Kinya Kitaoji
Actor
February 23, 1943 (83 years)
Early life:
He was born in Kyoto, son of jidaigeki film star Ichikawa Utaemon, and graduated from Waseda University School of Letters, Arts and Sciences Ⅱ in Tokyo.
Acting career:
Kin'ya made his debut with his father in the 1956 Toei film Oyakodaka in the role of Katsu Kaishū. He is a contemporary of, and was taken to be a rival of, Hiroki Matsukata, who was also the son of a famous actor (Jūshirō Konoe). In 1964, Kin'ya made his first appearance on stage in Cyrano de Bergerac.
The 1960s and 1970s saw him in many contemporary roles. He appeared in Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode as well as Karei naru Ichizoku. The title role in the 1975 film Takehisa Yumeji was his.
On television, Kitaōji portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in the Nippon Television show of the same name. A major historical role was Sakamoto Ryōma in the year-long prime-time NHK Taiga drama Ryōma ga Yuku (1968). He landed the title role in the long-running cop show Zenigata Heiji, set in the Edo period. In the 1985 twelve-hour New Year special Fūun Yagyū Bugeichō, he played Yagyū Jūbei, and in the following year's special, he portrayed both Tokugawa Yoshimune and Yagyū Shinrokurō. The role of another shogun fell to him in the following new year as TV Tokyo tapped him to play Tokugawa Iemitsu. Kin'ya returned to NHK for the 1987 Taiga drama Dokuganryū Masamune as Date Terumune, father of title character Date Masamune.
Another role he took had been created by his father. Saotome Mondonosuke was the title character in the series Gozonji! Hatamoto Taikutsu Otoko. It ran from 1988 to 1994 on TV Asahi. His father, Ichikawa Utaemon, had appeared in numerous films as Mondonosuke.
Kin'ya reprised the part of Miyamoto Musashi in the 1990 New Year's special. Toshirō Mifune had portrayed Musashi in the earlier film, also based on the Eiji Yoshikawa story, that had won an Academy Award. He returned to the New Year's special in 1996, again as the famous swordsman, in Tokugawa Kengōden Sore kara no Musashi.
His first portrayal of Ōishi Kuranosuke was in the 1996 Chūshingura. He took up the role again in 2004 for the NHK Saigo no Chūshingura and in 2007, in the New Year special Chūshingura Yōzei-in no Inbō. Other historical roles from the Sengoku period include Azai Nagamasa, Saitō Dōsan, and Yamamoto Kansuke. In addition to historical parts, he appeared in fictional series. His portrayal of Ogami Ittō in the Lone Wolf and Cub ( Kozure 2) Which was a series for Asahi TV in Japan is representative of these appearances.
In 2008, Kitaōji revisited the role of Katsu Kaishū in the Taiga drama Atsuhime. He had portrayed Katsu in his 1956 debut.
He won the award for best actor at the 10th Hochi Film Award for Fire Festival and Haru no kane. Kitaōji played one of the lead roles in Hideo Nakata's psychological thriller film The Incite Mill.
In recent times, Kitaōji voices the Hokkaido-inu character of "Father" in SoftBank Mobile's White Family advertising campaign.
He was born in Kyoto, son of jidaigeki film star Ichikawa Utaemon, and graduated from Waseda University School of Letters, Arts and Sciences Ⅱ in Tokyo.
Acting career:
Kin'ya made his debut with his father in the 1956 Toei film Oyakodaka in the role of Katsu Kaishū. He is a contemporary of, and was taken to be a rival of, Hiroki Matsukata, who was also the son of a famous actor (Jūshirō Konoe). In 1964, Kin'ya made his first appearance on stage in Cyrano de Bergerac.
The 1960s and 1970s saw him in many contemporary roles. He appeared in Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima and Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode as well as Karei naru Ichizoku. The title role in the 1975 film Takehisa Yumeji was his.
On television, Kitaōji portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in the Nippon Television show of the same name. A major historical role was Sakamoto Ryōma in the year-long prime-time NHK Taiga drama Ryōma ga Yuku (1968). He landed the title role in the long-running cop show Zenigata Heiji, set in the Edo period. In the 1985 twelve-hour New Year special Fūun Yagyū Bugeichō, he played Yagyū Jūbei, and in the following year's special, he portrayed both Tokugawa Yoshimune and Yagyū Shinrokurō. The role of another shogun fell to him in the following new year as TV Tokyo tapped him to play Tokugawa Iemitsu. Kin'ya returned to NHK for the 1987 Taiga drama Dokuganryū Masamune as Date Terumune, father of title character Date Masamune.
