Kōji Mitsui
Known for Acting
Mitsui Koji ( March 6, 1910 - April 20, 1979 ) was a Japanese actor. His real name was Mitsui Hikohide. After the war, he played an active role as a supporting actor in films directed by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu . His former stage name was Mitsui Hideo. Changed his stage name to Mitsui Koji in Ozu's Hen in the Wind (1948) . His role as the playboy Kisaburo in Kurosawa Akira 's The Lower Depths (1957) won him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 12th Mainichi Film Awards and the 8th Blue Ribbon Awards, solidifying his status as a supporting actor. After going freelance in 1960, he worked not only in films but also in television dramas and on stage, but after undergoing surgery for a stomach ulcer in 1971, his health deteriorated and he scaled back his acting career. He died of heart failure on April 20, 1979 at a hospital in Kamakura. He was 69 years old.
Filmography
High and Low
1963
as Second Reporter
Red Beard
1965
as Heikichi
Woman in the Dunes
1964
as Village Elder
The Hidden Fortress
1958
as Guard (uncredited)
Japan's Longest Day
1967
as Old Journalist
The Bad Sleep Well
1960
as Reporter A
Dodes'ka-den
1970
as Foodstand owner
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
1959
as Furuya
Scandal
1950
as Cameraman A
Japan's No. 1 Braggart
1964
as Furui
Early Spring
1956
as Hirayama
The Lower Depths
1957
as Yoshisaburo the Gambler
Floating Weeds
1959
as Kichinosuke
The Inheritance
1962
A Fugitive from the Past
1965
as Motojima
The Battle of Okinawa
1971
There Was a Father
1942
as Graduate
The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
1948
A Story of Floating Weeds
1934
as Shinkichi
The Greatest Challenge of All
1967