Tatsuya Nakadai, Renowned Japanese Actor, Dies at 92

Tatsuya Nakadai, one of Japan’s most celebrated actors whose career spanned seven decades, has died at 92. The Japan News confirmed his death Tuesday.

Born Motohisa Nakadai on Dec. 13, 1932, in Tokyo, he grew up in Chiba before moving with his family to Aoyama after his father’s death in 1941. He studied acting at the Haiyuza Training School, beginning a career that placed him at the center of Japan’s stage and screen for more than half a century.

Nakadai’s film career began with an uncredited role in Masaki Kobayashi’s 1953 drama “The Thick-Walled Room.” That appearance launched a long collaboration with Kobayashi, leading to starring roles in “Harakiri” (1962), “Samurai Rebellion” (1967), and “Kwaidan” (1964). His breakthrough came with “The Human Condition” trilogy (1959–1961), in which he played a pacifist facing the harsh realities of World War II.

Over the next several decades, Nakadai became a fixture in Japanese cinema, working with major directors including Akira Kurosawa, Hiroshi Teshigahara, Mikio Naruse, and Kon Ichikawa. Though he built an extensive screen career with more than 100 credits, he considered himself a stage actor first and never signed a studio contract, preferring the independence to choose his projects freely.

Nakadai’s collaborations with Kurosawa brought him international recognition. He played the title role in “Kagemusha” (1980) and later portrayed the aging warlord Hidetora Ichimonji in “Ran” (1985), a Sengoku-era adaptation of “King Lear” that earned Kurosawa his only Academy Award nomination for directing. He also starred opposite Toshiro Mifune in several of Kurosawa’s samurai films, including “Yojimbo” (1961) and “Sanjuro” (1962), as well as the modern crime thriller “High and Low” (1963).

His film work ranged from period epics to modern dramas and comedies, including Kihachi Okamoto’s “Kill!” (1968). His performances earned him two Blue Ribbon Awards—first for “Harakiri” in 1962 and again in 1980 for “Kagemusha” and “The Battle of Port Arthur.”

He continued performing into his later years, voicing a character in Studio Ghibli’s “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (2013) and appearing in “Zatoichi: The Last” (2010). On stage, he was celebrated for leading roles in “Death of a Salesman,” “Barrymore,” and “Don Quixote,” and for tackling Shakespeare’s major tragic figures, including Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, and Richard III.

In 2015, Nakadai received the Order of Culture, Japan’s highest honor in the arts and sciences, recognizing a lifetime of achievement across film and theater.