Kōtarō Yoshida (actor)

Kōtarō Yoshida
吉田 鋼太郎
Born (1959-01-14) January 14, 1959
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationsActor, theatre director
Agents
Websiteaun.la.coocan.jp

Kōtarō Yoshida (吉田 鋼太郎, Yoshida Kōtarō; born January 14, 1959, in Tokyo) is a Japanese actor and theatre director. He established himself on the stage in classical theatre, becoming a regular in Yukio Ninagawa's Shakespeare productions and co-founding the theatre company Performance Unit AUN in 1997. Television roles in Hanzawa Naoki (2013) and Hanako to Anne (2014) brought him wider recognition and led to frequent film and television work. In 2016 he succeeded Ninagawa as the second artistic director of the Sai no Kuni Shakespeare Series. He is affiliated with Horipro.

Biography

Yoshida spent six years in Osaka during his grade school days, and later grew up in Hino, Tokyo. While a student at St. Paul High School, he saw the Shakespearean comedy "Twelfth Night" by the Kumo Theater Company and decided to become an actor. While studying at the Department of German Literature in the Faculty of Literature at Sophia University, he made his debut by performing Twelfth Night in the Shakespeare Study Group. He later dropped out of the university.[1]

After working with the Shiki Theatre Company for six months, he worked with Shakespeare Theatre, Lyming Theatre Company, and Tokyo Ichigumi before forming Performance Unit AUN with director Yoshihiro Kurita in 1997, which he also directed.[2] He was valued as an actor capable of performing the roles required of foreign classics such as Shakespeare and Greek tragedies, and was a regular in Yukio Ninagawa's productions. His roles for Ninagawa included Titus in a Japanese-language production of Titus Andronicus that played the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2006.[3][4] He is a close friend of Tatsuya Fujiwara and Shun Oguri, who often appeared in Ninagawa's works. Starting in 2010, he expanded his activities into television dramas and films on the advice of Oguri.

Yoshida played Hanzawa's boss in Hanzawa Naoki in 2013 and Densuke Kanō, who was modeled after businessman Den'emon Itō, in Hanako to Anne in 2014. These performances attracted attention, which led to an increase in his appearances in films, his first starring role being in Tokyo Sentimental.

He married on January 1, 2016, a woman 22 years his junior, and held a wedding ceremony in February 2017.[5] In October 2016, he succeeded Yukio Ninagawa as the second artistic director of the Sai no Kuni Shakespeare Series.[6]

Filmography

Stage

Year Title Role Director Notes Ref.
1985 Twelfth Night Harumi Nakashima
1997 Othello Othello Yukio Ninagawa
1998 The Merchant of Venice Shylock Norio Deguchi
2001 Hamlet Hamlet Norio Deguchi
2006 Titus Andronicus Titus Yukio Ninagawa Royal Shakespeare Theatre [3][4]
2008 King Lear Earl of Gloucester Yukio Ninagawa
2014 Julius Caesar Cassius Yukio Ninagawa
2015 Death Note: The Musical Ryuk Tamiya Kuriyama

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2010 Surely Someday Kitō
2015 Assassination Classroom Kensaku Ōno
2015 Shinjuku Swan Amano
2017 To Each His Own Mamoru Yamagami
2017 Teiichi: Battle of Supreme High Jōsuke Akaba
2017 The Third Murder Daisuke Settsu
2017 Mixed Doubles Seiichirō Yamashita
2017 Shinjuku Swan II Amano
2018 The Lies She Loved
2018 Love × Doc
2018 Over Drive Issei Tsuzuki
2019 Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration Diabolo (voice)
2019 Ossan's Love the Movie Musashi Kurosawa
2019 Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV Akio's father Lead role
2019 Dragon Quest: Your Story Ladja (voice)
2019 Lupin III: The First Lambert (voice)
2019 Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Movie: Mirai Kara Kita Shinsoku no ALFA-X Ohanefu (voice) [7]
2020 Kaiji: Final Game Yoshihiro Kurosaki [8]
2020 From Today, It's My Turn!! Ichirō Mitsuhashi [9]
2021 Cube Kazumasa Ando [10]
2021 Last of the Wolves Yōzō Watafune [11]
2022 The Way of the Househusband Kondō [12]
2023 Yudō Critic [13]
2023 We're Millennials. Got a Problem?: The Movie Iwao Aso [14]
2024 Love You as the World Ends: The Final Saijō [15]
2024 Hey Handsome!! Gentaro Ito Lead role [16]
2024 Maru Akimoto [17]
2024 Oshi no Ko: The Final Act Ichigo Saitō [18]
2025 Showtime 7 Shōji [19]
2025 Stigmatized Properties 2 Kioshi Fujiyoshi [20]
2025 Scarlet Voltemand (voice) [21]
2026 Goodbye My Car Atsushi Miyake [22]

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 The Brothers Karamazov Bunzō Kurosawa
2013 Hanzawa Naoki Hiroshi Naitō
2014 Hanako and Anne Densuke Kanō Asadora
2014 Mozu Jin Nakagami
2016 Sanada Maru Oda Nobunaga Taiga drama
2016 Totto TV Hisaya Morishige
2016 Yuriko-san no Ehon Hiroshi Harashima
2016 We're Millennials. Got a Problem? Iwao Aso [14]
2018 From Today, It's My Turn!! Ichirō Mitsuhashi
2018–24 Ossan's Love Musashi Kurosawa 3 seasons [23]
2019 Ieyasu, Edo wo Tateru Gotō Tokujō
2020 The Yagyu Conspiracy Yagyū Munenori Lead role; TV movie
2020 The Sun Stands Still: The Eclipse Tōru Nagashima
2020–21 Awaiting Kirin Matsunaga Hisahide Taiga drama
2021 Nakamura Nakazo: Shusse no Kizahashi Miniseries [24]
2021 Japan Sinks: People of Hope Mamoru Amami Special appearance [25]
2022 Hey Handsome!! Gentaro Ito Lead role [26]
2024 Oshi no Ko Ichigo Saitō [18]
2025 Anpan Kamaji Asada Asadora [27]

