Akira Emoto
Acting1948Chuo, Tokyo, Japan
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
Acting History
2025
The Boy and the Dog
as Yaichi Katano
One Last Throw
as Kawato Kozo
The Final Piece
as Motoji Kanesaki
Rental Family
as Kikuo Hasegawa
2024
Don't Lose Your Head!
as Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu
Maru
as Teacher
The God of Curling
as Susumu Komiyama
Shinjuku Field Hospital
TVas Keisuke Takamine
2023
Egoist
as Yoshio Saito
September 1923
as Teiji Igusa
Touken Ranbu 2
as Fujiwara no Michinaga
Ripples
as Taro Kadokura
Shylock's Children
as Hajime Sawazaki
Do Unto Others
as Shosaku Shiba
Umami
as Salaryman
Hard Days
as Yutaka Senba
Yudo: The Way of the Bath
as regular customer
Get Ready!
TVas Hiroshi Bojo
2022
Wandering
as Agata
No Place to Go
as Bomber
The Setting Sun
as Dr. Miyake
A Man
as Norio Komiura
Noise
as Shoji
The New Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga: Classmates are Warriors
TVas Yotaro Befunokami
Lost Man Found
TVas Himself
Ten Count to the Future
TVas Kenzo Ashiya
Teen Regime
TVas Washida Tsuguaki
Goodbye My Dear
TVas Hiroshi Yamawaki
Japanese Style
TVas Hifuji Umekoshi
2021
The Great Yokai War: Guardians
as Old Man
Utsusemi no mori
as Police Inspector Kariya Shinichi
The End of the Tiny World
as Kawabata
Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai
as Shop Owner
Re: The End of the Tiny World - Half a Year Later
TVas Kawabata
Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses
TVas Hadashi no Tyosuke(裸足のチョウスケ)
2020
Underdog: Part One
as Sakuro
Wonderful Paradise
as Homeless
I Never Shot Anyone
as Takashi Renjo
Underdog: Part Two
as Sakuro
Stardust over the Town
as Kumabe Rokuzo
Living in the Sky
as Concierge Kondo
Absolute Zero
TVas Sosuke Kagami• 11 eps
Hanzawa Naoki
TVas Keiji Minobe• 10 eps
2019
It Feels So Good
as Kenji's Father (voice)
Castle of Sand
as Chiyokichi
They Say Nothing Stays the Same
as Toichi
Iwane: Sword of Serenity
as Urakusai
The Promised Land
as Goro Fujiki
BON-UTA, A Song from Home
as (voice)
2018
Color Me True
as Tadashi Honda
Evil and The Mask
as Detective Aida
Oz Land
as Boss
Recall
as Seiji Nomura
Shoplifters
as Yoritsugu Kawado
Segodon
TVas Ryu Samin• 2 eps
AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo
TVas Hyoue Yarikura• 9 eps
Good Doctor
TVas Akira Shiga
2017
Neko Ninja
as Kariyazaki
Lu Over the Wall
as Ashimoto's Grandfather (voice)
Mukoku
as Seppo Mitsumura
Survival Family
as Sasaki Shigeomi
Random Lives
as Hanamura
The Dog Bridegroom
as Kenkichi Okumura
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
TVas Sfar• 9 eps
A Life
TVas Danjo Toranosuke
Frankenstein's Love
TVas Tsurumaru
Silver and Gold
TVas Hitoshi Kuramae
2016
A Grain of Wheat
as Honda
A Living Promise
as Zenzo Takeda
Black Widow Business
as Jun Sakurada
Shippu Rondo
as Masaomi Togo
Sniper
as Tatsuyuki Miyata
The Mohican Comes Home
as Osamu Tamura
Shin Godzilla
as Ryuta Azuma : Chief Cabinet Secretary
Love That Makes You Cry
TVas Masahiko Hayashida
2015
Journey to the Shore
as Hoshitani
Vampire in Love
as Sojiro
GARO -Gold Storm- Sho
as Priest Soutatsu
The Big Bee
as Murofushi
The Pearls of the Stone Man
as Kumaji Ueda
2014
Oh! Father
as Hayashi Tomita
Time Trip App
as Ryuzo Yanagita
A House on a Hill
as Yoshitarō Terashima
0.5 mm
as Takeshi Sasaki
Cold
as Jin Ichinose
Sleeping Forest
as Daisuke Ota
Wood Job!
