Shin Kishida

Shin Kishida (岸田 森; 17 October 1939 – 28 December 1982) was a Japanese actor, best known for his supporting roles in films and television series.

Shin Kishida was born at Kawakita General Hospital in Asagaya, Suginami, Tokyo. His uncle was playwright Kunio Kishida, and actress Kyōko Kishida and children's author Eriko Kishida were his first cousins. He lived in Nakano until the age of five.

In 1944 he enrolled in Yumoto Elementary School in Hakone, Kanagawa, where he was sent to live as part of a wartime evacuation of children from major cities. He returned to Tokyo in 1947, and transferred to Kudan Elementary School, Chiyoda, Tokyo. After graduating from Kojimachi Junior High School (Kojimachi Chugakko, where he became friends with future politician Koichi Kato) and Kaijo High School (Kaijo Koko), he took a year off from his studies before entering the English literature department of Hosei University. However, he dropped out in his second year after deciding to become an actor.

In 1961 Kishida joined a drama study group attached to the Bungakuza theater troupe. The following year he joined Bungakuza as an apprentice and became a full-fledged member in 1965, but left in early 1966 to form the theater group Rokugatsu Gekijo (June Theater) with his wife Chiho Yuki, Katsumi Matsumura and others, and subsequently concentrated on film and television work.

Kishida may be best-remembered for playing Hammer-esque vampires in Toho's Chi o Suu film series. Many Japanese fans regard Kishida and Christopher Lee as the quintessential screen vampires. Coincidentally, Kishida appeared alongside Shigeru Amachi, a pioneer of the Japanese vampire role in Nobuo Nakagawa's The Lady Vampire (Onna Kyuketsuki, 1959) on the 6th episode of the television period drama Mushuku Samurai in 1973. Kishida appeared in several works by Tsuburaya Productions including Return of Ultraman (Kaette kita Urutoraman) and Operation: Mystery! (Kaiki Daisakusen).

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