Kunie Tanaka
Known for Acting
Kunie Tanaka (田中 邦衛 Tanaka Kunie, November 23, 1932 - March 24, 2021) was a Japanese actor. He had his first notable role in 1960 as a thug in Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well, and worked with the director again on Sanjuro. Tanaka is well known for his roles in Kinji Fukasaku's yakuza films, namely the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series. He also appeared in Masaki Kobayashi's Kwaidan. He has been nominated for five Japanese Academy Awards, winning the Best Supporting Actor statuette for Gakko in 1993. He appeared as the lecherous Shinjiro Ishiyama, nicknamed Aodaishō, the antagonist of the hero, played by Yūzō Kayama, in all of the Wakadaishō series of films. The character Kizaru, from Eiichiro Oda's manga series One Piece, is modeled after Tanaka.
Filmography
Kwaidan
1965
as Yasaku (segment "Hoichi the Earless")
The Face of Another
1966
as Mentally Ill Man #1
Sanjuro
1962
as Samurai
The Bad Sleep Well
1960
as Hitman
The Bullet Train
1975
as Koga's Brother
Dodes'ka-den
1970
as Hatsutaro Kawaguchi
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
1959
as Obara Nitôhei
The Sword of Doom
1966
as Senkichi
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
1973
as Masakichi Makihara
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
1973
as Masakichi Makihara
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics
1974
as Masakichi Makihara
Tenchu!
1969
as Rokkaku Prison Officer
Silence Has No Wings
1966
Manhunt
1976
as Yokomichi Keiji
The Revolt
1980
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron
1978
as Rikichi Komadera
The Battle of Okinawa
1971
Japan's Don
1977
Village of Eight Gravestones
1977
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
1974
as Masakichi Makihara