Overview
- TOKYO-based Kyodo reported, citing a source close to the matter, that he died of pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital early Saturday.
- The Japan News first reported his death on Tuesday in Japan, with international trade outlets later amplifying the news.
- He anchored landmark films including Kobayashi’s The Human Condition trilogy and Harakiri, as well as Kurosawa’s Kagemusha, Ran and High and Low.
- Across seven decades he amassed more than 100 screen credits, remained rooted in theater and declined exclusive studio contracts to work widely.
- He received Japan’s Order of Culture in 2015, was predeceased by his wife and is survived by their daughter, Nao Nakadai.