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.
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.
External links
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/nm0847264
Wikipedia: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q741184
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Filmography (Movies)
Ken San
Character:Self
Release Date:20/08/2016
Dearest
Character:Eiji Shimakura
Release Date:25/08/2012
Black Rain: Making The Film
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:10/10/2006
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
Character:Gou-ichi Takata
Release Date:22/12/2005
The Firefly
Character:Yamaoka Shuji
Release Date:01/05/2001
Railroad Man
Character:Otomatsu Sato
Release Date:05/06/1999
The detective whose path was crossed by a snake
Character:
Release Date:01/07/1995
47 Ronin
Character:Kuranosuke Oishi
Release Date:22/10/1994
Mr. Baseball
Character:Uchiyama
Release Date:01/10/1992
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:10/03/1991
Buddies
Character:Kadokura
Release Date:03/11/1989
Black Rain
Character:Masahiro
Release Date:22/09/1989
Umi e, See You
Character:Eiji Honma
Release Date:18/05/1988
Demon
Character:Shuji
Release Date:31/08/1985
A Portrait of the Author
Character:Self
Release Date:26/08/1984
Choji Snack Bar
Character:Eiji
Release Date:12/11/1983
Antarctica
Character:Ushioda
Release Date:23/07/1983
The Longest Tunnel
Character:Go Akutsu
Release Date:16/10/1982
Karate Cop
Character:Detective Mikami
Release Date:17/04/1982
Station
Character:Eiji Mikami
Release Date:07/11/1981
A Distant Cry from Spring
Character:Kosaku Tajima
Release Date:15/03/1980
The Revolt
Character:Keisuke Miyagi
Release Date:15/01/1980
Never Give Up
Character:Takeshi Ajisawa
Release Date:07/10/1978
Winter's Flower
Character:Hidetsugu Kano
Release Date:17/06/1978
The Yellow Handkerchief
Character:Yusaku Shima
Release Date:30/09/1977
Mount Hakkoda
Character:Captain Tokushima
Release Date:04/06/1977
Manhunt
Character:Morioka
Release Date:11/02/1976
The International Gang of Kobe
Character:Masato Dan
Release Date:14/10/1975
The Bullet Train
Character:Tetsuo Okita
Release Date:05/07/1975
Great Jailbreak
Character:Ichiro Kozue
Release Date:05/04/1975
Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack
Character:
Release Date:15/01/1975
The Yakuza
Character:Tanaka Ken
Release Date:21/12/1974
The Homeless
Character:Jokichi Anabuki
Release Date:09/10/1974
Third Generation Boss
Character:
Release Date:10/08/1974
Golgo 13
Character:Duke Togo / Golgo 13
Release Date:29/12/1973
Yakuza of the Present
Character:Ryoichi Shimaya
Release Date:27/10/1973
Japan's Top Gangster
Character:Kazuo Taoka
Release Date:11/08/1973
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
Character:
Release Date:30/12/1972
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
Character:
Release Date:12/08/1972
The Pledge
Character:
Release Date:30/07/1972
Lullaby for a Tough Guy
Character:
Release Date:01/04/1972
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
Character:Kuramoto
Release Date:04/03/1972
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
Character:
Release Date:29/12/1971
The Man
Character:
Release Date:03/12/1971
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
Character:Hidejiro Hanada
Release Date:27/10/1971
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
Character:
Release Date:13/08/1971
Patience Has An End
Character:Isamu Tekada
Release Date:25/06/1971
Dagger
Character:
Release Date:28/04/1971
Bloodiest Flower
Character:
Release Date:03/04/1971
The Path of the King
Character:Ryutaro Fudo
Release Date:06/03/1971
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
Character:
Release Date:30/12/1970
The Domain: Rising Dragon
Character:
Release Date:03/12/1970
The Last Kamikaze
Character:Koji Yashiro
Release Date:29/10/1970
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
Character:
Release Date:22/09/1970
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
Character:
Release Date:14/08/1970
Yukyo-retsuden
Character:
Release Date:04/07/1970
Too Late the Hero
Character:Major Yamaguchi
Release Date:20/05/1970
The Japan Derby Race
Character:
Release Date:13/05/1970
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
Character:
Release Date:01/05/1970
House of Gamblers
Character:
Release Date:29/03/1970
Brave Red Flower of the North
Character:
Release Date:09/01/1970
Gambler's Legacy
Character:Tsukuda Ginjiro
Release Date:27/12/1969
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
Character:
Release Date:27/12/1969
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6
