Eiji Funakoshi
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese actor
. He received the Kinema Junpo Awards for Best Actor and the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Actor for his performance in Fires on the Plain
.
, Eiji Funakoshi signed up for the Daiei Motion Picture Company in 1947 and made his acting debut the following year with Beautiful Enemy. In a career that spanned three decades Funakoshi starred in a variety of genres and worked for directors
Kōzaburō Yoshimura
, Mikio Naruse
, Kon Ichikawa
and Yasuzo Masumura
.
Funakoshi was a favorite actor
of internationally renowned director
Kon Ichikawa
. Perhaps their most notable film was the World War II
drama Fires on the Plain
(Nobi
, 1959). Funakoshi played the lead role of Imperial Army
Private Tamura, a soldier
stationed on Leyte Island
in the Philippines
. Fires on the Plain
won awards in Japan
and overseas, including prizes for Kon Ichikawa
from the Blue Ribbon in Japan
and the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland
.
For several years, Funakoshi portrayed Tanokura Magobei, a close associate of the shogun, on Abarenbō Shōgun
.
Son Eiichirō Funakoshi is also a famous actor in Japan.
Actor
Eiji Funakoshi died of a stroke
at 10:57pm on March 17, 2007, on his 84th birthday.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He received the Kinema Junpo Awards for Best Actor and the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Actor for his performance in Fires on the Plain
Fires on the Plain (film)
is a 1959 Japanese war film directed by Kon Ichikawa, starring Eiji Funakoshi. The screenplay, written by, Natto Wada, is based on the novel Nobi by Shohei Ooka, translated as Fires on the Plain. It initially received mixed reviews from both Japanese and international critics concerning its...
.
Biography
Born Eijiro Funakoshi on March 17, 1923 in TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Eiji Funakoshi signed up for the Daiei Motion Picture Company in 1947 and made his acting debut the following year with Beautiful Enemy. In a career that spanned three decades Funakoshi starred in a variety of genres and worked for directors
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Kōzaburō Yoshimura
Kozaburo Yoshimura
was a Japanese film director. Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director in 1934, but continued working as an assistant director for such filmmakers as Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu after that. It was the 1939 film Danryū that established his status...
, Mikio Naruse
Mikio Naruse
was a Japanese filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer who directed some 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967.Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook...
, Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director.-Early life and career:Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture. In the 1930s Ichikawa attended a technical school in Osaka. Upon graduation, in 1933, he found a job with a local rental film studio, J.O. Studio, in their animation department...
and Yasuzo Masumura
Yasuzo Masumura
was a Japanese film director.Masumura was born in Kōfu on Honshū. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei studio, later returning to university to study philosophy; he graduated in 1949...
.
Funakoshi was a favorite actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
of internationally renowned director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director.-Early life and career:Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture. In the 1930s Ichikawa attended a technical school in Osaka. Upon graduation, in 1933, he found a job with a local rental film studio, J.O. Studio, in their animation department...
. Perhaps their most notable film was the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
drama Fires on the Plain
Fires on the Plain (film)
is a 1959 Japanese war film directed by Kon Ichikawa, starring Eiji Funakoshi. The screenplay, written by, Natto Wada, is based on the novel Nobi by Shohei Ooka, translated as Fires on the Plain. It initially received mixed reviews from both Japanese and international critics concerning its...
(Nobi
Fires on the Plain
Fires on the Plain is a Yomiuri Prize-winning novel by Ooka Shohei, published in 1951. It describes the experiences of a soldier in the routed Imperial Japanese Army on the Philippines in the final days of World War II....
, 1959). Funakoshi played the lead role of Imperial Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
Private Tamura, a soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
stationed on Leyte Island
Leyte Island
Leyte is an island in the Visayas group of the Philippines.The island measures about 180 km north-south and about 65 km at its widest point. In the north it nearly joins Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 km in some places...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Fires on the Plain
Fires on the Plain
Fires on the Plain is a Yomiuri Prize-winning novel by Ooka Shohei, published in 1951. It describes the experiences of a soldier in the routed Imperial Japanese Army on the Philippines in the final days of World War II....
won awards in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and overseas, including prizes for Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director.-Early life and career:Ichikawa was born in Ise, Mie Prefecture. In the 1930s Ichikawa attended a technical school in Osaka. Upon graduation, in 1933, he found a job with a local rental film studio, J.O. Studio, in their animation department...
from the Blue Ribbon in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
For several years, Funakoshi portrayed Tanokura Magobei, a close associate of the shogun, on Abarenbō Shōgun
Abarenbo Shogun
is a Japanese television program on the TV Asahi network. Set in the eighteenth century, it showed fictitious events in the life of Yoshimune, the eighth Tokugawa shogun. The program started in 1978 under the title Yoshimune Hyōbanki: Abarenbō Shōgun...
