Kōichi Satō (actor)

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Early years

Sato was born in 1960 in Kagurazaka, Shinjuku, Tokyo. His mother was a geisha working there.[3] His father was actor Rentarō Mikuni, and it was Mikuni ‘s third marriage.[4]

Sato’s given name Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was taken from one Kanji character each from the film directors name Script error: No such module "Nihongo". and Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., with whom Mikuni was close at the time.[5] Sato was often taken to the filming location by Mikuni since he was a child.[4] However, Mikuni left home when Sato was in the fifth grade, and his parents officially divorced at the following year, when he was eleven years old.[6] A scene where Mikuni took Sato to Jukkoku Pass[7] in Izu, Shizuoka and said, "This is my last farewell to you. You go back to your mother's. I'm going to start a wandering life." is a well-known episode.[8][4]Template:Refn

Mikuni, known for his free-spirited personality, seldom came home, and his mother was often away from home, so Sato, who was an only child, grew independent from an early age and was used to being on his own.[4]Template:Refn Sato said that he didn't really recognized Mikuni as a father[6] and that it was rather distressing to have dinner with him when he occasionally came home.[6][4]

Career

Sato left home during his high school years and entered the film department of Tama Art Academy, a vocational school attached to Tama Art University, but dropped out after one year.[4] In 1980, while still in school, he was invited by an acquaintance of his father to make his acting debut in the NHK TV series Sequel to the Case, starring Tomisaburo Wakayama,[9] and the following year he made his film debut in the movie The Gate of Youth. When he saw this film in the movie theater and saw his own image on the screen, he made a renewed decision to live his life as an actor.[10]

His acting ability was recognized early on, and he went on to win a string of awards for the films he appeared in. For The Gates of Youth, he won Japan Academy Film Prize for Newcomer of the Year[11] and the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Newcomer.[12] He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for KT and Utsutsu in 2002[13] and Best Supporting Actor in 2023.[14] He is the first actor since his father, Rentarō Mikuni, to win three Blue Ribbon Awards for individual awards.[15]

Sato said that his encounter with the two directors was a major turning point for him. The two directors are Shinji Sōmai, director of the 1983 film The Catch and Junji Sakamoto, director of the 1994 film Tokarev.[16][17] Director Somai taught him, "Sadness and anger are not one thing. Try to express your anger in ten different ways. You are not sad because you cry, but you laugh because you are sad."[16] In Sakamoto's Tokarev, Sato played the role of an infant kidnapper, and he discussed the character of this villain with the director, expressing his opinions. The director acknowledged Sato's opinion, and they worked while discussing, which Sato said was very stimulating for him to act.[10] He and Sakamoto hit it off and became a regular actor in Sakamoto's films and appeared in many of his films, including Face,[18] KT,[19] Children of the Dark,[20] and Human Trust.[21] Debates about acting can get heated, and Sato and Sakamoto once got into a fight in a bar and were interceded by Yoshio Harada, who was there.[22] In 2023, Sato and his son Kanichiro co-starred in Sakamoto's film Okiku and the World.[23]

Sato also said that his encounter with director Kōki Mitani opened up a new path for him.[24] Sato took on the challenge of a full-fledged comedy in The Magic Hour, a 2008 film directed by Mitani, in which he had never acted before.[25] The scene in which he plays Murata, an unsuccessful actor, comically keeps jumping on a trampoline[26] and licks a knife "with a bizarre look on his face"[27] as described in the script written by Mitani was so impressive that the scene was even imitated by a impersonator.[28] This role, played by Sato, who had a strong image as a serious actor, became a topic of conversation, and the film led Sato to broaden his acting range into the field of comedy.[24]

Arguments with the director

Since his debut, Sato used to insist what he thought as an actor and argued vehemently with the director on the set, as did his father.[29] His attitude was sometimes described as cheeky.[30] When he was over 30 years old, Sato received a letter from Mikuni one day. In the letter, Mikuni wrote only one sentence, "Script error: No such module "Nihongo".." It meant, "You are kept alive by those around you."[30] Initially, Sato did not quite understand what the words meant. Sato said that Mikuni probably did not think well of his attitude and behavior at the time, as if he was living by himself, and that in later years he gradually came to feel the weight of those words within himself.[31] In addition to that, one day when he was over 40 years old, a veteran female staff member said to him, "You may think you have won by arguing with the director, but it is not only the director who has lost, but all the staff members on site are feeling miserable."[32] He realized that the director represents the entire staff. Since then, he has taken the approach of having the director listen to his opinions in advance and discuss them until he is satisfied.[32]

