), which confirms his mastery in filmmaking. That same year he began to work for the Original Video Animation market debuting with "The Phoenix". From 1987 he also wrote his own scripts.- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
Shingo Katori was born on January 31, 1977 in Yokohama, Japan. When he was 10, he joined Johnny & Associates. 2 years later, he became a member of the pop group SMAP. It garnered great popularity throughout Japan. Ever since, he has been involved in singing, dancing, acting & hosting TV shows.- Nae was born on 12 May 1970 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. She is an actress, known for Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Inland Empire (2006) and A Class to Remember (1993).
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Setsuko Hara became one of Japan's best-loved stars over her 30-year film career. Her signature character type, variations on a daughter devoted to her parents and home, inspired the nickname that stayed with her until retirement: the Eternal Virgin. To some extent, reality mirrored her roles in these films. In a society that considers marriage and parenting almost obligatory, she remained single and childless, something of a controversy in Japan in the 1950s. Fortunately she was popular enough to avoid criticism, but the 1950s were still a hard decade. She was plagued by ill health, missing out on several top roles as a result, and she witnessed the death of her camera-man brother in a freak train accident on set.
In 1963, shortly after the death of her mentor, director Yasujirô Ozu, she suddenly walked away from the film industry. At age 43, and at the height of her popularity, she bluntly refused to perform again, angering her fans, the industry, and the press. She implied acting had never been a pleasure and that she had only pursued a career in order to provide for her large family; this explanation is seen as the cause of her popularity backlash. She moved to a small house in picturesque Kamakura where she remained, living alone (though apparently sociable with friends), and refusing all roles offered.
She is undoubtedly known mostly for her work with Yasujiro Ozu, making six films with the great director, including the so-called Noriko trilogy, of which Tokyo Story (1953) is probably the best-known. She also worked with Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse, Hiroshi Inagaki, and many others.- Nanako Matsushima has starred in leading roles in Japan for over 20 years. She began her career as a fashion model while still in her teens. By 1996, she played the heroine in NHK Japan's serial TV drama "Himawari", catapulting her to stardom. Since then she has played leading roles in numerous hit TV dramas and has captivated audiences with her performances. Among her film credits is the main character in "Ring", a movie that sparked a boom in the horror genre, and a role that was later reprised by Naomi Watts in a Hollywood remake.
- Kazuya Tanabe was born on 31 July 1985 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He is an actor, known for Tokyo Vice (2022), Kate (2021) and The Terror (2018).
- Eiko Matsuda was born on 18 May 1952 in Yokohama, Japan. She was an actress, known for In the Realm of the Senses (1976), Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970) and Tatto of the Jack (1970). She died on 9 March 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.
- Actor
- Sound Department
- Soundtrack
Kazuhiko Inoue was born on 26 March 1954 in Yokohama, Japan. He is an actor, known for Naruto (2002), Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger (2016) and Guilty Crown (2011).- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Director
James was born in Yokohama and raised in rural Yamagata, Japan. He moved to the U.S. after high school and earned a BA in literature from Wheaton College and an MFA in acting and directing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
James is based in NYC, working as an actor, director, translator, and writer. Many fans know him as Robert Minoru from Marvel's Runaways. He has originated many roles on and off Broadway, including Sarah Ruhl's The Oldest Boy, Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out (2003 Tony Award for Best Play), A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, John Guare's A Few Stout Individuals, and Julia Cho's Durango. His credits also include characters in world-premiere stage adaptations of literary classics, such as Yunioshi in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's on Broadway and Toru in Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle at the Edinburgh Int'l Festival and the Singapore Arts Festival.
For the stage, he has directed My Friend Has Come for the Asian American Writers Workshop, Dancing with the Bird at the Japan Society in New York, "Clippy and Ms. U" for Ma-Yi Studios, and Ready or Not and It's a Jungle Out There for the 52nd Street Project Playmaking series. He made his filmmaking debut in '11 with Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty, which won Best Feature in the DIY film competition at Northside Festival, a trendsetter art festival in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
James was the conceiver of the theater benefit "SHINSAI: Theaters for Japan" which took place on March 11, 2012, the one-year anniversary of the disasters in Japan, with participation from nearly 100 theaters, internationally. He also collaborates frequently with Japanese artists, translating award winning contemporary Japanese plays and subtitling major Japanese studio films.
James is also a martial artist with black belts in judo and aikido.- Actress
- Producer
Rina Hoshino is a bilingual Japanese-American actress, award-winning voiceover artist and singer. Born in Yokohama, Japan and having spent her adolescence in Seattle, Hoshino trained at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles.
