Yomiuri Shimbun file photoTatsuya Nakadai poses at a studio in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, in May 2025.
The Yomiuri Shimbun
12:00 JST, November 11, 2025
Tatsuya Nakadai, an actor who was a key figure in the golden age of Japanese cinema, has died at the age of 92, it was learned Tuesday.
Nakadai, whose real name is Motohisa Nakadai, is a recipient of the Order of Culture and had continued to perform on stage this year.
Born in Tokyo, Nakadai entered the Haiyuza’s acting school in 1952. He gained attention with his performance in the 1955 production of “Yurei” (Ghost) and made his full-fledged film debut the following year in director Umetsugu Inoue’s “ Hi no Tori ” (“The Phoenix”).
Nakadai starred in many notable films such as Masaki Kobayashi’s “Ningen no joken”(“The Human Condition”) and “Seppuku”(“Harakiri”), Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo”, “Kagemusha”, “Ran”, and Keisuke Kinoshita’s “Eien no hito” (“Immortal Love”). He also delivered powerful performances in television dramas such as the NHK historical drama “Shin Heike Monogatari” and “Daichi no ko” (“A Son of the Good Earth”).
In 1975, he founded the Mumeijuku acting school to train young actors, producing talents like Koji Yakusho and Mayumi Wakamura.
Nakadai has received numerous awards, including the Yomiuri Theater Awards for artistic achievement, and was given the Order of Culture in 2015.
Yomiuri Shimbun file photoTatsuya Nakadai