PERFECT DAYS

Koji Yakusho

Captured by Norman Wong in the Official #TIFF23
Portrait Studio,powered by Canon Canada.
Starring

Koji
Yakusho

Koji Yakusho is the brilliant actor who brings Hirayama, and the 353 days of Hirayamas life not portrayed in the film, to life. Without him, this film would not have been made.

Born in Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture. Debuted in 1979. Koji Yakusho won the Elan dor Prize, the Television Grand Prix, and other newcomer awards for his role as Oda Nobunaga in the NHK historical drama Tokugawa Ieyasu (1983). After appearing in films such as Juzo Itamis Tampopo (1985), he had his first starring role in a film in Another Way: D-Kikan Joho (1988), based on the novel by Kyotaro Nishimura. The hit Shall We Dance? followed in 1996, which was later remade in Hollywood. The next year, Lost Paradise was another success, while The Eel won the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival. Since then, Yakusho has been an integral part of films by Shinji Aoyama and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, including Eureka (2000), which won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Cannes. He has also received international acclaim for roles in the Academy Award-nominated Babel (2006) and Chronicle of My Mother (2012), which won the Special Grand Prix of the Jury at the Montreal World Film Festival, and has become a leading Japanese actor in both name and reality. In 2009, he made his directorial debut with Toads Oil (2009), in which he also starred. In 2019, he received his third best actor prize at the Japan Academy Awards for The Blood of Lone Wolves (2018) following Shall We Dance? and The Eel.

awards

1990~199939

  1. 19911

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Aurora
  2. 19964

    • Mainichi Film Awards - Best Actor
      Kamikaze Taxi
    • Montreal World Cinema Festival - Special Grand Prix of the Jury*
      Sleeping Man
    • Hochi Film Award - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping ManShabu Gokudo
    • Nikkan Sports Film Award - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?
  3. 199723

    • Tokyo Journal - Innovative Performance Award (Film)
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping ManShabu Gokudo
    • Japan Film Awards - Leading Actor of the Year (Broadcasting)
      Shall We Dance?
    • Mainichi Film Awards - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping ManShabu Gokudo
    • Blue Ribbon Awards - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping ManShabu Gokudo
    • Japan Movie Critics Award - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?
    • Cine Front Top 10 - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping Man
    • Festival du film daventures de Valenciennes - Nominated for Grand Prix*
      Kamikaze Taxi
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
      Shall We Dance?
    • Takasaki Film Festival - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?
    • Zenkokueiren Awards - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping Man
    • Cannes Film Festival - Palme dOr*
      The Eel
    • Wakayama Citizen Film Festival - Best Actor in a Leading Role
      Shall We Dance?
    • Asia-Pacific Film Festival - Best Actor
      The Eel
    • Fumiko Yamaji Movie Award*
      The Eel
    • Tokyo International Film Festival - Best Actor
      CURE
    • Golden Gross - Special Recognition Award, Money Making Star Prize
      Lost Paradise
    • Golden Gross - Silver Prize*
      Lost Paradise
    • Hochi Film Award - Best Actor
      Lost ParadiseThe EelBounce Ko Gals
    • Yokohama Film Festival - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Shabu GokudoSleeping Man
    • Kinema Junpo Awards - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Shabu GokudoSleeping Man
    • Osaka Film Festival - Best Actor
      Shall We Dance?Sleeping ManShabu GokudoKamikaze Taxi
    • nifty Movie Awards (Internet Movie Award) - Best Picture*
      CURE
    • nifty Movie Awards (Internet Movie Award) - Best Actor in a Leading Role
      CUREThe Eel and other
  4. 19989

    • Blue Ribbon Awards - Best Actor
      The EelCURELost Paradise
    • Minister of Education, Culture, Sports,
      Science and Technologys Art
      Encouragement Prize (Film)
      The EelLost ParadiseBounce Ko GalsCURE
    • Wakayama Citizen Film Festival - Best Actor in a Leading Role
      The EelLost Paradise
    • Japan Film Awards - Leading Actor of the Year (Film)
      The Eel
    • Kinema Junpo Awards - Best Actor
      Lost ParadiseThe Eel
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
      The Eel
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Lost Paradise
    • Takasaki Film Festival - Best Supporting Actor
      Bounce Ko Gals
    • Tokyo International Film Festival - Asian Cinema Award, Special Mention*
      License to Live
  5. 19992

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Eternal Bond
    • Asia-Pacific Film Festival - Best Supporting Actor
      License to Live

2000~200926

  1. 20004

    • Royal Belgian Film Archive - Grand Prix, LÂge dOr
      (Luis Buñuel Prize)*
      Eureka
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Jubaku: Spellbound
    • Cannes Film Festival - International Film Critics Awards (the FIPRESCI Prize)*
      Eureka
    • Cannes Film Festival - Prize of the Ecumenical Jury*
      Eureka
  2. 20015