Relationship with Mikuni

Since his debut, he has felt conflicted about being called "Rentaro Mikuni's son," and in his 20s and 30s he often felt anger at being called that no matter how hard he worked at acting and achieved results.[33] For many years, Sato had been said to have a feud with Mikuni.[34] Sato and Mikuni first worked together in 1986 in A Promise, but there was little contact between the two in that film. Ten years later, in 1996, the two co-starred in earnest on a film adaptation of a manga series Oishinbo. Mikuni, who was cast to play the role of Yuuzan Kaibara, nominated Sato to play his son Shiro Yamaoka.[8] However, during the press conference, the two called each other "Mikuni-san" and "Sato-kun" as if they were strangers,Template:Refn and they were reportedly at odds over their acting theories, reporting to a father-son feud.[34][35] However, since the content of the movie was also about a father-son feud, Sato did not dare to deny the "non-getting along" theory at the time.[36] However, after Sato's son Kanichiro was born in 1996, Mikuni dearly loved on his grandson and showed up at his sports event at school, and the father-son rift is said to have disappeared gradually.[4] When Mikuni died in 2013, Sato said of his father, "He was a terrible man as a father. The only thing that existed between him and me was the word 'actor'."[37]

Before his debut, Sato told his father that he would become an actor. Mikuni's only response was "Ah, so."[9] When he later asked, "Why did you say it like that?" Mikuni replied he had been concerned, "Ah, this guy is going to do acting. But what would this guy do if he didn't have anything?"[38] Actually, after Sato's debut, Mikuni went around asking people who were going to work with Sato to take good care of his son.[10] Later Sato's son, Kanichiro, later told him that he also hoped to be an actor, Sato understood the concern his father had felt about him. Sato could only say "Ah, so," like his father.[38]

Musical Activities

Sato began singing at the urging of senior actor Yoshio Harada, and since his first stage appearance in 2012 at the Yoshio Harada Memorial Live, he has regularly sung on stage with fellow actors.[39] On December 10, 2021, his first album as a singer, Yakusha Uta 60 Alive was released on his birthday.[40] According to Universal Music Japan, the genre in which he sings is blues.[41] This album is a double CD and DVD set, and the DVD includes a live performance without an audience recorded at Blue Note Tokyo.[42] Close actor friends Akira Terao, Ryudo Uzaki, Noritake Kinashi, Yōsuke Eguchi, and Yukiyoshi Ozawa also participated in the live performances as guests.[39]

