Eijirō Tōno (東野英治郎 Tōno Eijirō, 17 September 1907 – 8 September 1994) was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting more than 50 years, appeared in over 400 television shows, nearly 250 films and numerous stage productions. He is best known in the West for his roles in films by Akira Kurosawa, such as Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961), and films by Yasujirō Ozu, such as Tokyo Story (1953) and An Autumn Afternoon (1962). He also appeared in Kill! by Kihachi Okamoto and Tora! Tora! Tora!, a depiction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His final film was Juzo Itami's A-ge-man (Tales of a Golden Geisha) in 1990. Tōno also starred as the title character in the long-running television jidaigeki series Mito Kōmon from 1969 to 1983. In the early years of his career he acted under the name of Katsuji Honjo (本庄克二).
Known For
Seven Samurai
(1954)
Kidnapper
Good Morning
(1959)
Hiroshi Tomizawa
Tokyo Story
(1953)
Numata
Yojimbo
(1961)
Gonji, Tavern Keeper
Stray Dog
(1949)
Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970)
Admiral Chuici Nagumo
High and Low
(1963)
Factory Worker
The Ballad of Narayama
(1958)
Messenger
Red Beard
(1965)
Goheiji
An Autumn Afternoon
(1962)
Sakuma, The 'Gourd'
Horus: Prince of the Sun
(1968)
Ganko (voice)
Pale Flower
(1964)
Yasuoka
Goyokin
(1969)
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
(1956)
Baiken Shishido (uncredited)
Kill!
(1968)
Hyogo Moriuchi
The Lower Depths
(1957)
Tomekichi the Tinker
Full Filmography
Acting
Port of Flowers
(1943)
Hayashida
Navy
(1943)
Teacher Ogata
Jubilation Street
(1944)
Shingo’s father
Army
(1944)
Sakuragi
Sinking the Unsinkable
(1944)
Izu no musumetachi
(1945)
Otome no iru kichi
(1945)
Morning for the Osone Family
(1946)
Ippei Yamaka
Marriage
(1947)
Fumie's father
The Love of the Actress Sumako
(1947)
Apostasy
(1948)
A Woman in the Typhoon Area
(1948)
Yoshii
Stray Dog
(1949)
Flame of My Love
(1949)
State Councillor Itô
Late Night Confession
(1949)
Rinchi
(1949)
Devil's Gold
(1950)
A Man from Akagi
(1950)
Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
(1950)
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
(1950)
Heat and Mud
(1950)
Sasaki Kojiro
(1950)
Ginza Cosmetics
(1951)
Hyôbei Sugano
Yasubei Nakayama
(1951)
Zoku Sasaki Kojiro
(1951)
Freedom School
(1951)
風雲児
(1951)
Children of Hiroshima
(1952)
Sword for Hire
(1952)
Muntinlupa no yo wa fukete
(1952)
Kozo Kawai
The Yamabiko School
(1952)
Beauty and the Thief
(1952)
Jurota
Farewell to Spring
(1952)
Sakichi Arakawa
Jinsei Gekijo: dai ichi bu
(1952)
Fuun Senryobune
(1952)
Tokyo Story
(1953)
Numata
The Wild Geese
(1953)
Suezo
Shishun no izumi
(1953)
Nakamura, a policeman
Girls in the Orchard
(1953)
Jûdai no seiten
(1953)
Wife
(1953)
Hiroba no kōdoku
(1953)
Seven Samurai
(1954)
Kidnapper
The Black Current
(1954)
The Cock Crows Twice
(1954)
