Raizo Ichikawa

nihongo|Raizo Ichikawa|市川 雷蔵|Ichikawa Raizō|born 29 August 1931 in Kyoto, Japan, died 17 July 1969 in Tokyo, Japan was a Japanese film and kabuki actor.

Born Yoshiya Ota in Kyoto on August 29, 1931, Raizo Ichikawa was adopted by Kabuki actor Kudanji Ichikawa at the age of six months, and was given the name Yoshio Takeuchi. At age 17, he had his Kabuki debut in the play “Nakayama Shichiri”. Recognizing the young actor’s talent, Jukai Ichikawa, the great master of Kabuki in Kansai, adopted Raizo in 1951. Soon thereafter, the young actor took the professional name Raizo Ichikawa, now one of the most recognized names in Japanese film.

In 1954, Raizo started his film career under contract with Daiei Motion Picture Co. Ltd., making his film debut in “Hana no Byakkotai”(“The Great White Tiger Platoon”). The following year, he played Taira no Kiyomori in Kenji Mizoguchi’s “Shin Heike Monogatari”(“New Tales of the Taira Clan”). Raizo’s status as a film star was assured in 1958 when he appeared in his first modern drama, “Enjo”(“the Conflagration”), directed by Kon Ichikawa.   A star both in name and reality, he appeared in various film series including the “Sleepy Eyes of Death” (Nemuri Kyoshiro) series, “Ninja” (Shinobi no Mono) series and “Nakano Spy School” (Rikugun Nakano Gakko) series.

By the time of his death on July 17, 1969 at age 37 due to cancer, Raizo starred in 158 films. Though his relatively short, fifteen-year movie career Raizo forever impacted Japanese film and the samurai “Jidaigeki” genre.

Ichikawa Raizo appeared mostly in period dramas. He is best known for the "Shinobi no Mono" series which ran from 1962 to 1966. Another famous role was as the lone samurai Nemuri Kyoshiro aka "Son of the Black Mass" or "Sleepy Eyes of Death". Ichikawa worked many times with director Kenji Misumi. Their collaboration includes Ken Ki (sword devil), "Ken" (from a book from Mishima Yukio) and "Kiru" ("Destiny's Son").

Other great works are "Yukinojo henge" ("An Actor's Revenge") and "Enjo" (again from a novel from Mishima Yukio)

Filmography

1965----

Ken Ki (sword devil)

1964:

----Shinobi no Mono: Kirigakure Saizo (Ninja 4)
Shinobi no Mono: Zoku Kirigakure Saizo (Ninja 5)
Ken
Nemuri Kyoshiro 3: Engetsu Sapporo
Nemuri Kyoshiro 2: Shobu

1963

----Yoso
Shin Shinobi no Mono (Ninja 3)
Zoku shinobi no mono (Ninja 2)
Tenya wanya jirôchô dôchô
Teuchi
Daisanno kagemusha
Yukinojo henge (An Actor´s Revenge)

1962:

----
Shinobi no mono (Ninja 1)
Shin shikôtei (The Great Wall)
Tateshi Danpei (Fencing Master)
Edo e hyakku-nana-jû ri (170 Leagues to Edo)
Kiru (Destiny's Son)
Nakayama shichiri
Hakai (The Outcast)
Onnakeizu

External links

*imdb name|id=0406737|name=Raizo Ichikawa
* [http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0154900.htm JMDb profile (in Japanese)]