Tadanobu Asano

Tadanobu Asano
浅野 忠信
Asano at the world premiere of Thor 2011
Born
Tadanobu Satō

(1973-11-27) November 27, 1973 (age 50)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • musician
Years active1988–present
Spouses
(m. 1995; div. 2009)
(m. 2022)
Children2
RelativesMinori Nakata [ja] (sister-in-law)
Japanese name
Kanji浅野 忠信
Hiraganaあさの ただのぶ
Katakanaアサノ タダノブ
Transcriptions
RomanizationAsano Tadanobu
Alternative Japanese name
Kanji佐藤 忠信
Hiraganaさとう ただのぶ
Katakanaサトウ タダノブ
Transcriptions
RomanizationSatō Tadanobu
Websiteasanotadanobu.com

Tadanobu Satō (佐藤 忠信, Satō Tadanobu, born November 27, 1973) better known by his stage name Tadanobu Asano (浅野 忠信, Asano Tadanobu) is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and three times for Best Supporting Actor, and winner of its Most Popular Performer award.

Among his best-known roles are in Hirokazu Kore-eda's Maboroshi no Hikari (1995) and Distance (2001), Hyozo Tashiro in Gohatto (1999), Kakihara in Ichi the Killer (2001), Hattori Genosuke in Zatoichi (2003), Kenji in Last Life in the Universe (also 2003), and Temujin in Mongol (2007). He has also appeared in Hollywood films, notably as Hogun in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Lord Kira Yoshinaka in 47 Ronin (2013),[1] the Interpreter in Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016), Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi in Midway (2019), and Raiden in Mortal Kombat (2021), based on the fighting video game of the same name. He gained additional recognition in 2024 for his portrayal of Lord Kashigi Yabushige on the American television series Shōgun, based on the James Clavell novel.

Asano has worked with some of the most prominent and acclaimed directors in Japanese cinema, including Hirokazu Kore-eda, Takeshi Kitano, Nagisa Ōshima, Takashi Miike, Nobuhiko Obayashi and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, along with international directors like Martin Scorsese, Kenneth Branagh, Wong Kar-wai, Roland Emmerich, Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Sergei Bodrov. Among other accolades, he has twice won the Best Actor Award at the Yokohama Film Festival, the Upstream Prize for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, and the Best Actor Award at the Moscow International Film Festival.

  1. ^ Keanu's 47 Ronin has A-List Japanese Cast Archived April 21, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Japan-Zone.com March 2, 2011