The Street Without Sun
(1954)
President Kunio
The Surf
(1954)
Schoolmaster
The Glorious Days
(1954)
Women's House
(1954)
I Live in Fear
(1955)
Old man from Brazil
Here Is a Spring
(1955)
The Wolves
(1955)
Policeman's Diary
(1955)
Old man Murata
Twilight Saloon
(1955)
Onizuka
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
(1955)
Baiken Shishido
Murder on The Last Train
(1955)
Burden of Love
(1955)
Jozo Araki
Floating Weeds Diary
(1955)
Magoro Ichikawa
Early Spring
(1956)
Tokichi Hattori
The Legend of the White Serpent
(1956)
I Will Buy You
(1956)
Ogushi
Farewell to Dream
(1956)
Yôichi's father, Genkichi
Night River
(1956)
Yujiro Funaki
How Sorrowful
(1956)
The Vampire Moth
(1956)
Tetsuzô Ibuki / Shunsaku Etô
White Fan
(1956)
Takuetsu
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
(1956)
Baiken Shishido (uncredited)
Flowery Brothers
(1956)
Tears
(1956)
Actress
(1956)
Notebooks of Heiji Zenigata: Spider on the Skin
(1956)
The Forest Is Alive
(1956)
The Lower Depths
(1957)
Tomekichi the Tinker
Yagyu Secret Scrolls
(1957)
Fugetsusai
Black River
(1957)
Kurihara
Rice
(1957)
Shimizu Port of Chivalry
(1957)
Kansuke
An Osaka Story
(1957)
Gonzaemon Hoshino
The Story of Pure Love
(1957)
The Eleventh Hour
(1957)
Police Precinct: The Pickpocket Killer
(1957)
Untamed Woman
(1957)
Oshima's father
Ôban
(1957)
Chaplin-San
Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen
(1957)
Chaplin san
Yagyu Secret Scrolls: Ninjitsu - Part II
(1958)
Fugetsusai
Firefly Light
(1958)
Night Drum
(1958)
The Ballad of Narayama
(1958)
Messenger
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
(1958)
The Days of Evil Women
(1958)
The Naked Sun
(1958)
The Naked General
(1958)
Jinsei Gekijo
(1958)
Oban kanketsu hen
(1958)
Yajikita dōchū sugoroku
(1958)
Angkor Wat Story - Beautiful Sadness
(1958)
Chamberlain
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
(1959)
The Human Wall
(1959)
Good Morning
(1959)
Hiroshi Tomizawa
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
(1959)
Kiku and Isamu: Two Siblings Born in Japan
(1959)
Policeman
The Three Treasures
(1959)
Ootomo
The Third Dead Angle
(1959)
The Beast Shall Die
(1959)
Detective Kuwashima
Diary of Forsaken Love
(1959)
The Stream of Youth
(1959)
Kaze no uchi so to
(1959)
Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi
(1959)
Mieko's father
Keishichō monogatari 108 gōsha
(1959)
The War Without Weapons
(1960)
The Gambling Samurai
(1960)
Kansuke
The Twilight Story
(1960)
The Man of Seven Faces
(1960)
Genkichi Miyashita
The Master Spearman
(1960)
Wait for Tomorrow
(1960)
Seisaku Kajiwara
The Great Road
(1960)
The Pirates
(1960)
Police Precinct Part 13
(1960)
The Masterless 47
(1960)
Gonosuke Kira
俺の故郷は大西部
(1960)
Pigs and Battleships
(1961)
Kan'ichi
Yojimbo
(1961)
Gonji, Tavern Keeper
The Last War
(1961)
Captain Umehara
The Happy-Go-Lucky Guy
(1961)
Buddha
(1961)
Suratha
Run, Genta, Run!
