Koji Yakusho

Kōji Yakusho
Kōji Yakusho at the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival in 2015
Born	Kōji Hashimoto (1956-01-01) 1 January 1956 (age 61) Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–present
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Spouse(s)	Saeko Kawatsu (1982–present)

Kōji Hashimoto (橋本 広司, Hashimoto Kōji^?, born 1 January 1956), known professionally as Kōji Yakusho (役所 広司, Yakusho Kōji^?), is a Japanese actor.

Yakusho was born in Isahaya, Nagasaki, the youngest of five brothers. After graduation from the Nagasaki Prefectural High School of Technology in 1974, he worked at the Chiyoda municipal ward office, or yakusho, in Tokyo, from which he later took his stage name. In 1976, he saw a production of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths and was inspired, first to watch, and then later to take part in, as many plays as possible.

In the spring of 1978 he auditioned for Tatsuya Nakadai's the Mumeijuku (Studio for Unknown Performers) acting studio, and was one of four chosen out of 800 applicants. While at the school he met actress Saeko Kawatsu, whom he married in 1982. Their son was born in 1985.

In 1983, he landed the role of Oda Nobunaga in the year-long NHK drama Tokugawa Ieyasu and was catapulted to fame. He also appeared in a TV version of Miyamoto Musashi from 1984 to 1985. For several years, he played Kuji Shinnosuke (or "Sengoku"), one of the title characters in the jidaigeki Sambiki ga Kiru!. He played a major character in Juzo Itami's 1986 Tampopo.

In 1988, he was given a special award for work in cinema by the Japanese Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture and continued to appear in films and in a number of TV shows through the '90s.