Actor
Kunie Tanaka
November 23, 1932 · Toki, Gifu, Japan
Kunie Tanaka (田中 邦衛 Tanaka Kunie, November 23, 1932 - March 24, 2021) was a Japanese actor. He had his first notable role in 1960 as a thug in Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well, and worked with the director again on Sanjuro. Tanaka is well known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. He also appeared in Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan.
He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993. He appeared as the lecherous Shinjiro Ishiyama, nicknamed Aodaishō, the antagonist of the hero, played by Yūzō Kayama, in all of the Wakadaishō series of films. The character Kizaru, from Eiichiro Oda's manga series One Piece, is modeled after Tanaka.
Notable work
Often works with
Tatsuya Nakadai
4 titles together
Sanjuro, Kwaidan, Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
Jun Hamamura
4 titles together
Kwaidan, The Demon, My Sons
Shingo Yamashiro
4 titles together
Graveyard of Honor, Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics, Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
Hideo Murota
4 titles together
Graveyard of Honor, Cops vs. Thugs, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1
Bunta Sugawara
4 titles together
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics, Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode, Cops vs. Thugs
Nobuo Kaneko
4 titles together
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics, Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 1
Full filmography · 150
The Last Ronin
cast
2010
The Hidden Blade
as Kanbê Katagiri
20047.4
Fukumimi
cast
2003
The Boat to Heaven
as Masato Sakurai
2003
北の国から 記憶 前編
as 演员
2003
Yomigaeri
as Dr. Saito
2003
Kita no kuni kara 2002 Yuigon Part 2
cast
2002
北の国から記憶
as 演员
2002
Kewaishi
cast
2002
All About Our House
as Chouichirou Iwata
2001
As the River Flows
as Matsuda (The Shopkeeper)
2000
A Class to Remember III: The New Voyage
as Inoue
1998