(1961)
Boss Takes to the Road
(1961)
Immortal Love
(1961)
Policeman
Fine Man
(1961)
The Orphan Brother
(1961)
Sanshô Dayû (voice)
Challenge to Live
(1961)
The Red Shadow
(1961)
Jinzaburô Kamo
The Masterless 47 – Part II
(1961)
Wind and waves of the South
(1961)
Genji
The Estuary
(1961)
An Edo Magistrate
(1961)
早射ち無頼 大平原の男
(1961)
The Crimson Plains
(1961)
Shinzô Okui
Jirocho’s Days of Youth: The Youngest Boss in the Tokai Region
(1961)
Cupola, Where the Furnaces Glow
(1962)
Ishiguro, Tatsugoro (Jun's father)
The Great Wall
(1962)
Li Tang
Mount Hakone
(1962)
Akitsu Hot Springs
(1962)
A Carpenter and Children
(1962)
The Man From the Sea
(1962)
Our Marriage
(1962)
Father
Season of Farewell
(1962)
The Bandits
(1962)
Born in Sin
(1962)
An Autumn Afternoon
(1962)
Sakuma, The 'Gourd'
Three Gentlemen from Tokyo
(1962)
This Madding Crowd
(1962)
Grandpa Yoshi
Lady Sen and Hideyori
(1962)
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Salaryman Shimizu Minato
(1962)
続サラリーマン清水港
(1962)
Musume to watashi
(1962)
Seinen no isu
(1962)
Facing to the Clouds
(1962)
High and Low
(1963)
Factory Worker
Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance
(1963)
Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai
(1963)
Shibiku-Shosuke Hori
The Elegant Life of Mr. Everyman
(1963)
Akiharu
Twin Sisters of Kyoto
(1963)
Sosuke Otomo
Shinobi no Mono 3: Resurrection
(1963)
Tange Sazen
(1963)
A House in the Quarter
(1963)
Life of Hishakaku 2
(1963)
The Sunshine Girl
(1963)
Ukyunosuke on Patrol
(1963)
Pressure of Guilt
(1963)
Girls Born in August
(1963)
The Fight of the Gamblers
(1963)
The Navy
(1963)
Tragedy of the Coolie Samurai
(1963)
Double Wedding
(1963)
Goro
Pale Flower
(1964)
Yasuoka
A Story from Echigo
(1964)
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple
(1964)
Haiya
Our Happiness Alone
(1964)
Eddy Currents of Life
(1964)
Shigesuke Hayashi
The Donkey Comes on a Tank
(1964)
Aa Seishun no Mune no Chi wa
(1964)
The Naked Executive
(1964)
Kosugi, president
Red Beard
(1965)
Goheiji
Sword of the Beast
(1965)
Minister
Samurai Assassin
(1965)
Masagorō Kisoya
Illusion of Blood
(1965)
The Spy
(1965)
An Innocent Witch
(1965)
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
(1965)
Nippon Ichi no Goma Suri Otoko
(1965)
The Last Judgment
(1965)
Five Gents' Trick Book
(1965)
Blood and Sea
(1965)
The Great White Tower
(1966)
Lost Sex
(1966)
Neighbor / Writer
Silence Has No Wings
(1966)
Dynamite Doctor
(1966)
Marshal
Dash to the Sun
(1966)
Four and A Half Mats
(1966)
Uyu
Zatoichi's Cane Sword
(1967)
Senzo
Three Faces of Love
(1967)
Soga
Monsieur Zivaco
(1967)
Young Boss: Leader's Flesh
(1967)
Shogun and His Mistress 2
(1967)
Narrator
Journey to the North
(1967)
Kichinosuke Kawara
Kill!
(1968)
Hyogo Moriuchi
Horus: Prince of the Sun
(1968)
Ganko (voice)
Monument to the Girl's Corps
(1968)
Nakaji, Principal
The Saga of Tanegashima
(1968)
Kinbei Yaita
Song of Vengeance
(1968)
看守Ａ
Wild Ducks and Green Onions
(1968)
Tora-san's Cherished Mother
(1969)
Sanpo Sensei
Goyokin
(1969)
Will to Conquer
(1970)
Tora! Tora! Tora!
(1970)
Admiral Chuici Nagumo
The Battle of Okinawa
(1971)
Island of Hell
(1977)
Kaemon Kito
Lord Mito
(1978)
Tokugawa Mitsukuni
Hunter in the Dark
(1979)
Shogen
The Last Game
(1979)
The King and His Vassal
(1981)
The King and His Vassal 2 - The Great Riot of Edo
(1982)
I Lived, But...
(1983)
Self
Choji Snack Bar
(1983)
Adrift at Sea
(1983)
Shocking! in Japan -by G.F.Bigo-
(1984)
Narration (voice)
So What
(1988)
Death of a Tea Master
(1989)
Kokei
Days with Harasu
(1989)
Tales of a Golden Geisha
(1990)
Prime Minister