Awards and honors

Year Honors Ref.
2026 Medal with Purple Ribbon [28]
Year Award ceremony Category Result Ref.
2014 7th Tokyo Drama Awards Best Supporting Actor Won [29]
2018 11th Tokyo Drama Awards Best Supporting Actor Won [30]

References

  1. ↑ 吉田鋼太郎　紫綬褒章受章 [Kōtarō Yoshida receives the Medal with Purple Ribbon]. Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). 28 April 2026. Archived from the original on 29 April 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  2. ↑ 吉田鋼太郎 [Kōtarō Yoshida] (in Japanese). Horipro. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  3. 1 2 Curtin, Sean (June 2006). "Titus Andronicus". The Japan Society. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Titus Andronicus from The Ninagawa Company at Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford". British Theatre Guide. 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  5. ↑ 吉田鋼太郎が22歳年下女性と元日婚！出会いから約4カ月のスピード婚 [Kōtarō Yoshida marries a woman 22 years his junior on New Year's Day]. Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). 5 January 2016. Archived from the original on 25 April 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  6. ↑ 【彩の国シェイクスピア・シリーズ】吉田鋼太郎氏が当シリーズの2代目芸術監督に就任 [Kōtarō Yoshida appointed second artistic director of the Sai no Kuni Shakespeare Series] (in Japanese). Saitama Arts Foundation. 15 October 2016. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  7. ↑ "劇場版 新幹線変形ロボ シンカリオン 未来からきた神速のALFA-X". Eiga.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2026. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  8. ↑ "「カイジ」藤原竜也主演で9年ぶり映画化、福本伸行による完全オリジナルストーリー". Natalie. Archived from the original on 12 March 2026. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  9. ↑ "今日から俺は!!劇場版". Eiga.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "菅田将暉主演で密室劇「CUBE」をリメイク！男女6人に杏、岡田将生、斎藤工ら". Natalie. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  11. ↑ "松坂桃李主演『孤狼の血 LEVEL2』8.20公開決定 鈴木亮平、西野七瀬らキャスト解禁". Crank-in!. 4 February 2021. Archived from the original on 28 February 2026. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  12. ↑ "Live-Action Way of the Househusband Film Reveals 7 Cast Members, June Debut". Anime News Network. February 24, 2022. Archived from the original on 7 February 2026. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  13. ↑ "生田斗真主演、映画『湯道』"銭湯"に吉田鋼太郎、夏木マリ、柄本明ら大集合". Oricon. Archived from the original on 6 March 2026. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  14. 1 2 "『ゆとりですがなにか』続編映画に安藤サクラ・仲野太賀・吉田鋼太郎らキャスト再集結". Oricon. 8 June 2023. Archived from the original on 30 January 2026. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  15. ↑ "劇場版「君と世界が終わる日に」シリーズ史上最大の敵役に吉田鋼太郎 "首藤シンジ"須賀健太も参戦". Eiga.com. Archived from the original on 8 January 2026. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Live-Action Film of Risa Itou's Hey Hey Pitan! Manga Reveals More Cast, New Trailer". Anime News Network. 2024-05-08. Archived from the original on 17 February 2026. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  17. ↑ "まる". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 6 March 2026. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  18. 1 2 "Live-Action Oshi no Ko Series, Film Reveal 28 Cast Members". Anime News Network. 2024-09-01. Archived from the original on 2 March 2026. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  19. ↑ "吉田鋼太郎、阿部寛主演「ショウタイムセブン」に出演！ 視聴率第一主義のテレビ局プロデューサー役". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 15 February 2026. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  20. ↑ "事故物件ゾク 恐い間取り". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 8 May 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  21. ↑ "果てしなきスカーレット". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 21 June 2026. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  22. ↑ "免許返納!?". Eiga.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 23 June 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  23. ↑ "『おっさんずラブ』続編放送開始日決定 内田理央&眞島秀和らレギュラーキャスト全員続投". Oricon. Archived from the original on 16 March 2026. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  24. ↑ "中村勘九郎がNHKドラマで"伝説の歌舞伎俳優"中村仲蔵に、共演に上白石萌音ら". Eiga.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2026. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  25. ↑ "吉田鋼太郎、『日本沈没』で小栗旬の父親役に「本当にうれしく気合いが入りました」". Real Sound. 19 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2026. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  26. ↑ "おいハンサム!!". Fuji TV. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  27. ↑ "来春朝ドラ『あんぱん』第3次キャスト7人発表 ヒロイン家族を演じる豪華な顔ぶれ". Oricon. Archived from the original on 11 March 2026. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  28. ↑ "吉田鋼太郎「耳を疑いました。えらいことになったなと」26年春の褒章受章者発表、紫綬褒章は26人". Sanspo (in Japanese). 28 April 2026. Archived from the original on 18 May 2026. Retrieved 28 April 2026.
  29. ↑ "Tokyo Drama Awards 2014". International Drama Festival in Tokyo. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
  30. ↑ "Tokyo Drama Awards 2018". International Drama Festival in Tokyo. Archived from the original on 27 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
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