Tatsuya Nakadai (?? ??, Nakadai Tatsuya, born Motohisa Nakadai December 13, 1932) is a Japanese film actor.His debut role was a brief and uncredited one in Seven Samurai where he is seen for a few seconds as a samurai walking through town.He was featured in 11 films directed by Masaki Kobayashi, including the The Human Condition trilogy, wherein he starred as the lead character Kaji, plus Harakiri, Samurai Rebellion and Kwaidan.Nakadai worked with a number of Japan's best-known filmmakers -- starring or co-starring in five films directed by Akira Kurosawa, as well as being cast in significant films directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara (The Face of Another), Mikio Naruse (When a Woman Ascends the Stairs), Kihachi Okamoto (Kill! and Sword of Doom), Hideo Gosha (Goyokin), Shir? Toyoda (Portrait of Hell) and Kon Ichikawa (Enjo and Odd Obsession).
Frequently works with 'Toshiro Mifune' and Akira Kurosawa
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Quote
1
In reference to Japanese actors, while here in New York, whenever have free time, I take in a Broadway show. I intend to watch eight shows before I leave this time. American actors on stage, I'm struck by how powerful and skillful they are, and at the same time that I'm inspired, I also feel very regretful and sorrowful because I cannot say the same thing about Japanese actors. My generation of actors - not only actors, but directors - went through so much training and I wonder why the younger generation of Japanese actors today don't train as hard?
2
I'm quieter than average, and a bit solitary. I think maybe those characteristics have something in common with the positive elements of a Samurai. I'm a loner. I worked hard as a film actor, but essentially I'm a theatre actor. For sixty-some years I served those two masters, but I never signed with a film company. Maybe you can call that lone wolf behavior a connection.
3
If someone were to ask me on my deathbed what my best film was, I think I'd say it was Harakiri, which I made when I was 29. You could say my most important work was finished by the time I was 29! So I'd like to put Harakiri (1962) on the list. Next is Yojimbo (1961). And then there's a director named Kihachi Okamoto, who did a film called The Sword of Doom - this was a very difficult film for me, one that's been made into a movie many times in Japan. Then there's Ran (1985) - the last film I did with Kurosawa. Before that, I took over for the actor Shintarô Katsu in Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980), which won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Lastly, there's Hideo Gosha's Goyôkin (1969), which is a little bit different from an ordinary Samurai film.
4
Japanese cinema was very focused on capturing both the ordinary and the extraordinary, so a lot of the things that we captured tended to be existentialist, as well. In the films, there were influences by Camus or Sartre, different philosophers. In the theater, we referred to Brecht, so in that sense there was a lot of inclination towards existentialism and extraordinary references were very strong. In that sense, I thought this piece - that was based on Abe Kobo's work - was something altogether very different from works by Kurosawa, for instance.
5
I think I tend to prefer freedom. I've always worked in a manner that I will give it my all; I'll do it to my heart's content, and then the director will tell me, "You can tone it down a little. You don't have to go so far." That's the way I've always worked and I think I don't really prefer that oppressive type of direction.
6
You're willing to take a plunge from any height. There's just something about being in front of a camera. And being in front of an audience is the same thing. It's hopeless. I guess I'm just a ham.
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Fact
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Although it was commonplace for actors, evening leading men, in Japan to do their own stunt work in the 1950s through at least the 1970s (when actor's union laws enforced safer conditions on sets), the film sets of Masaki Kobayashi were particularly dangerous for Nakadai. During the filming of "The Human Condition", Nakadai was actually beaten by other actors in a boot-camp scene where his character Kaji is brutalized for rebelling against more experienced soldiers. According to Nakadai, the swelling of his face and some of the blood is real on this scene. Later in The Human Condition, his character collapses in a frozen field and is covered by snow, this was real snow and done by Nakadai himself, who came very near to hypothermia. During the filming of Harakiri (1962) real, sharp samurai swords were used in the battle scenes (according to Nakadai, this is not his only samurai film where real swords were used but is the only one where absolutely no dull, stage swords were utilized), much to Nakadai's very reasonable concern, since a mistimed slash could have been fatal for him or the other actors. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured during filming.
2
While filming his first appearance on film as an extra on Seven Samurai (1954), Akira Kurosawa spent more than 5 minutes lecturing on how to walk correctly as a wandering samurai for an appearance that totals about 4 seconds in duration.
Appeared in a plethora of plays written by Kôbô Abe while working at the "New Theatre" and appeared in some film adaptations (often with screenplays written by Abe himself) of his works. This theatre group controversially introduced avante-garde concepts to Japanese theatre and film, especially through Abe's collaborations with director Hiroshi Teshigahara.
6
Although perhaps most regularly associated with his works with Masaki Kobayashi, Koyabashi was only his second most prolific collaborator among film directors. His most frequent director collaborators were: Kihachi Okamoto with whom he did 12 films, Koyabashi with whom he did 11 films, Hideo Gosha with whom he did 10 films, 6 films each with Akira Kurosawa and Kon Ichikawa, and Mikio Naruse with whom he did 5 films. The longest collaboration would be with Ichiwawa, with whom he did his first film in 1958, his last with in 2006, 48 years later.
