Akira Emoto
Known for Acting · 311 credits
- Born
- 1948-11-03 (age 77)
- Place of birth
- Chuo, Tokyo, Japan
- Also known as
- 柄本 明 · エモトアキラ · エモト アキラ
Biography
Old good "Emo-chan" of modern Japanese cinema. Emo's father was a close friend of legendary episode player Taji Tonoyama in elementary school days. His mother's grandfather ran a shamisen store in Ginza, Tokyo. Both parents like movies and theaters. After graduating from Machinery Department of Tokyo Industrial High School, Emoto got a job at a trading company. However, he became an actor and became a student of the acting classes of the theater company "Marui", which is headed by Nobuo Kaneko, and met Yusaku Matsuda who was in the same class. In 1999, he won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Dr. Akagi. He also won the award for best supporting actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award for Dotonbori River and Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san.
Known For
TV Shows (67)
AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo
2002
as Hyoue Yarikura
Folktales from Japan
2012
Absolute Zero
2010
as Sosuke Kagami
Love and Glory
2006
as Hideyoshi Toyotomi
Taiheiki
1991
as Moronao Kô-no
Hanzawa Naoki
2013
as Keiji Minobe
Love That Makes You Cry
2016
as Masahiko Hayashida
Kumokiri Nizaemon
2013
Segodon
2018
as Ryu Samin
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
2016
as Sfar
Ten Count to the Future
2022
as Kenzo Ashiya
The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk
2015
Scandal Eve
2025
Clouds Over the Hill
2009
as 乃木知幸介
Genroku Ryoran
1999
as Genshiro
Yanchakure
1998
as 水嶋钦一
Water Boys
2003
as Mama (of a bar)
The Private Detective Mike
2002
Eighth Shogun Yoshimune
1995
as Tokugawa Munenao
愛の流刑地
2007
as 北冈耕造
Shinjuku Field Hospital
2024
as Keisuke Takamine
Good Doctor
2018
as Akira Shiga
A Life
2017
as Danjo Toranosuke
Ties of Shooting Stars
2008
as Togami Masayuki
Black Kite
2013
as Kaiun
In Hand
2019
Get Ready!
2023
as Hiroshi Bojo
Lost Man Found
2022
as Himself
HUNTER - Women After Reward Money
2011
as Shogo Ooiwa
Haru and Natsu
2005
as Kotaro Nakayama
Humanoid Monster Bem
2011
as Nameless Man
Villain: Perpetrator Chase Investigation
2019
as 铃本茂树
Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses
2021
as Hadashi no Tyosuke(裸足のチョウスケ)
Frankenstein's Love
2017
as Tsurumaru
The Long Goodbye
2014
as Heizo Harada
JK to Roppozensho
2024
as 桜木倫太郎
Convenience Store Kyodai
2026
as Umeda Shohei
The New Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga: Classmates are Warriors
2022
as Yotaro Befunokami
Home Sweet Tokyo
2017
as [Ramen Shop Owner]
Silver and Gold
2017
as Hitoshi Kuramae
竜馬がゆく
2004
Goodbye My Dear
2022
as Hiroshi Yamawaki
Olympic Ransom
2013
Japanese Style
2022
as Hifuji Umekoshi
Tokumei! Keiji Dongame
2006
Teen Regime
2022
as Washida Tsuguaki
水曜ドラマスペシャル
1984
Arashi no Namida
2016
A Woman from Ashio
2014
無垢なる証人
2026
as Hiroki Oyagi
ホットドッグ
1990
as 大田原輝
Re: The End of the Tiny World - Half a Year Later
2021
as Kawabata
Platinum Town
2012
Out - Tsumatachi no Hanzai
1999
Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
2002
Banjo no Himawari
2019
あそびにおいでョ!
1988
Family Court Judge
1993
as Shibuya Naomasa
混声の森
2022
Mori no Asagao
2010
as Keizukuri Hukahori
Movies (244)
Rental Family
2025
as Kikuo Hasegawa
Shoplifters
2018
as Yoritsugu Kawado
Shin Godzilla
2016
as Ryuta Azuma : Chief Cabinet Secretary
I Want To Live Once More: Shinjuku Bus Fire Incident
1985
as Hirofumi Maruyama
It Feels So Good
2019
as Kenji's Father (voice)
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
1994
as Major Akira Yuki
Random Lives
2017
as Hanamura
Samurai Fury
2025
Bedtime Eyes
1987
Drugstore Girl
2004
as Koji Nabeshima
Chicken Is Barefoot
2004
Nagisa
2000
as Priest Shinto
Yamai wa kikara: Byôin e ikô 2
1992
Boku to Mama No Kiiroi Jitensha
2009
as Shotaro
Owl
2003
A Grain of Wheat
2016
as Honda
Zatoichi
2003
as Pub Owner
ICHI
2008
Angel Guts: Red Vertigo
1988
as Yakuza
Umami
2023
as Salaryman
Lu Over the Wall
2017
as Ashimoto's Grandfather (voice)
Survival Family
2017
as Sasaki Shigeomi
Kaizokuban Bootleg Film
1999
as Tatsuo
Shall We Dance?
1996
as Detective Miwa
Worst by Chance
2003
as Shigeharu Kaneshiro
Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet
2011
as Yoneuchi
Maborosi
1995
as Yoshihiro
Wood Job!
