
Akira Emoto
Known for Acting · 310 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

Absolute Zero
2010
as Sosuke Kagami

Hanzawa Naoki
2013
as Keiji Minobe

Clouds Over the Hill
2009
as 乃木知幸介

Segodon
2018
as Ryu Samin

Kumokiri Nizaemon
2013

The Private Detective Mike
2002

Lost Man Found
2022
as Himself

Ten Count to the Future
2022
as Kenzo Ashiya

Olympic Ransom
2013

A Life
2017
as Danjo Toranosuke

Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
2016
as Sfar

Folktales from Japan
2012

Water Boys
2003
as Mama (of a bar)

竜馬がゆく
2004

Get Ready!
2023
as Hiroshi Bojo

Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses
2021
as Hadashi no Tyosuke(裸足のチョウスケ)

Love That Makes You Cry
2016
as Masahiko Hayashida

The New Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga: Classmates are Warriors
2022
as Yotaro Befunokami

Good Doctor
2018
as Akira Shiga

In Hand
2019

Taiheiki
1991
as Moronao Kô-no

Ties of Shooting Stars
2008
as Togami Masayuki

Genroku Ryoran
1999
as Genshiro

Yanchakure
1998
as 水嶋钦一

Shinjuku Field Hospital
2024
as Keisuke Takamine

The Long Goodbye
2014
as Heizo Harada

HUNTER - Women After Reward Money
2011
as Shogo Ooiwa

Haru and Natsu
2005
as Kotaro Nakayama

Humanoid Monster Bem
2011
as Nameless Man

The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk
2015

Frankenstein's Love
2017
as Tsurumaru

Love and Glory
2006
as Hideyoshi Toyotomi

水曜ドラマスペシャル
1984

Villain: Perpetrator Chase Investigation
2019
as 铃本茂树

Black Kite
2013
as Kaiun

Silver and Gold
2017
as Hitoshi Kuramae

JK to Roppozensho
2024
as 桜木倫太郎

Home Sweet Tokyo
2017
as [Ramen Shop Owner]

Tokumei! Keiji Dongame
2006

Mori no Asagao
2010
as Keizukuri Hukahori

Eighth Shogun Yoshimune
1995
as Tokugawa Munenao

Out - Tsumatachi no Hanzai
1999

Platinum Town
2012

Teen Regime
2022
as Washida Tsuguaki

Goodbye My Dear
2022
as Hiroshi Yamawaki

Arashi no Namida
2016

混声の森
2022

Naze Kimi wa Zetsubo to Tatakaeta noka
2010

Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
2002

Re: The End of the Tiny World - Half a Year Later
2021
as Kawabata

Banjo no Himawari
2019

Japanese Style
2022
as Hifuji Umekoshi

Prince Shotoku
2001
as Anahobe no miko

愛の流刑地
2007
as 北冈耕造

Love & War of a Samurai
2003

Scandal Eve
2025
Family Court Judge
1993
as Shibuya Naomasa

Convenience Store Kyodai
2026
as Shohei Umeda

てにあまる
2021
Movies (243)

Zatoichi
2003
as Pub Owner

Shin Godzilla
2016
as Ryuta Azuma : Chief Cabinet Secretary

It Feels So Good
2019
as Kenji's Father (voice)

Rental Family
2025
as Kikuo Hasegawa

Shoplifters
2018
as Yoritsugu Kawado

Worst by Chance
2003
as Shigeharu Kaneshiro

Samurai Fury
2025

Memories of Matsuko
2006
as Tsunehiro Kawajiri

Bedtime Eyes
1987

ICHI
2008

Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
1994
as Major Akira Yuki

Happy Flight
2008
as Saito

Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai
2021
as Shop Owner

Lu Over the Wall
2017
as Ashimoto's Grandfather (voice)

Lovers Lost
1982
as Ishizuka

Japan Sinks
2006
as Professor Fukuhara

Maborosi
1995
as Yoshihiro

Waterboys
2001
as Mama

Double Bed
1983
as Tôru Yamazaki

Tokyo Towers: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
2007
as Doctor from Sasazuka Clinic

Wood Job!
2014
as Toshiro Yamane

The Key
1997
as Soichiro Anzai

Tetsujin 28: The Movie
2005
as Yunosuke Otsuka

Egoist
2023
as Yoshio Saito

The Final Piece
2025
as Motoji Kanesaki

The Eel
1997
as Tamotsu Takasaki

John Rabe
2009
as Matsui Iwane

Shall We Dance?
1996
as Detective Miwa

Survival Family
2017
as Sasaki Shigeomi

Unforgiven
2013
as Kingo Baba

The Big Bee
2015
as Murofushi

The Wandering Moon
2022
as Agata

Amagi Pass
1983

Ace Attorney
2012
as Saibancho (Judge)