7
His beard caught fire during the apocalyptic castle-burning scene in Ran (1985).
8
He has played both the primary antagonist and protagonist in two different films that are both based on the same novel - "Peaceful Days" by Shûgorô Yamamoto. The former was the character Hanbei in Sanjuro (1962), while the latter was Genta in Kill! (1968).
9
Though a frequent on-screen rival, he was good friends with Toshirô Mifune.
10
He played characters of a very different age from his own through his career. In Harakiri (1962), he played a samurai in his 50s while he was 33. In Kwaidan (1964), he played a 18-year-old woodcutter when he himself was 36. In Ran (1985) he played a nearly 80-year-old war lord when he was 56.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Yotsuya kaidan
1965
Iyemon Tamiya
Matatabi san ning yakuza
1965
Hatsukari-no-Sentaro
Kwaidan
1964
Mi nokichi (segment "Yuki-Onna")
Jigoku sakusen
1964
Onna no rekishi
1963
Akimoto
Miren
1963
Ryôta Kinoshita
500,000
1963
Mitsura Gunji
Shiro to kuro
1963
Hamano
High and Low
1963
Chief Detective Tokura
Yushu heiya
1963
Tatsumi
Harakiri
1962
Hanshiro Tsugumo
Love Under the Crucifix
1962
Ukon Takayama
The Inheritance
1962
Kikuo Furukawa
Sanjuro
1962
Hanbei Muroto
Eien no hito
1961
Heibei
Kumo ga chigireru toki
1961
Poignant Story
1961
Minami
Yojimbo
1961
Unosuke - Gunfighter
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
1961
Kaji
Get 'em All
1960
Tsubota
The Blue Beast
1960
Yasuhiko Kuroki
Musume tsuma haha
1960
Shingo Kuroki
Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki
1960
Kenichi Komatsu, the manager
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
1959/II
Kaji
Anyakôro
1959
Kaname
Three Dolls in Ginza
1959
Kagi
1959
Kimura
Yajû shisubeshi
1959
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
1959/I
Kaji
Hadaka no taiyo
1958
Enjô
1958
Tokari
Buttsuke homban
1958
The Assistant
All About Marriage
1958
Yoru no hamon
1958
Masaki
A Boy and Three Mothers
1958
The Engineer
Kampai! Miai kekkon
1958
Kunihiko Sasada
Sazae-san no seishun
1957
Norisuke
Zokuzoku Ôban: Dotô hen
1957
Black River
1957
Jo
Hadairo no tsuki
1957
Jirô Taki
A Dangerous Hero
1957
Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen
1957
Shin don
Hikage no musume
1957
Arakure
1957
Ôban
1957
Shin don
Oshidori no mon
1956
Sazae-san
1956
Norisuke
The Thick-Walled Room
1956
Hadashi no seishun
1956
Yûji Wada
Hi no tori
1956
Seven Samurai
1954
Samurai Wandering Through Town (uncredited)
Umibe no Lear
2017
post-production
Cold Case: Shinjitsu no Tobira
2016
TV Mini-Series
Kyoaku wa nemurasenai: Tokusô Kenji no gyakushû
2016
TV Movie
Haretsu
2015
TV Mini-Series
Nôrin Ten: A Gonjirô Inazuka Story
2015
Zainin no uso
2014
TV Mini-Series
Jobanni no shima
2014
Junpei Senou (older) (voice)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
2013
Sumiyaki no Roujin (voice)
Jinrui shikin
2013
Nobuhiro Sasakura
Yakusoku: Nabari dokubudôshu jiken shikeishû no shôgai
2013
Masaru okunishi
Tsunagu
2012
Nihon no higeki
2012
Fujio
Gaku
2012
TV Movie
Kazama Shin-ichi
Zatôichi: The Last
2010
Tendo
Haru tono tabi
2010
Tadao Nakai
Hikidashi no naka no rabu retâ
2009
Kyozo Hayami
Inugami-ke no ichizoku
2006
Sahei Inugami
Shin ningen kousaten
2006
TV Series
Yuji
Otoko-tachi no Yamato
2005
Katsumi Kamio (75 years old)
Hoshi ni negaio: 7jô ma de umareta 410man no hoshi
2005
TV Movie
Takanori Wakamiya
Sekai no chûshin de, ai wo sakebu
2004
TV Series
Matsumoto Kentaro
Ashura no gotoku
2003
Kotaro Takezawa
Hi wa mata noboru
2002
Matsushita (Matsushita Denki Co.)
