Cast
Ken Takakura
Acting
Cast
Ken Takakura
Known for
Acting
Born
1931-02-16
From
Nakama, Fukuoka, Japan
Died
2014-11-10
Also known as Goichi Oda, 高仓健, Кэн Такакура
Biography
Ken Takakura (高倉 健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai. A graduate of Meiji University in Tokyo Takakura happened by an audition in 1955 at the Toei Film Company, and decided to look in. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with Denko Karate Uchi (Lightning Karate Blow) in 1956. Japan experienced a boom in gangster films in the 1960s as the Japanese people struggled with the generational differences between those raised in pre-war and post-war Japan and these were Takakura's stock and trade. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, and its sequel Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen (Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home, also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura would leave Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films. Takakura gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film Too Late the Hero as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1975 Sydney Pollack sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) where he surprises American cops played by Michael Douglas and Andy García with the line, "I do speak fucking English". He again proved himself bankable to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck. While he has slowed down a bit in his older years, he is still active. His most recent film was the 2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles by Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ken Takakura, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Black Rain
as Masahiro
Railroad Man
as Otomatsu Sato
Mr. Baseball
as Uchiyama
Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido
The Bullet Train
as Tetsuo Okita
The Yakuza
as Tanaka Ken
The Bastards of Lawless Town
as Fumio Sone
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
as Yoshio Harada
Dearest
as Eiji Shimakura
Never Give Up
as Takeshi Ajisawa
Mount Hakkoda
as Captain Tokushima
Demon
as Shuji
The Day the Sun Rose
Antarctica
as Ushioda
The Yellow Handkerchief
as Yusaku Shima
A Distant Cry from Spring
as Kosaku Tajima
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
as Gou-ichi Takata
Golgo 13
as Duke Togo / Golgo 13
Duel of the Underworld
47 Ronin
as Kuranosuke Oishi
Station
as Eiji Mikami
Winter's Flower
as Hidetsugu Kano
Third Generation Boss
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
as Kuramoto
Manhunt
as Morioka
A Fugitive from the Past
as Ajimura
Choji Snack Bar
as Eiji
Brothers Serving Time
Storm Party
Abashiri Prison
as Shinichi Tachibana
Too Late the Hero
as Major Yamaguchi
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
as Saburo Aizawa
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
as Shinichi Tachibana
The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
The Longest Tunnel
as Go Akutsu
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
as Self (archive footage)
The International Gang of Kobe
as Masato Dan
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
as Seiji Terajima
Patience Has An End
as Isamu Tekada
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
The Chop Professor
Black Rain: Making The Film
as Self (archive footage)
The Escape
The Pledge
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
as Shogo Hanaoka
Wolves, Pigs & Men
as Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
The Deep Blue Sea
The Biggest Gamble
as Shuzo Honjo
The Domain: The Naniwa Story
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
Brave Red Flower of the North
Bloodiest Flower
New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2
Detective Duel
The Last Kamikaze
as Koji Yashiro
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf
The Firefly
as Yamaoka Shuji
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
as Kingoro Tamai
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
as Hanada Hidejiro
Ken San
as Self
House of Gamblers
With Songs in My Heart
Tales of President Mito
as Sukesaburo Sasa
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
as Shin'ichi Tachibana
The Revolt
as Keisuke Miyagi
Red Peony Gambler
as Naoki Katagiri
The Boss
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
Umi e, See You
as Eiji Honma
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South
The Drifting Avenger
as Ken Kato
Blackmail
Yakuza of the Present
as Ryoichi Shimaya
Operation Diamond
Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple
as Sasaki Kojiro
Gambler's Legacy
as Tsukuda Ginjiro
Great Jailbreak
as Ichiro Kozue
Buddies
as Kadokura
The Homeless
as Jokichi Anabuki
Hell's Kitchen
Japan's Top Gangster
as Kazuo Taoka
Miyamoto Musashi III: Birth of Two Sword Style
as Sasaki Kojiro
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
Four Hours of Terror
as Captain Yamamoto
Jakoman and Tetsu
as Tetsu
The Second Bullet is Marked
Tokyo's Business District
The Big Boss
The Bullet and the Horse
Flower, Storm and Gangster
as 'Smiley' Ken
Rogue
as Isamu Oba
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
as Asano
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
as Sasaki Kojiro
Main Street in the Underworld
The Domain
Hell's Juggler
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
An Outlaw
as Minami
Lullaby for a Tough Guy
Yukyo-retsuden
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
as Katsuji Suehiro
Gambler Biography
Jet Air Base 101
as Jiro Nakata
The Domain: White Blade
The Sand City in Manchuria
as Hari
Eleven Gangsters
as Sawagami
The Domain: Severed Relations
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Eternity
Man of Thirteen Eyes
The Japan Derby Race
The Chivalrous Life
as Ryuma Ibuki
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
as Kenichi Hanamura
Lady Sen and Hideyori
as Naomori
The Kamikaze Guy
as Fumio Kuroki
Showdown of Men
Dagger
Employee Full of Fight
as Tani
Life of Hishakaku
Karate Cop
as Detective Mikami
Samurai Geisha
as Shimada Seikichi
Prison Boss
The Counterfeiters
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
365 Nights
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
as Shinichi Tachibana
Manchurian Sunset
as Shintaro
Tokyo Untouchable
as Yoshio Harada
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3
The Happy Family
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
as Shin-ichi Tachibana
All Rascals
続べらんめぇ芸者
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
The Man
The Domain: Where The Blade Enters
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Rush
Glorious Fights
as Ichiro Takita
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
as Koji Yashiro
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind
as Tarō Senpū
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
Sister with Sister
as Hiroshi Ishioka
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6
A Man's Dark Finger
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
as Kenichi Oka
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
as Kosuke Kindaichi
Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
as Hidejiro Hanada
The detective whose path was crossed by a snake
The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
Histories of the Chivalrous
The Great Road
The Outsiders
as Ichitaro Kazamori
Hell's Companion
South Pacific Waves Are High
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
Lightning Karate Blow
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
A Dead Drifter
Classmates
as First Lieutenant Kenmochi
Meteor Karate Strike
Midair Circus
The Domain: Rising Dragon
A Fishwife's Tale
No Advice Taken
Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang
Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack
Monsoon Son Pt.2
Showdown in Blood
Night of the Suspicions
as 久里 / 島
Romance Freestyle
Delinquent Angel
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
as Tarô Mannen
If You're Man Enough
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
Song of Kagoshima
as Shuhei Tategami
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
His Pistol is Hell
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
as Shin-ichi Tachibana
The Path of the King
as Ryutaro Fudo
Men Fighting Whales
as Yosuke Yamagami
Code of Chivalry
The Silent Murder
Mother Peacock
Monsoon Son
Violent Street
Storming Squadron
恐怖の空中殺人
as 島田寿夫
A Portrait of the Author
as Self