Color Me True
2018
as Tadashi Honda

September 11
2002
as Sakichi Furuhashi (segment "Japan")

A Man
2022
as Norio Komiura

The Great Yokai War: Guardians
2021
as old man / Old Man

Doppelgänger
2003
as Murakami

The Great Yokai War
2005

Mukoku
2017
as Seppo Mitsumura

Recall
2018
as Seiji Nomura

Angel Guts: Red Vertigo
1988
as Yakuza

Yudo: The Way of the Bath
2023
as regular customer

Journey to the Shore
2015
as Hoshitani

Capone Cries a Lot
1985
as Ushiemon

Black Widow Business
2016
as Jun Sakurada

Hutch the Honeybee
2010

The Taste of Fish
2008
as Shojiro Sanada

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
1981
as Detective Kuroki

Hard Days
2023
as Yutaka Senba

I Never Shot Anyone
2020
as Takashi Renjo

The Whispered City
2000
as Toyohashi, sculptor

The Heartbreak Yakuza
1987

The Shadow Spirit
2007
as mimasaka koushirou

The City of Lost Souls
2000
as Kuwata

Love Is Five Seven Five
2005
as Grandfather

Yona Yona Penguin
2009
as Jii (voice)

The War and a Woman
2013
as client of woman

Owl
2003

A Lone Scalpel
2010
as Matsuo Okawa

0.5 mm
2014
as Takeshi Sasaki

Maria's Stomach
1990

Rain Fall
2009
as Tatsu Ishikura

The Lakeside Murder Case
2005
as Tomoharu Fujima

Castle of Sand
2019
as Chiyokichi

Villain
2010
as Yoshio Ishibashi

Samurai Resurrection
2003
as Nobutsuna Matsudaira

A Crowd of Three
2010

Yellow Elephant
2013
as Arechi

Disciples of Hippocrates
1980

Postcard
2010
as Yukichi Morikawa, the Father-in-Law

Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet
2011
as Yoneuchi

Noise
2022
as Shoji

Round About Midnight
1999
as Totsuka

Underdog: Part One
2020
as Sakuro

As the River Flows
2000

Golden Slumber
2010
as Hodogaya Yasushi

Living in the Sky
2020
as Concierge Kondo

Ask This of Rikyu
2013

Karate-Robo Zaborgar
2011
as Dr. Akunomiya

The Lightning Tree
2010
as Kakunoshi Enokido

Ripples
2023
as Taro Kadokura

September 1923
2023
as Teiji Igusa

Nagisa
2000
as Priest Shinto

Time Trip App
2014
as Ryuzo Yanagita

The Setting Sun
2022
as Dr. Miyake

All Around Us
2008
as kunimasa Yasuda

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
2008
as Counselor

Fancy Dance
1989
as Masoho's boss

Haru's Journey
2010
as Michio Nakai

KT
2002
as Hiroshi Uchiyama

Free and Easy 8
1996
as Yukawa

Ninja Kids!!!
2011

Kaza-hana
2001
as Hot Spring Inn Owner

The Friends
1994
as Nagatomo

The Boy and the Dog
2025
as Yaichi Katano

Zebraman
2004
as Kitahara the Crab Man

The Motive
2004
as Yoshifumi Katakura

The Go Master
2007
as Kensaku Segoe

Life Back Then
2011
as Masashi Inoue

Goodbye Mama
1991

Sakurada Gate Incident
2010
as Magojiro Kaneko

Casting Blossoms to the Sky
2012
as Seijiro Nose

Dr. Akagi
1998
as Dr. Fuu Akagi

Underdog: Part Two
2020
as Sakuro

The Silk Road
1988

Another Heaven
2000
as Doctor Akagi

They Say Nothing Stays the Same
2019
as Toichi

The Suspect: Muroi Shinji
2005
as Seigo Tsuda

Touken Ranbu 2
2023
as Fujiwara no Michinaga

The Master Plan
2021
as Kawabata

Love Letter
1998

A Honeymoon in Hell: Mr. & Mrs. Oki's Fabulous Trip
2011
as wet guy

The Yen Family
1988
as Shinichi Amemiya

Umami
2023
as Salaryman

Body and Soul
1997

The Promised Land
2019
as Goro Fujiki

Show Me the Way to the Station
2019

The Way of The Prison Guard
2025
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 310 credits spanning from 1979 to 2026, Akira Emoto has appeared in 243 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
- Zatoichi (2003) — as Pub Owner
- Shin Godzilla (2016) — as Ryuta Azuma : Chief Cabinet Secretary
- It Feels So Good (2019) — as Kenji's Father (voice)
- Rental Family (2025) — as Kikuo Hasegawa
- Shoplifters (2018) — as Yoritsugu Kawado
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.