Ken Takakura (高倉 健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai.
A graduate of Meiji University in Tokyo Takakura happened by an audition in 1955 at the Toei Film Company, and decided to look in. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with Denko Karate Uchi (Lightning Karate Blow) in 1956. Japan experienced a boom in gangster films in the 1960s as the Japanese people struggled with the generational differences between those raised in pre-war and post-war Japan and these were Takakura's stock and trade. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, and its sequel Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen (Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home, also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura would leave Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films.
Takakura gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film Too Late the Hero as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1975 Sydney Pollack sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) where he surprises American cops played by Michael Douglas and Andy García with the line, "I do speak fucking English". He again proved himself bankable to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck.
While he has slowed down a bit in his older years, he is still active. His most recent film was the 2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles by Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
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Known For
Black Rain
(1989)
Masahiro
The Yakuza
(1974)
Tanaka Ken
Mr. Baseball
(1992)
Uchiyama
Antarctica
(1983)
Ushioda
Railroad Man
(1999)
Otomatsu Sato
Station
(1981)
Eiji Mikami
The Bullet Train
(1975)
Tetsuo Okita
47 Ronin
(1994)
Kuranosuke Oishi
Too Late the Hero
(1970)
Major Yamaguchi
Full Filmography
Acting
Mother Peacock
(1956)
The Chop Professor
(1956)
Denko karate uchi
(1956)
G-men of Japan 4: Special Armed Unit Mobilization
(1956)
Manchurian Sunset
(1956)
Shintaro
Jet Air Base 101
(1957)
Jiro Nakata
Showdown in Blood
(1957)
The Deep Blue Sea
(1957)
Men Fighting Whales
(1957)
Yosuke Yamagami
Employee Full of Fight
(1957)
Tani
Beyond the Seasonal Wind
(1958)
No Advice Taken
(1958)
Detective Duel
(1958)
Sister with Sister
(1958)
Hiroshi Ishioka
Romance Freestyle
(1958)
The Outsiders
(1958)
Ichitaro Kazamori
With Songs in My Heart
(1958)
Man of Thirteen Eyes
(1958)
Four Hours of Terror
(1959)
Captain Yamamoto
The Happy Family
(1959)
A Dead Drifter
(1959)
Hell's Companion
(1959)
Men in a Rough Town
(1959)
Fumio Sone
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
(1960)
Man of the World
(1960)
Man of the World 2
(1960)
Bad Angel
(1960)
If You're Man Enough
(1960)
The Second Bullet is Marked
(1960)
The Great Road
(1960)
Outlaw Under a Blue Canopy
(1960)
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 3
(1960)
The Sand City in Manchuria
(1960)
Hari
Mannen Taro and His Feminine Colleagues
(1961)
Tarô Mannen
Tenka no Kaidanji Senpû Tarô
(1961)
Tarô Senpû
Feisty Edo Girl Nakanori-san
(1961)
Kenichi Oka
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha, Part 4
(1961)
Kenichi Hanamura
Devil's Nursery Rhyme
(1961)
Kosuke Kindaichi
A Fishwife's Tale
(1961)
Flower, Storm and Gangster
(1961)
'Smiley' Ken
Hell's Juggler
(1961)
The Prickly-Mouthed Geisha Goes to Sado
(1961)
All Rascals
(1962)
Lady Sen and Hideyori
(1962)
Naomori
Tales of President Mito
(1962)
Sukesaburo Sasa
The Escape
(1962)
365 Nights
(1962)
Tokyo Untouchable
(1962)
Yoshio Harada
Uragirimono wa jigoku daze
(1962)
Tokyo's Business District
(1962)
Hell's Kitchen
(1962)
South Pacific Waves Are High
(1962)
Operation Diamond
(1962)
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha and the Girl of Osaka
(1962)
Song of Kagoshima
(1962)
Shuhei Tategami
Tokyo Untouchable: Escape
(1963)
Yoshio Harada
Duel of the Underworld
(1963)
Miyamoto Musashi: Birth of Two Sword Style
(1963)
Sasaki Kojiro
Eleven Gangsters
(1963)
Sawagami
Gang Loyalty and Vengeance
(1963)
Asano
Kyôkatsu
(1963)
Life of Hishakaku
(1963)
The Big Boss
(1963)
Wolves, Pigs & Men
(1964)
Jiro Kuroki, the second brother
Main Street in the Underworld
(1964)
The Domain
(1964)
Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijo Temple
(1964)
Sasaki Kojiro
Jakoman and Tetsu
(1964)
Tetsu
Tokyo Gang Vs. Hong Kong Gang
(1964)
Storm Party
(1964)
An Outlaw
(1964)
Minami
Prison Walls of Abashiri 4
(1965)
Shin'ichi Tachibana
Prison Walls of Abashiri, Part 2
(1965)
Shinichi Tachibana
Abashiri Prison
(1965)
Shinichi Tachibana
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
(1965)
Seiji Terajima
A Fugitive from the Past
(1965)