Personal life

In his personal life, he married in his 20s and had one child, but later divorced. He remarried in 1993 to stage actress Ayako Hirota, and their first son, Kanichiro, made his acting debut in 2017.[12] Accepting the wishes of his wife, who is a volunteer, he has been working with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's "Friend Home" program since around 2018 to temporarily care for children from infant homes and orphanages on weekends and during vacations through the foster care system.[43]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1981 The Gate of Youth Shinsuke Ibuki [44]
Manon Itaru [45]
1982 Dotonbori River [46]
The Gate of Youth: Part 2 Shinsuke Ibuki Lead role [47]
1983 Antarctica [48]
The Catch
Battle Anthem
1984 Fireflies in the North
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
Mitsugetsu Lead role
1985 Penguin's Memory Mike Davis (voice) Lead role
Kids
Love Hotel
1986 A Promise
Death Powder Kiyoshi Lead role
Bound for the Fields, the Mountains and the Seacoast
1988 The Silk Road Zhao Xingde Lead role
1989 Shadow of China Akira Kitayama
Company-Sponsored Funeral
1990 Ruten no umi
1991 Psychic Girl Reiko
1994 Crest of Betrayal Tamiya Iemon Lead role
Tokarev
1995 Gonin Mikihiko Bandai Lead role [49]
Pu Kishore Lead role [50]
1996 Oishinbo Shirō Yamaoka Lead role
Gonin 2 Mikihiko Bandai
1997 Lie Lie Lie Lead role
30 Suzuki [51]
1998 Spiral Mitsuo Andō Lead role
Wait and See Lead role
2000 Face
Whiteout
New Battles Without Honor and Humanity
2002 KT Masuo Tomita Lead role [52]
Utsutsu Lead role
2003 Rockers
When the Last Sword Is Drawn Saitō Hajime [53]
Samurai Resurrection Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi
Wild Berries
2004 Infection Dr. Akiba Lead role [54]
2005 Aegis
What the Snow Brings Takeo Yazaki
Sea Cat
2006 Waiting in the Dark [55]
The Uchoten Hotel
Starfish Hotel Arisu Lead role
A Cheerful Gang Turns the Earth
2007 Sukiyaki Western Django Taira no Kiyomori [56]
Smile
Love Never to End
A Gentle Breeze in the Village
2008 The Magic Hour Taiki Murata Lead role [57]
Nobody to Watch Over Me Lead role
Children of the Dark
Free and Easy 19
2009 Kamui Gaiden Mizutani Gumbei [58]
Brass Knuckle Boys
Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess
2010 Heaven's Story [59]
The Last Ronin Terasaka Kichiemon Lead role [60]
2011 A Ghost of a Chance Taiki Murata
Unfair 2: The Answer
That's the Way!!
Someday
2012 Dearest Shin'ichi Nanbara
Reunion
The Floating Castle
2013 The Kiyosu Conference Ikeda Tsuneoki
Unforgiven [61]
Human Trust Lead role
A Chair on the Plains Lead role
2014 The Vancouver Asahi
Time Trip App Saigō Takamori
2015 The Pearls of the Stone Man Lead role
Terminal Lead role [62]
Hero
Unfair: The End
Gonin Saga Mikihiko Bandai Cameo
Galaxy Turnpike Taiki Murata
2016 64: Part I Yoshinobu Mikami Lead role [63]
64: Part II Yoshinobu Mikami Lead role [64]
Midnight Diner 2 Ishida
2017 Flower and Sword Sen no Rikyū
2018 Sakura Guardian in the North
My Friend A Shūji Yamauchi
A Banana? At This Time of Night?
2019 The Fable The Boss [65]
Hit me Anyone One More Time
The Promised Land
Red Snow
The Landlady
Aircraft Carrier Ibuki PM Keiichirō Tarumi
Almost a Miracle Hino
2020 Fukushima 50 Toshio Isaki Lead role
The Gun 2020
I Never Shot Anyone Michio Kodama
Silent Tokyo Jin Asahina Lead role
Bolt Yoshida (voice)
2021 Kiba: The Fangs of Fiction Ryūji Tōmatsu
The Sun Stands Still Takeshi Kazama [66]
The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn't Kill The Boss [65]
2022 Soul at Twenty Ken'ichi Takahashi [67]
Kingdom 2: Far and Away Lü Buwei [68]
2023 Baian the Assassin, M.D. 2 Inoue Hanjūrō [69]
Familia Komaba [70]
One Last Bloom Jin'ichi Hirooka Lead role [71]
Nemesis: The Movie Mado [72]
Kingdom 3: The Flame of Destiny Lü Buwei [73]
We're Broke, My Lord! Ikkosai [74]
Okiku and the World Genbei [75]
Masked Hearts [76]
2024 The Box Man General [77]
Sin and Evil Kasahara Special appearance [78]
Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General Lü Buwei [79]
Tomorrow in the Finder [80]
2025 Gosh!! [81]
Unforgettable [82]
Climbing for Life Masaaki Tabe [83]
Happy End Narrator Documentary [84]
After the Quake Katagiri Lead role [85]