Another role he took had been created by his father. Saotome Mondonosuke was the title character in the series Gozonji! Hatamoto Taikutsu Otoko. It ran from 1988 to 1994 on TV Asahi. His father, Ichikawa Utaemon, had appeared in numerous films as Mondonosuke.
Kin'ya reprised the part of Miyamoto Musashi in the 1990 New Year's special. Toshirō Mifune had portrayed Musashi in the earlier film, also based on the Eiji Yoshikawa story, that had won an Academy Award. He returned to the New Year's special in 1996, again as the famous swordsman, in Tokugawa Kengōden Sore kara no Musashi.
His first portrayal of Ōishi Kuranosuke was in the 1996 Chūshingura. He took up the role again in 2004 for the NHK Saigo no Chūshingura and in 2007, in the New Year special Chūshingura Yōzei-in no Inbō. Other historical roles from the Sengoku period include Azai Nagamasa, Saitō Dōsan, and Yamamoto Kansuke. In addition to historical parts, he appeared in fictional series. His portrayal of Ogami Ittō in the Lone Wolf and Cub ( Kozure 2) Which was a series for Asahi TV in Japan is representative of these appearances.
In 2008, Kitaōji revisited the role of Katsu Kaishū in the Taiga drama Atsuhime. He had portrayed Katsu in his 1956 debut.
He won the award for best actor at the 10th Hochi Film Award for Fire Festival and Haru no kane. Kitaōji played one of the lead roles in Hideo Nakata's psychological thriller film The Incite Mill.
In recent times, Kitaōji voices the Hokkaido-inu character of "Father" in SoftBank Mobile's White Family advertising campaign.
Known For
Filmography
| 2025 | News Anchor · as Tsuyoshi Hanyû |
| 2024 | Believe: A Bridge to You · as Goro Bando |
| 2024 | Believe: A Bridge to You · as Gorou Bando |
| 2024 | The Record of Murder · as Cast |
| 2024 | Alice in the Kitchen · as Gojo Michitaka |
| 2023 | |
| 2023 | The Legend & Butterfly · as Saitō Dōsan |
| 2021 | Risky · as Cast |
| 2021 | Reach Beyond the Blue Sky · as Ieyasu Tokugawa |
| 2020 | The Confidence Man JP: Princess · as Raymond Fuu |
| 2020 | |
| 2020 | Alive: Dr. Kokoro, The Medical Oncologist · as Kyotaro Onda |
| 2019 | Whistleblower · as Ikuo Yakuyama |
| 2019 | |
| 2018 | |
| 2018 | Princess Jellyfish (2018) · as Keiichiro Koibuchi |
| 2017 | 三屋清左衛門残日録 完結篇 · as Mitsuya Seizaemon |
| 2016 | Monster Strike the Movie · as Kentaro Ishibashi (voice) |
| 2016 | One Piece Film: Gold · as Raise Max (voice) |
| 2016 | Fragile · as Kaoru Nakaguma |
| 2015 | Seven Detectives · as Shuntaro Domoto |
| 2015 | I'm Home · as Yozo Ieji |
| 2015 | Burning Flower · as Takachika Mori |
| 2014 | Legal High Special 2 · as Cast |
| 2014 | Massan · as Ryunosuke Uesugi |
| 2014 | |
| 2014 | Three Old Dogs · as 清田清一 |
| 2014 | |
| 2014 | Sakura hôsara · as Cast |
| 2013 | Gekijouban SPEC: Kurôzu - Zen no hen · as Himiko |
| 2013 | Hanzawa Naoki · as Ken Nakanowatari |
| 2013 | Legal High Special · as Isao Teshigawara |
| 2012 | Doctor-X: Surgeon Michiko Daimon · as Yoshito Tendo（天堂 義人） |
| 2012 | Asura · as Monk |
| 2012 | Breathless Summer · as 夏目周作 |
| 2012 | Blackboard ~ Jidai to Tatakatta Kyoushitachi~ · as Shioda Akinori |
| 2012 | Mou yuukainante shinai · as Hanazono Shugoro |
| 2011 | Zettai reido: Mikaiketsu jiken tokumei sôsa - special · as Hideo Nagashima |