2014
as Toshiro Yamane
The Eel
1997
as Tamotsu Takasaki
Lovers Lost
1982
as Ishizuka
September 1923
2023
as Teiji Igusa
Memories of Matsuko
2006
as Tsunehiro Kawajiri
September 11
2002
as Sakichi Furuhashi (segment "Japan")
Villain
2010
as Yoshio Ishibashi
Double Bed
1983
as Tôru Yamazaki
Hutch the Honeybee
2010
The Great Yokai War
2005
Ace Attorney
2012
as Saibancho (Judge)
Japan Sinks
2006
as Professor Fukuhara
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
1981
as Detective Kuroki
Golden Slumber
2010
as Hodogaya Yasushi
Hard Days
2023
as Yutaka Senba
The Friends
1994
as Nagatomo
The Key
1997
as Soichiro Anzai
Yona Yona Penguin
2009
as Jii (voice)
0.5 mm
2014
as Takeshi Sasaki
Amagi Pass
1983
Unforgiven
2013
as Kingo Baba
Waterboys
2001
as Mama
Black Widow Business
2016
as Jun Sakurada
Banana, Gloves and Whale Shark
2013
as Lawyer
The Chasing World
2008
as Doctor
The Motive
2004
as Yoshifumi Katakura
The Boy and the Dog
2025
as Yaichi Katano
Egoist
2023
as Yoshio Saito
Ninja Kids!!!
2011
The Lakeside Murder Case
2005
as Tomoharu Fujima
Doppelgänger
2003
as Murakami
Sumo Do, Sumo Don't
1992
as Professor Tokichi Anayama
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
2008
as Counselor
Dr. Akagi
1998
as Dr. Fuu Akagi
Tokyo Towers: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
2007
as Doctor from Sasazuka Clinic
Karate-Robo Zaborgar
2011
as Dr. Akunomiya
Ask This of Rikyu
2013
As the River Flows
2000
Color Me True
2018
as Tadashi Honda
Capone Cries a Lot
1985
as Ushiemon
Shippu Rondo
2016
as Masaomi Togo
The Master Plan
2021
as Kawabata
The Pearls of the Stone Man
2015
as Kumaji Ueda
April Bride
2009
as Teishi Nagashima
The War and a Woman
2013
as client of woman
A Man
2022
as Norio Komiura
The Life of Budori Gusuko
2012
as Narrator / Dr. Kūbō (voice)
John Rabe
2009
as Matsui Iwane
Prodigy
2007
as Hisashi Kikuna
Sakurada Gate Incident
2010
as Magojiro Kaneko
Beijing Watermelon
1989
as Mr. Teramoto
Samurai Resurrection
2003
as Nobutsuna Matsudaira
Private Lessons II
1993
as Oba
The Final Piece
2025
as Motoji Kanesaki
Casting Blossoms to the Sky
2012
as Seijiro Nose
Kaza-hana
2001
as Hot Spring Inn Owner
Tetsujin 28: The Movie
2005
as Yunosuke Otsuka
Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies
1986
Mukoku
2017
as Seppo Mitsumura
あじさい色のレディ
1988
The Great Yokai War: Guardians
2021
as old man / Old Man
Touken Ranbu: The Movie -Dawn-
2023
as Fujiwara no Michinaga
After the Flowers
2010
as Soan Nagai
Journey to the Shore
2015
as Hoshitani
The Shadow Spirit
2007
as mimasaka koushirou
Recall
2018
as Seiji Nomura
The Silk Road
1988
Fancy Dance
1989
as Masoho's boss
The Second Is a Christian
1985
as Kumashiro
Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai
2021
as Shop Owner
Harimao
1989
as Army Major
Suspicion
1982
as Shigekazu Akitani
Another Heaven
2000
as Doctor Akagi
The Hunter and the Hunted
2004
as Neko
Do Unto Others
2023
as Shosaku Shiba
Time Trip App
2014
as Ryuzo Yanagita
Underdog: Part One
2020
as Sakuro
Rain Fall
2009
as Tatsu Ishikura
Zebraman
2004
as Kitahara the Crab Man
The Lightning Tree
2010
as Kakunoshi Enokido
The Suspect: Muroi Shinji
2005
as Seigo Tsuda
Neko Ninja
2017
as Kariyazaki
Yellow Elephant
2013
as Arechi
The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat
2026
Moon & Cherry
2004
as Sakamoto
They Say Nothing Stays the Same
2019
as Toichi
Postcard
2010
as Yukichi Morikawa, the Father-in-Law
Happy Flight
2008
as Saito
Oh! Father
2014
as Hayashi Tomita
Ekeb of Dekye
2010
as Soichi Yanagimachi
A Crowd of Three
2010
Ripples
2023
as Taro Kadokura
Disciples of Hippocrates
1980
About Akira Emoto
Old good "Emo-chan" of modern Japanese cinema. Emo's father was a close friend of legendary episode player Taji Tonoyama in elementary school days. His mother's grandfather ran a shamisen store in Ginza, Tokyo. Both parents like movies and theaters. After graduating from Machinery Department of Tokyo Industrial High School, Emoto got a job at a trading company. However, he became an actor and became a student of the acting classes of the theater company "Marui", which is headed by Nobuo Kaneko, and met Yusaku Matsuda who was in the same class.… With 311 credits spanning from 1979 to 2026, Akira Emoto has appeared in 244 films and 67 TV shows.
Fans searching for Akira Emoto movies, Akira Emoto filmography, or the latest projects starring Akira Emoto can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Akira Emoto Movies
- Rental Family (2025) — as Kikuo Hasegawa
- Shoplifters (2018) — as Yoritsugu Kawado
- Shin Godzilla (2016) — as Ryuta Azuma : Chief Cabinet Secretary
- I Want To Live Once More: Shinjuku Bus Fire Incident (1985) — as Hirofumi Maruyama
- It Feels So Good (2019) — as Kenji's Father (voice)
Where to Watch Akira Emoto Films
Most Akira Emoto movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Akira Emoto, check our movies catalogue and browse page.