In 2019, Hoshino voiced Mewtwo in Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) which was a world-wide sensation and became one of the most successful Live-Action Film Adaptation of a Video Game. She also voiced Bunko in World War Z (2019) which sold a million copies in its 1st week of release. Hoshino was a Lead in the short film: And Then, which has won several film festivals globally including Short Shorts Film Festival, Seattle Asian American Film Festival, Toronto Ellensburg Film Festival and has been nominated to multiple Oscar-Qualifying festivals.- Actor
- Music Department
- Director
Naoto Takenaka was born on 20 March 1956 in Yokohama, Japan. He is an actor and director, known for Nowhere Man (1991), 119 (1994) and Shall We Dance? (1996).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Keiko Kishi was born on 11 August 1932 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for The Twilight Samurai (2002), Kah-chan (2001) and Brother (1960). She was previously married to Yves Ciampi.- Tomoya Nagase's a Japanese singer and actor. He's the youngest member of TOKIO, a Johnny Entertainment musical group. He's the primary vocalist as well as a guitarist alongside TOKIO's leader, Shigeru Joshima. He's known as Nagase, Tomoya, Naga-kun, Tomo-kun, Baby or Tomobaby.
He was born in Yokohama. His father was a professional motorbike-rider. He was sent to nursery at the age of 6 months since no one could look after him. His parents later divorced.
As a member of TOKIO, he was inspired by bands Hikaru Genji and SMAP to answer a recruiting call of Johnny Entertainment & was accepted.
In 1992, he played several stage plays (PLAYZONE and MASK) together w/ other TOKIO members. He first played tambourine during TOKIO's early performances as SMAP's background dancers.
On September 21, 1994, TOKIO officially debuted as a band and released its first single ever titled LOVE YOU ONLY, which sold over half a million copies.
He had starred in 42 dramas. His first leading role was in Hakusen Nagashi (1996). More lead roles followed, including Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Mukodono! and Tiger & Dragon. Mukodono! was his first comedic role. In My Boss My Hero, he had another comedic role. He received a special award "Ishihara Yuijiro Award" in 2002 as "The Best Newcomer" for his role in a movie, Seoul.
He's also brand ambassador for several products, among them Fujicolor & TOPPO. - Actress
- Soundtrack
Takeda Rina was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. She claims she decided to become an actress at age six. She has an older and younger brother. The younger brother is actor Takeda kazuma who has found roles in Rina's movies. She became interested in karate through her father Takeda Takeshi. She was ten when she saw her father lose a karate match and resolved to make up for it. She began practicing karate. Takeda obtained the opportunity to showcase her skills at her dojo for producer Fuyuhiko Nishi in June 2008. The producer was looking for talent. He invited her to audition for the movie High Kick Girl, which became her first movie role. Her father and brother were in the film. She also sang in the film and the song was released as a single called High Kick Girl. The film was a hit, spun various follow-ups and cemented her as an action star. Director Iguchi Noboru and Takeda were at the USA premier of horror movie Dead Sushi at the 2012 Austin Fantastic Fest. Takeda won the Best Actress award. She was in the Indonesian movie Bushido Spirit in 2014. This was her first work outside Japan. She was in a Thai production called Devil Lover in 2015 and a South Korean production next. She gave a martial arts demonstration and threw the first pitch at the Chiba Lotte Marines and Seibu Lions baseball game in 2014. Actress Fueki Yuko and Rina Takeda visited the Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar on the 24th of November 2014. They were slated to appear in a Burmese-Japanese production. She was in a French documentary called Dragon Girls in 2017. The Burmese production Yangon Runway was finally slated for release in 2018. She has a black belt in karate. She does commercial work and advertising for the likes of Credit Saison. Her performance in that specific commercial made her famous. She cites an admiration for actors Tetsuya Takeda and Jackie Chan.- Actor
- Stunts
Fumio Demura was born on 15 September 1938 in Yokohama, Japan. He was an actor, known for Mortal Kombat (1995), Rising Sun (1993) and The Karate Kid (1984). He died on 24 April 2023.- Yo Kimiko was born in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father on the 12th of May 1956. Her cousin was actress Bunjaku Han. She became active in front of the camera in 1987 and has been a feature of Japanese television and cinema ever since. She had begun acting on the theatre stage in 1976. Audiences may mostly know her for her supporting role in Shin Gojira, as a sympathetic colleague in the 2008 films Departures, which won an Oscar, and kind wife and waitress in Ramen Girl, but she has almost 200 credits to her name. These include an abnormal neighbour in The Drugstore girl and serene presence in Café Lumière where she was directed by a Taiwanese director in Japan. Dear Doctor (2009) propelled her name forward in Japan and was an award winner. She has several Japan Academy prizes to her name. Like most celebrities she pushes products and has done commercials for telephone companies, shampoos and cosmetics manufacturers. Yo is married to a man who at the time was a NHK employee in 2006 and is managed by the Alpha Agency.
- Ryôko Yonekura was born on 1 August 1975 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for Musashi (2003), The Negotiator: The Movie (2010) and Doctor X: The Movie (2024).
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Rica Matsumoto was born on 30 November 1968 in Yokohama, Japan. She is an actress, known for Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998), Pokémon (1997) and Pokémon the Movie 2000 (1999).- Shôsuke Tanihara was born on 8 July 1972 in Yokohama, Japan. He is an actor, known for Sky High (2002), Boys Over Flowers (1995) and Fudoh: The New Generation (1996). He has been married to Emi Miyake since 14 March 2007. They have five children.