Shiroi inu to warutsu wo
2002
Eisuke Nakamoto
Sukedachi-ya Sukeroku
2001
Umetaro Katakura
Aki no ryojô sasupensu 3: Shokutaku keiji Koyamada Shô'hei tabiji no hate
2001
TV Movie
Kin'yû fushoku rettô: Jubaku
1999
Hideaki Sasaki
Ame agaru
1999
Tsuji Gettan
Miyazawa Kenji sono ai
1996
Seijirou Miyazawa
Hideyoshi
1996
TV Series
Sen no Rikyu (Tea Ceremony master)
East Meets West
1995
Rentaro Katsu
Gekko no natsu
1993
Kozure Ôkami: Sono chîsaki te ni
1993
Yagyu Retsudo
Wicked City
1992
Daishu (Yuen Tai Chung)
Toki rakujitsu
1992
Kobayashi
Gô-hime
1992
Oribe Furuta
Kagerô
1991
Tsunejiro Murai
Bujinesuman no chichi yori musuko e no 30-tsuu no tegami
1990
TV Series
Four Days of Snow and Blood
1989
Sugiyama
Return from the River Kwai
1989
Major Harada
Oracion
1988
Heihachiro Wagu
Hachi-ko
1987
Shujiro Ueno
Taikoki
1987
TV Movie Narrator
Michi
1986
Seiji Tajima
Atami satsujin jiken
1986
Denbei Nikaido
Shokutaku no nai ie
1985
Nabayuki Kidoji
Ran
1985
Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
Kita no hotaru
1984
Takeshi Tsukigata
Uchû senkan Yamato: Kanketsuhen
1983
Narrator (voice)
Onimasa
1982
Masagoro Kiryûin - Onimasa
Nihon no atsui hibi bôsatsu: Shimoyama jiken
1981
Yashiro
Aokiôkami narukichiomoase no shôgai
1980
TV Movie
203 kochi
1980
General Nogi
Kagemusha
1980
Shingen Takeda
Kagemusha
Hunter in the Dark
1979
Gomyo Kiyoemon
Burû Kurisumasu
1978
Minami
Hi no tori
1978
Jingi the Conqueror, leader of the Takamagahara
Kumokiri Nizaemon
1978
Kumokiri Nizaemon
Joôbachi
1978
Ginzo Daidoji
Sugata Sanshiro
1977
Yano
Fumô chitai
1976
Zoku ningen kakumei
1976
Banka
1976
Setsuo Katsuragi
Kinkanshoku
1975
Hoshino, the Chief Cabinet Secretary
Wagahai wa neko de aru
1975
Kushami
Tokkan
1975
The Gate of Youth
1975
Yuki, Shinsuke's father
The Family
1974
Teppei Manpyo
Rise, Fair Sun
1973
Sakuzo
The Human Revolution
1973
Kanashimi no Beradonna
1973
Devil
Ôshô
1973
Shin heike monogatari
1972
TV Series
Shussho Iwai
1971
Seji Iwahashi
Inochi bô ni furô
1971
Sadashichi
Gekido no showashi: Okinawa kessen
1971
Colonel Hiromichi Yahara
Will to Conquer
1970
Toyo Yoshida
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival
1970
Ronin (as Tatsuya Nakayo)
Buraikan
1970
Naojiro Kataoka
Bakumatsu
1970
Shintaro Nakaoka
Ezo yakata no ketto
1970
Daizennokami Honjo
Jigokuhen
1969
Yoshihide
Tengu-tô
1969
Sentarô
Hitokiri
1969
Hanpeita Takechi
Battle of the Japan Sea
1969
Major Genjiro Akashi
Safari 5000
1969
Goyôkin
1969
Magobei Wakizaka
Nikudan
1968
A narrator
Rengô kantai shirei chôkan: Yamamoto Isoroku
1968
Narrator (voice)
Kill!
1968
Genta
Today We Kill, Tomorrow We Die!
1968
James Elfego
Tabiji
1967
Yuichiro
Samurai Rebellion
1967
Tatewaki Asano
Sasaki Kojiro
1967
Musashi Miyamoto
Satsujin kyôjidai
1967
Shinji Kikyo
The Daphne
1966
Professor Kanahira
Shurushuru
1966
TV Movie
Tanin no kao
1966
Mr. Okuyama
The Sword of Doom
1966
Ryunosuke Tsukue
Gohiki no shinshi
1966
Oida
Saigô no shinpan
1965
Fort Graveyard
1965
Sakuma
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 39th Annual Japan Academy Awards
2016
TV Special
Himself
Futari no shikeishû - saishin imada hirakarezu
2015
Documentary
Narration (voice)
Tetsuko no heya
2011-2015
TV Series
Himself
Kakukoto no omosa: Sakka Satou Yasushi
2013
Documentary
Narration (voice)
Sutajio pâku kara konnichiwa
2013
TV Series
Himself - Guest
Nakadai Tatsuya no Nihon eiga isan
2010-2011
TV Series
Himself
The Making of 'Haru to no tabi'
2011
Video documentary short
Himself
Bokura no jidai
2010
TV Series
Himself
Chûbô desuyo!
2010
TV Series
Himself
Tsukuru to iu koto wa subarashii! Kurosawa Akira: Korega Kuroswa sasupensu da
$13 Million