.
Son Eiichirō Funakoshi is also a famous actor in Japan.
Actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Eiji Funakoshi died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
at 10:57pm on March 17, 2007, on his 84th birthday.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Older Brother, Younger Sister Older Brother, Younger Sister is a 1953 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Mikio Naruse.-Plot:The eldest daughter of a rural family Mon returns home from Tokyo pregnant after an affair with a college student Kobata , which causes a scandal that will threaten the marriage prospects of the younger sister San , in her... (あにいもうと Ani Imōto) |
Kobata |
| 1957 | A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love aka The Rose Again is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa.- Cast :* Kazuo Hasegawa* Ayako Wakao* Raizo Ichikawa as Sofu Yamamura* and many others... (薔薇いくたびか Bara ikutabika) |
Tsuruo Ichioka |
| The Hole The Hole (1957 film) aka Hole in One aka The Pit, is a 1957 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa. The genres of the film are comedy and mystery.The film has perspicacious visual design combined with comedy and farce.... (穴 Ana) |
Koisuke Sengi | |
| 1958 | The Loyal 47 Ronin The Loyal 47 Ronin is a 1958 color Jidaigeki Japanese film directed by Kunio Watanabe.- Cast :* Kazuo Hasegawa as Ōishi Kuranosuke * Shintarō Katsu as Genzō Akagaki* Kōji Tsuruta as Kin'emon Okano* Raizō Ichikawa as Takuminokami Asano... (忠臣蔵 Chūshingura Chushingura is the name for fictionalized accounts of the historical revenge by the Forty-seven Ronin of the death of their master, Asano Naganori. Including the early , the story has been told in kabuki, bunraku, stage plays, films, novels, television shows and other media... ) |
Tsunanori Uesugi |
| 1959 | Fires on the Plain Fires on the Plain (film) is a 1959 Japanese war film directed by Kon Ichikawa, starring Eiji Funakoshi. The screenplay, written by, Natto Wada, is based on the novel Nobi by Shohei Ooka, translated as Fires on the Plain. It initially received mixed reviews from both Japanese and international critics concerning its... (野火 Nobi) |
Tamura |
| 1960 | Jokyo Jokyo (film) is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura, Kon Ichikawa and Yasuzo Masumura. It was entered into the 10th Berlin International Film Festival.-Plot:... (女経 Jokyo) |
Yasushi |
| 1962 | Being Two Isn't Easy Being Two Isn't Easy is a 1962 color Japanese comedy film directed by Kon Ichikawa. It was Japan's submission to the 35th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.-Cast:* Hiro Suzuki as Taro, the baby... (私は二歳 Watashi wa nisai) |
Goro, the father |
| 1963 | An Actor's Revenge An Actor's Revenge , also known as Revenge of a Kabuki Actor, is a 1963 film directed by Kon Ichikawa. The film was produced in Eastmancolor and Daieiscope for Daiei Studios.... (雪之丞変化 Yukinojō Henge) |
Heima Kadokura |
| 1964 | Manji Manji (film) 卍 is the title of several Japanese films based on the Japanese novel Quicksand written by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki in 1928.The theme is homosexuality between women. It was filmed in 1964, 1983, 1998 and 2006 in Japan.-Story:... (卍) |
Kotaro Kakiuchi |
| 1965 | Gamera Gamera (film) is a 1965 daikaiju eiga about a giant turtle named Gamera. The film is similar in nature to the popular Godzilla films, and is also the first in a series of films about Gamera... (大怪獣ガメラ Daikaijū Gamera) |
Dr. Hidaka |
| 1966 | Shiroi Kyoto Shiroi Kyoto Shiroi Kyotō is a a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It has been adapted into a movie in 1966 and then twice as a television mini-series in 1978 and 2003.-Summary:... (白い巨塔) |
Professor Kikukawa |
| 1969 | Gamera vs. Guiron Gamera vs. Guiron , is a 1969 kaiju film, the fifth entry in the original Gamera series. It was one of five Gamera films to be featured as episodes of movie-mocking television show Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Plot:... (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン Gamera Tai Daiakujū Giron) |
Dr. Shiga |
| 1975 | Tora-san's Rise and Fall Tora-san's Rise and Fall aka Tora-san Finds a Sweetheart, Tora-san Meets the Songstress Again and Torasan: Love Under the Umbrella is a 1975 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma , and Ruriko Asaoka as his love interest or "Madonna"... (男はつらいよ 寅次郎相合い傘 Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Aiaigasa) |