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1986 Musashibō Benkei Kiso Yoshinaka
1990 Tobu ga Gotoku Sakamoto Ryōma Taiga drama [86]
1991 Takeda Shingen Uesugi Kenshin TV movie [87]
1992 Shin'ai naru Mono e
1993 Hotel Doctor Lead role
Subarashiki kana Jinsei
1993–94 Homura Tatsu Minamoto no Yoshiie Taiga drama [88]
1994 Yokohama Shinjū Lead role
1995 Koi mo Nidome nara
Koibito yo
The Abe Clan Abe Yagobei TV movie
1996 Tsubasa o Kudasai!
1998 Tabloid [89]
1999 Africa no Yoru
Dokushin Seikatsu
2000 Tenki-yoho no Koibito Katsuhiko Yano Lead role [90]
2001 Aru Hi, Arashi no You ni
Chūshingura 1/47 Ōishi Kuranosuke TV movie [91]
2002 Tengoku e no Kaidan Lead role
2003 Welcome to the High Plains Seiji Omokawa Lead role
2004 Shinsengumi! Serizawa Kamo Taiga drama [86]
Pride Yūichirō Hyōdō
2005 Climber's High Kazumasa Yūki Lead role, miniseries
2006 The Animal Trail
Suppli Imaoka
2007 High and Low Kingo Gondō Lead role, TV movie
2009 The Summer of the Bureaucrats Shingo Kazakoshi Lead role
2010 Wagaya no Rekishi Taizo Onizuka Miniseries
2012 The Locked Room Murders Gō Serizawa
2014 Leaders Saichiro Aichi Lead role, miniseries
2015 Murder on the Orient Express Tōdō Miniseries [92]
2016 Botchan Special appearance, TV movie
Sogeki Lead role, TV movie
2017 Leaders 2 Saichiro Aichi Lead role, TV movie
Ishitsubute Lead role [93]
2018 Jimmy: The True Story of a True Idiot Keisuke Miyake [94]
As a Father of Murderer Son Keiichi Yoshinaga Lead role, TV movie [95]
Cold Case Season 2 Naoya Terayama Episode 4 [96]
2020 The Sun Stands Still: The Eclipse Takeshi Kazama Miniseries [97]
2021 Okehazama Saitō Dōsan TV movie [98]
Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses Yukio Nonishi Miniseries [99]
2022 The 13 Lords of the Shogun Kazusa Hirotsune Taiga drama [86]
2023 What Will You Do, Ieyasu? Sanada Masayuki Taiga drama [100]
2024 Like a Dragon: Yakuza Masaru Sera [101]
2025 After the Quake Katagiri Lead role; miniseries [85]

Awards and nominations

Awards won

Years Awards department work Result
1982 24th Blue Ribbon Awards Best New Actor The Gate of Youth Won
1982 5th Japan Academy Prize Newcomer of the Year The Gate of Youth Won
1984 8th Elan d'or Awards Newcomer of the Year Won
1995 18th Japan Academy Prize Best Actor Crest of Betrayal Won
1995 7th Nikkan Sports Film Award Best Actor Crest of Betrayal[102] Won
1995 16th Yokohama Film Festival Best Supporting Actor Tokarev[103] Won
1996 10th Takasaki Film Festival Best Actor Gonin Won
2001 24th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor Whiteout Won
2001 15th Takasaki Film Festival Best Supporting Actor Face Won
2003 12th Japanese Movie Critics Awards Best Actor KT Won
2003 45th Blue Ribbon Awards Best Actor KT Won
2004 27th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor When the Last Sword Is Drawn[104] Won
2006 32nd Hōsō-Bunka Foundation Award Performance Award Climber's High Won
2007 61st Mainichi Film Awards Best Actor What the Snow Brings Won
2007 18th Tokyo International Film Festival Best Actor Award What the Snow Brings Won
2007 61st Japan Broadcast Film and Arts Awards Excellence Award What the Snow Brings Won
2008 1st International Drama Festival in Tokyo Best Actor Kaze no Hate, Tengoku to Jigoku, and Honto to Uso to Tequila Won
2009 63rd Japan Broadcast Film and Arts Awards Best Actor Award Honto to Uso to Tequila Won
2012 16th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (Spring 2012) Best Supporting Actor Kagi no Kakatta Heya Won
2015 40th Hochi Film Award Best Actor Kishūteneki Terminal and The Pearls of the Stone Man[105] Won
2016 29th Nikkan Sports Film Award Best Actor 64: Part I and 64: Part II[106] Won
2017 40th Japan Academy Prize Best Actor 64: Part I[107] Won
2018 5th Kyoto International Art and Film Festival Toshiro Mifune Award[108] Won
2024 45th Yokohama Film Festival Best Supporting Actor[109] Familia, Baian the Assassin, M.D. 2, Okiku and the World and Masked Hearts Won
2024 66th Blue Ribbon Awards Best Supporting Actor[110] Okiku and the World, Masked Hearts and One Last Bloom Won

Awards nominated

Years Awards department work Result
1984 7th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor The Catch Nominated
2007 30th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor The Uchoten Hotel Nominated
2007 61st Japan Broadcast Film and Arts Awards Best Actor Honto to Uso to Tequila Nominated
2009 32nd Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor The Magic Hour[111] Nominated
2012 35th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor The Last Ronin[112] Nominated
2013 36th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor Anata e[113] Nominated
2013 36th Japan Academy Prize Best Supporting Actor The Floating Castle[113] Nominated
2016 39th Japan Academy Prize Best Actor Kishūteneki Terminal[114] Nominated

Notes

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References

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External links

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