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.