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Dora-Heita
    • Singapore International Film Festival - Best Asian Feature*
      Eureka
    • Cannes Film Festival - International Film Critics Awards (the FIPRESCI Prize)*
      Pulse
    • Chicago International Film Festival - Best Actor
      Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
    • International Environmental Film Festival, Paris - Fiction Feature Film Award*
      Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
  3. 20021

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
  4. 20032

    • Festival 2 Cinéma de Valenciennes - Homage
      All works
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      The Choice of Hercules
  5. 20041

    • nifty Movie Awards (Internet Movie Award) - Best Actor in a Leading Role
      Doppelganger
  6. 20052

    • Yokohama Film Festival - Best Actor
      The Hunter and the HuntedTokyo: LEVEL ONEUniversity of Laughs
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      University of Laughs
  7. 20064

    • EARTH VISION: Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival - Grand Prix*
      Tokyo: LEVEL ONE
    • Cannes Film Festival - Prize of the Ecumenical Jury*
      Babel
    • Gotham Independent Film Awards - Best Ensemble Cast
      Babel
    • San Diego Film Critics Society Awards - Best Performance by an Ensemble
      Babel
  8. 20073

    • Golden Globe Awards - Best Picture (Drama)*
      Babel
    • Palm Springs International
      Film Awards -
      the Ensemble Performance Award
      Babel
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Suite Dreams
  9. 20083

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Walking My Life
    • Deauville Asian Film Festival - Tribute
      All works
    • Madrid Film Awards - Best Leading Actor
      Walking My Life
  10. 20091

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Paco and the Magical Book

2010~201932

  1. 20117

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      13 Assassins
    • Internet Movie Award - Best Actor in a Leading Role
      13 AssassinsThe Last Ronin
    • Japan Film Awards - Nominated for the Leading Actor of the Year (Film)
      13 AssassinsThe Last Ronin
    • Japan Theater Staff Film Festival - Best Actor
      The Last Ronin
    • Montreal World Cinema Festival - Special Grand Prix of the Jury*
      Chronicle of my Mother
    • Tokyo International Film Festival - Special Jury Prize*
      The Woodsman and the Rain
    • Dubai reveals Muhr Asia/Africa Awards - Best Actor
      The Woodsman and the Rain
  2. 20124

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      The Last Ronin
    • JAPAN CUTS - CUT ABOVE Award
      All works
    • Hawaii International Film Festival - Career Achievement Award
      All works
    • TAMA Film Awards - Best Actor
      ADMIRAL YAMAMOTOThe Woodsman and the RainChronicle of my Mother
  3. 20132

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      ADMIRAL YAMAMOTOChronicle of my Mother
    • Zenkokueiren Awards - Best Actor
      Chronicle of my MotherA Terminal Trust
  4. 20143

    • Sitges Film Festival - Official Fantastic In-Competition Selection, Best Male Performance Award
      The World of Kanako
    • Fumiko Yamaji Movie Award*
      A Samurai Chronicle
    • Kyoto International Film and Art Festival - Toshiro Mifune Award
      All works
  5. 20151

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      A Samurai Chronicle
  6. 20161

    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      The Emperor in August
  7. 20174

    • Japanisches Filmfestival: Nippon Connection - Nippon Honor Award
      All works
    • Hochi Film Award - Best Supporting Actor
      SekigaharaThe Third Murder
    • Singapore International Film Festival - Cinema Legend Award
      All works
    • Nikkan Sports Film Award - Best Supporting Actor
      SekigaharaThe Third Murder
  8. 20185

    • Mainichi Film Award - Best Supporting Actor
      The Third Murder
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Supporting Role
      Sekigahara
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
      The Third Murder
    • Zenkokueiren Awards - Best Actor
      SekigaharaThe Third Murder
    • Hochi Film Award - Nominated for Best Actor
      The Blood of Wolves
  9. 20195

    • Yokohama Film Festival - Best Actor 
      The Blood of Wolves
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
      The Blood of Wolves
    • Osaka Cinema Festival - Best Actor
      The Blood of Wolves
    • Asian Film Awards - Excellence in Asian Cinema Award
      All works
    • Asian Film Awards - Best Actor
      The Blood of Wolves

2020~20239

  1. 20203

    • Ehime International Film Festival - Lifetime Achievement Award
      All works
    • Chicago International Film Festival - Best Performance
      Under the Open Sky
    • Chicago International Film Festival - Audience Choice Award (Best International Feature)*
      Under the Open Sky
  2. 20212

    • Seattle International Film Festival - Best International Feature Audience Choice Award (Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision)*
      Under the Open Sky
    • TAMA Film Awards - Best Actor
      Under the Open SkyThe Supporting Actors In ByplaywoodBelle
  3. 20222

    • Kinema Junpo Awards - Best Actor
      Under the Open Sky
    • Japan Academy Film Prize - Nominated for Outstanding Performance
      by an Actor in
      a Leading Role
      Under the Open Sky
  4. 20232

    • Cannes Film Festival - Prize of the Ecumenical Jury*
      PERFECT DAYS
    • Cannes Film Festival - Best Actor
      PERFECT DAYS
*awarded for the film