as Toshiro Yamane
The Long Goodbye
TVas Heizo Harada
2013
Banana, Gloves and Whale Shark
as Lawyer
The Partner
as Ōkuma Shigenobu
Yellow Elephant
as Arechi
Unforgiven
as Kingo Baba
The War and a Woman
as client of woman
Black Kite
TVas Kaiun
2012
A Sower of Seeds
as Shuzo Morikawa
Ace Attorney
as Saibancho (Judge)
The Life of Budori Gusuko
as Narrator / Dr. Kūbō (voice)
Casting Blossoms to the Sky
as Seijiro Nose
Humanoid Monster, Bem
as Kao no nai otoko
2011
Shikei Kijun
as Kyusaku Tsushima
Karate-Robo Zaborgar
as Dr. Akunomiya
Life Back Then
as Masashi Inoue
In His Chart
as Doctor
Humanoid Monster Bem
TVas Nameless Man
HUNTER - Women After Reward Money
TVas Shogo Ooiwa
2010
Ekeb of Dekye
as Soichi Yanagimachi
After the Flowers
as Soan Nagai
Cast Me If You Can
as Homeless guy
Haru's Journey
as Michio Nakai
Postcard
as Yukichi Morikawa, the Father-in-Law
A Lone Scalpel
as Matsuo Okawa
Sakurada Gate Incident
as Magojiro Kaneko
Villain
as Yoshio Ishibashi
The Lightning Tree
as Kakunoshi Enokido
Golden Slumber
as Hodogaya Yasushi
Heaven's Story
as Souichi
Mori no Asagao
TVas Keizukuri Hukahori
2009
John Rabe
as Matsui Iwane
Rain Fall
as Tatsu Ishikura
Yona Yona Penguin
as Jii (voice)
Asahiyama Zoo Story: Penguins in the Sky
as Itsuro Usui
April Bride
as Teishi Nagashima
Boku to Mama No Kiiroi Jitensha
as Shotaro
Clouds Over the Hill
TVas 乃木知幸介• 9 eps
2008
The Most Beautiful Night In The World
as Journalist
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
as Counselor
Teacher and Three Children
as Yoshio Ichikawa
The Chasing World
as Doctor
All Around Us
as kunimasa Yasuda
Happy Flight
as Saito
The Taste of Fish
as Shojiro Sanada
Ties of Shooting Stars
TVas Togami Masayuki
2007
The Shadow Spirit
as mimasaka koushirou
Tokyo Towers: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad
as Doctor from Sasazuka Clinic
Starfish Hotel
as Mr. Trickster
The Go Master
as Kensaku Segoe
Prodigy
as Hisashi Kikuna
Life Can Be So Wonderful
as Haeo
2006
Japan Sinks
as Professor Fukuhara
Memories of Matsuko
as Tsunehiro Kawajiri
Love and Glory
TVas Hideyoshi Toyotomi
2005
Tetsujin 28: The Movie
as Yunosuke Otsuka
Love Is Five Seven Five
as Grandfather
The Suspect: Muroi Shinji
as Seigo Tsuda
The Lakeside Murder Case
as Tomoharu Fujima
Scrap Heaven
as Detective Yabuta
Haru and Natsu
TVas Kotaro Nakayama
2004
River of First Love
as Hidejiro Tasaki
Takada Wataru Teki
as Self
Moon and Cherry
as Sakamoto
Zebraman
as Kitahara the Crab Man
Drugstore Girl
as Koji Nabeshima
The Hunter and the Hunted
as Neko
The Motive
as Yoshifumi Katakura
2003
Zatoichi
as Pub Owner
Doppelganger
as Murakami
Worst by Chance
as Shigeharu Kaneshiro
Hana
as Hiroshi Torigoe
Teacher's suitcase
as Sensei/Matsumoto Harutsuna
Samurai Resurrection
as Nobutsuna Matsudaira
Farewell, Kuro
as Shuzo Hanazono
Water Boys
TVas Mama (of a bar)
2002
September 11
as Sakichi Furuhashi (segment "Japan")
KT
as Hiroshi Uchiyama
2001
2000
The Whispered City
as Toyohashi, sculptor
The City of Lost Souls
as Kuwata
Nagisa
as Priest
Another Heaven
as Doctor Akagi
1999
Round About Midnight
as Totsuka
Will to Live
as Doctor
Kaizokuban Bootleg Film
as Tatsuo
Genroku Ryoran
TVas Genshiro• 49 eps
1998
1997
1996
1995
Maborosi
as Yoshihiro
Eighth Shogun Yoshimune
TVas Tokugawa Munenao
1994
The Friends
as Nagatomo
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla
as Major Akira Yuki
1993
When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang
as Narrator (voice)
Private Lessons II
as Oba
Family Court Judge
TVas Shibuya Naomasa
Sky Cannot Be This Blue
Director
1992
1991
A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era
as Kogoro Katsura
The Last Frankenstein
as Prof. Sarusawa
Taiheiki
TVas Moronao Kô-no
1989
Fancy Dance
as Masoho's boss
Mottomo Abunai Deka
as Maeo
Tora-san Goes to Vienna
as Hyoma Sakaguchi
Battle Heater
as Riichi Hama
Harimao
as Army Major
Beijing Watermelon
as Mr. Teramoto
1988
1985
I Want To Live Once More: Shinjuku Bus Fire Incident
as Hirofumi Maruyama
The Second Is a Christian
as Kumashiro
Congratulatory Speech
as Yasuhei Higashida
Capone Cries a Lot
as Ushiemon
1983
1982
1981
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
as Detective Kuroki
1979
Fujio Akatsuka's Gag Porno: In the Mood Once Again
as Daigorô Hatayama
Masked Crusader, Mr. Jirenman
as Kantarô Iwata