Legendary Japanese Actor Tatsuya Nakadai Dies at 92

Japanese stage and screen actor Tatsuya Nakadai, famed for his leading roles in Akira Kurosawa’s films including Ran and Kagemusha, has died at the age of 92, his acting school, Mumeijuku, confirmed on Tuesday.

Nakadai rose to international prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s under director Masaki Kobayashi, appearing in the acclaimed anti-war trilogy The Human Condition. He later became Kurosawa’s go-to leading man after Toshiro Mifune pursued other projects, earning global recognition for his performances.

He played the central character in Kagemusha (1980), which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and portrayed the warlord who divides his kingdom in Ran (1985), a film inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear. Nakadai also appeared in Kurosawa’s 1961 samurai classic Yojimbo, alongside Mifune.

Beyond his film career, Nakadai co-founded Mumeijuku in 1975 with his late wife Yasuko Miyazaki, nurturing new generations of actors. One notable student is Koji Yakusho, who won Best Actor at Cannes in 2023 for his role in Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days.

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Nakadai remained active on stage and screen until recently, performing this year in the Noto region, still recovering from a devastating earthquake on New Year’s Day last year.

His death marks the end of an era for Japanese cinema, leaving behind a legacy of powerful performances and mentorship that shaped the industry for decades.