Character:
Release Date:28/11/1969
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
Character:Saburo Aizawa
Release Date:16/10/1969
New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2
Character:
Release Date:13/08/1969
Samurai Geisha
Character:Shimada Seikichi
Release Date:31/07/1969
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
Character:Kingoro Tamai
Release Date:31/05/1969
Brothers Serving Time
Character:
Release Date:03/05/1969
The Biggest Gamble
Character:Shuzo Honjo
Release Date:19/04/1969
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
Character:Koji Yashiro
Release Date:10/04/1969
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
Character:Hanada Hidejiro
Release Date:06/03/1969
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
Character:Shogo Hanaoka
Release Date:01/02/1969
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
Character:Katsuji Suehiro
Release Date:28/12/1968
Gambler Biography
Character:
Release Date:28/12/1968
The Day the Sun Rose
Character:
Release Date:23/11/1968
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
Character:
Release Date:25/10/1968
Rogue
Character:Isamu Oba
Release Date:12/10/1968
Red Peony Gambler
Character:Naoki Katagiri
Release Date:14/09/1968
Histories of the Chivalrous
Character:
Release Date:01/08/1968
The Drifting Avenger
Character:Ken Kato
Release Date:14/06/1968
Prison Boss
Character:
Release Date:18/04/1968
The Domain: Severed Relations
Character:
Release Date:22/02/1968
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
Character:Shin-ichi Tachibana
Release Date:23/12/1967
侠客の掟
Character:
Release Date:10/10/1967
The Domain: Where The Blade Enters
Character:
Release Date:15/09/1967
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
Character:Shin-ichi Tachibana
Release Date:12/08/1967
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
Character:
Release Date:08/07/1967
Classmates
Character:First Lieutenant Kenmochi
Release Date:03/06/1967
The Chivalrous Life
Character:Ryuma Ibuki
Release Date:30/05/1967
Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido
Character:
Release Date:20/04/1967
The Domain: White Blade
Character:
Release Date:28/01/1967
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country
Character:
Release Date:31/12/1966
Glorious Fights
Character:Ichiro Takita
Release Date:29/10/1966
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
Character:
Release Date:17/09/1966
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South
Character:
Release Date:13/08/1966
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf
Character:
Release Date:09/07/1966
Showdown of Men
Character:
Release Date:01/07/1966
The Kamikaze Guy
Character:Fumio Kuroki
Release Date:04/06/1966
The Bullet and the Horse
Character:
Release Date:23/04/1966
The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
Character:
Release Date:03/02/1966
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
Character:
Release Date:13/01/1966
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
Character:Shin'ichi Tachibana
Release Date:31/12/1965
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
Character:Shinichi Tachibana
Release Date:31/10/1965
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
Character:Seiji Terajima
Release Date:01/10/1965
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
Character:Sasaki Kojiro
Release Date:04/09/1965
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
Character:
Release Date:12/08/1965
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
Character:Shinichi Tachibana
Release Date:10/07/1965
Abashiri Prison
Character:Shinichi Tachibana
Release Date:18/04/1965
Tokyo Untouchable
Character:Yoshio Harada
Release Date:11/03/1965
The Domain: The Naniwa Story
Character:
Release Date:30/01/1965
A Fugitive from the Past
Character:Ajimura
Release Date:15/01/1965
The Boss
Character:
Release Date:03/01/1965
Storm Party
Character:
Release Date:21/10/1964
Wolves, Pigs & Men
Character:Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
Release Date:26/08/1964
The Domain
Character:
Release Date:13/08/1964
Main Street in the Underworld
Character:
Release Date:25/04/1964
An Outlaw
Character:Minami
Release Date:05/04/1964
Jakoman and Tetsu
Character:Tetsu
Release Date:08/02/1964
Tokyo Gang vs. Hong Kong Gang
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1964
Miyamoto Musashi IV: The Duel at Ichijo-ji Temple
Character:Sasaki Kojiro
Release Date:01/01/1964
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
Character:Asano
Release Date:20/10/1963
Blackmail
Character:
Release Date:14/09/1963