| 2011 | Gou · as Ieyasu Tokugawa |
| 2010 | |
| 2010 | The Incite Mill · as Yoshi Ando |
| 2010 | Koisuru naporitan: Sekai de ichiban oishii aisarekata · as Yuichi Makibara |
| 2010 | Absolute Zero: Special Investigation Unit · as Hideo Nagashima |
| 2009 | Triangle (2009) · as Kuroki Shinzo |
| 2008 | Boys Over Flowers: Final · as Mysterious Gentleman |
| 2008 | Sushi King Goes to New York · as Gengoro |
| 2008 | |
| 2007 | The Family (2007) · as Daisuke Manpyo |
| 2002 | Lone Wolf and Cub · as Ogami IttôOn Plex |
| 2001 | Hojo Tokimune · as Sha Kokumei |
| 1997 | Peking Man · as Kin'ya Kitaôji |
| 1996 | SMAP×SMAP · as Casino Gambler |
| 1995 | |
| 1994 | |
| 1993 | Iron Chef · as JudgeOn Plex |
| 1993 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 8 · as Sawatari Mondonosuke |
| 1993 | |
| 1992 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 7 · as Sawatari Shusui |
| 1991 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 6 · as Sawatari Shusui |
| 1990 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 5 · as Sawatari Shusui |
| 1990 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 4 · as Cast |
| 1990 | Miyamoto Musashi · as Miyamoto MusashiOn Plex |
| 1989 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 3 · as Sawatari Shusui |
| 1988 | The Notorious Bored Samurai 2 · as Mondonosuke Saotome |
| 1988 | The Notorious Bored Samurai · as Mondosuke |
| 1987 | Masamune the One-Eyed Dragon · as 伊達輝宗 |
| 1985 | The Second Is a Christian · as Eiji |
| 1985 | |
| 1985 | Fire Festival · as Tatsuo |
| 1984 | |
| 1984 | Zero · as Jiro Horikoshi |
| 1984 | Ku-Kai · as Kukai |
| 1982 | Future War 1986 · as Wataru Mikumo (voice) |
| 1982 | Lake of Illusions · as Nobunaga Oda |
| 1982 | The Highest Honor · as Major Tachibana |
| 1980 | |
| 1978 | Noisy Dynamite · as Ginji Tachibana |
| 1978 | Winter's Flower · as Michio Sakata |
| 1977 | Mount Hakkoda · as Captain Kanda |
| 1977 | The Alaska Story · as Frank Yasuda |
| 1976 | |
| 1976 | |
| 1975 | Bullet Train · as Cast |
| 1975 | Cross the Rubicon! · as Takeshi Kiyomoto |
| 1975 | A Shimane Prison Riot · as Yuji Kawamura |
| 1975 | |
| 1974 | Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman · as CastOn Plex |
| 1974 | |
| 1974 | Final Episode · as Tamotsu Matsumura |
| 1974 | |
| 1974 | The Family · as Yoshihiko Ichinose |
| 1973 | The Blossom and the Sword · as Captain Sakagami |
| 1973 | Men and War III · as Shunsuke Godai |
| 1973 | Hiroshima Death Match · as Shoji Yamanaka |
| 1971 | Men and War II · as Shunsuke Godai |
| 1970 | The Fir Tree Remained · as Sakai Tadakiyo |
| 1969 | Shinsengumi: Assassins of Honor · as Soji Okita |
| 1965 | Tokugawa Ieyasu · as 松平三郎元信（後の徳川家康） |
| 1964 | Wolves, Pigs and People · as Sabu, The Third BrotherOn Plex |
| 1963 | Kaigun · as Shinji |
| 1963 | |
| 1963 | Tokaido Fullhouse · as Okeya-No-Oni |
| 1962 | |
| 1962 | |
| 1962 | |
| 1961 | |
| 1961 | |
| 1960 | |
| 1959 | |
| 1959 | Haruna hayashi: Kenka taka · as Cast |
| 1959 | |
| 1959 | |
| 1958 | |
| 1957 | Bored Hatamoto: Riddle of the Snake Princess' Mansion · as Kyoya Kirishima |
| 1956 | Soga kyôdai: Fuji no yashû · as Minamoto No Yoriie |
| 1956 |
| 2008 | VS Arashi · as Self |
| 1976 | Tetsuko's Room · as Self |