Ajimura
The Boss
(1965)
Prison Walls of Abashiri 3
(1965)
Shinichi Tachibana
Miyamoto Musashi V: Musashi vs Kojiro
(1965)
Sasaki Kojiro
The Domain: The Naniwa Story
(1965)
The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
(1965)
The Domain: Duel at Thunder Gate
(1966)
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the South
(1966)
The Bullet and the Horse
(1966)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Lone Wolf
(1966)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 2
(1966)
Abashiri Prison: Duel in the Snow Country
(1966)
The Domain: Kanda Festival Showdown
(1966)
The Kamikaze Guy
(1966)
Showdown of Men
(1966)
Glorious Fights
(1966)
Ichiro Takita
Classmates
(1967)
First Lieutenant Kenmochi
Abashiri Prison: Duel in Hokkaido
(1967)
The Domain: White Blade
(1967)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry 4
(1967)
Abashiri Prison: Challenge to the Evil
(1967)
Shin-ichi Tachibana
The Domain: Where The Blade Enters
(1967)
The Chivalrous Life
(1967)
Ryuma Ibuki
A Story from Abashiri Prison—Duel in Snow Storm
(1967)
Shin-ichi Tachibana
New Prison Walls of Abashiri
(1968)
Katsuji Suehiro
Prison Boss
(1968)
The Day the Sun Rose
(1968)
Histories of the Chivalrous
(1968)
Rogue
(1968)
Isamu Oba
The Domain: Severed Relations
(1968)
Red Peony Gambler
(1968)
Naoki Katagiri
The Drifting Avenger
(1968)
Ken Kato
Hishakaku and Kiratsune: A Tale of Two Yakuza
(1968)
Gambler Biography
(1968)
Brothers Serving Time
(1969)
Gambler's Legacy
(1969)
Tsukuda Ginjiro
Memoir of Japanese Assassinations
(1969)
Saburo Aizawa
The Domain: Flower and Dragon
(1969)
Kingoro Tamai
Samurai Geisha
(1969)
Shimada Seikichi
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 6
(1969)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri 2
(1969)
Red Peony Gambler: Second Generation Ceremony
(1969)
Koji Yashiro
The Biggest Gamble
(1969)
Shuzo Honjo
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 5: Man With The Karajishi Tattoo
(1969)
Hanada Hidejiro
Red Peony Gambler: Flower Cards Game
(1969)
Shogo Hanaoka
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: The Vagrant Comes to a Port Town
(1969)
The Domain: Rising Dragon
(1970)
House of Gamblers
(1970)
The Last Kamikaze
(1970)
Koji Yashiro
Too Late the Hero
(1970)
Major Yamaguchi
Brutal Tales of Chivalry 7: Hell Is a Man's Destiny
(1970)
A Hoodlum At The Risk Of His Life
(1970)
Brave Red Flower of the North
(1970)
Yukyo-retsuden
(1970)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: High Stakes at Abashiri
(1970)
The Japan Derby Race
(1970)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stray Wolf in Snow
(1970)
Bloodiest Flower
(1971)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Snowbound Deserter
(1971)
New Prison Walls of Abashiri: Stormy Cape
(1971)
Patience Has An End
(1971)
Isamu Tekada
The Path of the King
(1971)
Ryutaro Fudo
The Man
(1971)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: Forbidden Love
(1971)
Hidejiro Hanada
Dagger
(1971)
Contemporary Tales of Chivalry: The Traitor Shall Die
(1972)
The Pledge
(1972)
The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
(1972)
Kuramoto
New Abashiri Prison Story: Honor and Humanity, Ammunition That Attracts the Storm
(1972)
Lullaby for a Tough Guy
(1972)
Yakuza of the Present
(1973)
Ryoichi Shimaya
Golgo 13
(1973)
Duke Togo / Golgo 13
Japan's Top Gangster
(1973)
Kazuo Taoka
Third Generation Boss
(1974)
The Homeless
(1974)
Jokichi Anabuki
The Yakuza
(1974)
Tanaka Ken
The Bullet Train
(1975)
Tetsuo Okita
The International Gang of Kobe
(1975)
Masato Dan
Path of Japanese Chivalry: Story of All-Out Attack
(1975)
Great Jailbreak
(1975)
Ichiro Kozue
Manhunt
(1976)
Morioka
Mount Hakkoda
(1977)
Captain Tokushima
The Yellow Handkerchief
(1977)
Yusaku Shima
Winter's Flower
(1978)
Hidetsugu Kano
Never Give Up
(1978)
Takeshi Ajisawa
The Revolt
(1980)
Keisuke Miyagi
A Distant Cry from Spring
(1980)
Kosaku Tajima
Station
(1981)
Eiji Mikami
Karate Cop
(1982)
Detective Mikami
The Longest Tunnel
(1982)
Go Akutsu
Choji Snack Bar
(1983)
Eiji
Antarctica
(1983)
Ushioda
A Portrait of the Author
(1984)
Self
Demon
(1985)
Shuji
See You
(1988)
Buddies
(1989)
Kadokura
Black Rain
(1989)
Masahiro
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
(1991)
Self (archive footage)
Mr. Baseball
(1992)
Uchiyama
47 Ronin
(1994)
Kuranosuke Oishi
The detective whose path was crossed by a snake
(1995)
Railroad Man
(1999)
Otomatsu Sato
The Firefly
(2001)
Yamaoka Shuji
Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
(2005)
Gou-ichi Takata
Black Rain: Making The Film
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Dearest
(2012)
Eiji Shimakura
Ken San
(2016)
Self