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style
Character:Sasaki Kojiro
Release Date:14/08/1963
Duel of the Underworld
Character:
Release Date:13/07/1963
Defeat the Boss
Character:
Release Date:22/06/1963
The Big Boss
Character:
Release Date:12/04/1963
Life of Hishakaku
Character:
Release Date:16/03/1963
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
Character:Yoshio Harada
Release Date:15/03/1963
Eleven Gangsters
Character:Sawagami
Release Date:15/01/1963
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
Character:
Release Date:23/12/1962
Operation Diamond
Character:
Release Date:09/12/1962
Hell's Kitchen
Character:
Release Date:12/10/1962
365 Nights
Character:
Release Date:09/09/1962
Tokyo's Business District
Character:
Release Date:29/08/1962
Song of Kagoshima
Character:Shuhei Tategami
Release Date:01/05/1962
Tales of President Mito
Character:Sukesaburo Sasa
Release Date:04/04/1962
Lady Sen and Hideyori
Character:Naomori
Release Date:25/03/1962
All Rascals
Character:
Release Date:21/03/1962
The Escape
Character:
Release Date:14/03/1962
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
Character:
Release Date:07/02/1962
South Pacific Waves Are High
Character:
Release Date:09/01/1962
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
Character:Kosuke Kindaichi
Release Date:15/11/1961
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
Character:Kenichi Oka
Release Date:22/10/1961
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
Character:Tarô Mannen
Release Date:07/10/1961
The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado
Character:
Release Date:05/08/1961
Flower, Storm and Gangster
Character:'Smiley' Ken
Release Date:23/06/1961
A Fishwife's Tale
Character:
Release Date:31/05/1961
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Whirlwind
Character:Tarō Senpū
Release Date:14/02/1961
Hell's Juggler
Character:
Release Date:15/01/1961
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
Character:Kenichi Hanamura
Release Date:09/01/1961
If You're Man Enough
Character:
Release Date:29/11/1960
The Sand City in Manchuria
Character:Hari
Release Date:24/08/1960
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3
Character:
Release Date:07/08/1960
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Rush
Character:
Release Date:13/07/1960
Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy
Character:
Release Date:10/05/1960
Delinquent Angel
Character:
Release Date:15/03/1960
The Great Road
Character:
Release Date:08/03/1960
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
Character:
Release Date:01/03/1960
続べらんめぇ芸者
Character:
Release Date:01/03/1960
The Second Bullet is Marked
Character:
Release Date:27/01/1960
The World's Most Noble Guy: Taro's Eternity
Character:
Release Date:21/01/1960
The Counterfeiters
Character:
Release Date:22/11/1959
Four Hours of Terror
Character:Captain Yamamoto
Release Date:30/09/1959
Hell's Companion
Character:
Release Date:01/06/1959
A Dead Drifter
Character:
Release Date:13/05/1959
A Man's Dark Finger
Character:
Release Date:10/02/1959
The Happy Family
Character:
Release Date:28/01/1959
The Bastards of Lawless Town
Character:Fumio Sone
Release Date:28/01/1959
Sister with Sister
Character:Hiroshi Ishioka
Release Date:09/12/1958
The Outsiders
Character:Ichitaro Kazamori
Release Date:26/11/1958
With Songs in My Heart
Character:
Release Date:10/09/1958
Midair Circus
Character:
Release Date:12/08/1958
Detective Duel
Character:
Release Date:06/08/1958
His Pistol is Hell
Character:
Release Date:15/06/1958
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
Character:
Release Date:10/06/1958
Romance Freestyle
Character:
Release Date:30/04/1958
Monsoon Son Pt.2
Character:
Release Date:18/03/1958
Monsoon Son
Character:
Release Date:11/03/1958
Man of Thirteen Eyes
Character:
Release Date:15/01/1958
No Advice Taken
Character:
Release Date:03/01/1958
Jet Air Base 101
Character:Jiro Nakata
Release Date:15/12/1957
Showdown in Blood
Character:
Release Date:28/08/1957
The Deep Blue Sea
Character:
Release Date:30/07/1957
Men Fighting Whales
Character:Yosuke Yamagami
Release Date:09/07/1957
Employee Full of Fight
Character:Tani
Release Date:13/03/1957
恐怖の空中殺人
Character:島田寿夫
Release Date:26/12/1956
Mother Peacock
Character:
Release Date:05/12/1956
Manchurian Sunset
Character:Shintaro
Release Date:18/09/1956
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
Character:
Release Date:25/07/1956
The Chop Professor
Character:
Release Date:04/04/1956
Lightning Karate Blow
Character:
Release Date:29/01/1956
Meteor Karate Strike
Character:
Release Date:29/01/1956
Television Appearances
Images
