is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

.

After leaving Dokkyo University

Dokkyo University

is a private university in Sōka, Saitama, Japan, which is a fairly liberal, mixed institution noted for its language education programmes and international exchanges.- History :...

 without graduating, he started to earn his living as an illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

, writer and pornographic cartoonist. He joined a theatre called Hakken no Kai in 1978 and he made a screen debut in Zokubutsu Zukan (based on the book by Yasutaka Tsutsui

Yasutaka Tsutsui

is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yumenokizaka bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari...

) in 1982. He was also a prominent cult musician in the Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 underground scene with his band Bachikaburi in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He is probably most well known to the West as the lead actor in Tetsuo

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a 1989 Japanese cyberpunk film by cult-film director Shinya Tsukamoto produced by Japan Home Video. This, his third film, is an extremely graphic but also strikingly-filmed fantasy shot in the same low-budget, underground-production style as his first two films...

and Tetsuo II

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer

Tetsuo II: Body Hammer is a 1992 Japanese science fiction/horror film directed byShinya Tsukamoto. It is a bigger-budget reworking of the same director's 1989 movie Tetsuo: The Iron Man, utilizing similar themes and ideas to the earlier film Tetsuo II: Body Hammer is a 1992 Japanese science...

directed by Shinya Tsukamoto

Shinya Tsukamoto

is a Japanese film director and actor with a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad.-Biography:Tsukamoto started making movies at the age of 14, when his father gave him a Super 8 camera. He made a number of films, ranging...

. He also makes regular appearances in Takashi Miike

Takashi Miike

is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...

's films. He became known to the Japanese public as a narrator for the TV documentary series Project X - Challengers which aired between 2000 and 2005 by NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

. Taguchi directed Iden & Tity in 2003 and his second film, Shikisoku Generation, is scheduled for release in 2009.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	Tetsuo: The Iron Man Tetsuo: The Iron Man Tetsuo: The Iron Man is a 1989 Japanese cyberpunk film by cult-film director Shinya Tsukamoto produced by Japan Home Video. This, his third film, is an extremely graphic but also strikingly-filmed fantasy shot in the same low-budget, underground-production style as his first two films...	Man	First starring role
1992	Tetsuo II: Body Hammer Tetsuo II: Body Hammer Tetsuo II: Body Hammer is a 1992 Japanese science fiction/horror film directed byShinya Tsukamoto. It is a bigger-budget reworking of the same director's 1989 movie Tetsuo: The Iron Man, utilizing similar themes and ideas to the earlier film Tetsuo II: Body Hammer is a 1992 Japanese science...	Taniguchi Tomoo
1994	Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? , usually called Fireworks, is a 1993 Japanese film by writer/director Shunji Iwai. The film was shot by Koji Kanaya, while its lighting director was Hiroyuki Sumida...
1995	Tokyo Fist Tokyo Fist Tokyo Fist is a Japanese drama/horror film. It was written and directed by Shinya Tsukamoto, who also stars in the film along with his brother Kôji Tsukamoto and Kahori Fujii...	Tattoo Master
	Love Letter	Female itsuki's father
1996	Gamera 2: Attack of Legion Gamera 2: Attack of Legion is a 1996 Kaiju film directed by Shusuke Kaneko. It is a sequel to Gamera: Guardian of the Universe and the tenth Gamera film in the series.-Plot:...	Subway Driver
	Swallowtail Butterfly Swallowtail Butterfly (film) Swallowtail , also known as Swallowtail Butterfly or Yentown, is a 1996 movie by Japanese film director Shunji Iwai, starring Hiroshi Mikami, pop-singer Chara, and Ayumi Ito....
	Makai Tensho Makai Tensho is a novel by Futaro Yamada.It is a tale of historical fiction in which Mori Sōiken resurrects other dead historical figures to overthrow the Shogunate. Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi rises to fight Amakusa and his warriors of the dead...
1997	The Eel	Eiji Dojima
1998	Andromedia Andromedia Andromedia is a 1998 Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike, featuring the Japanese musical groups SPEED and Da Pump.-Plot:...	Gôda
	Dr. Akagi Dr. Akagi Dr. Akagi, known in Japan as , is a 1998 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura.- Plot :The film concerns Dr. Akagi, a doctor on an island in the Seto Inland Sea area during World War II. He runs into conflict with the military while trying to combat a hepatitis epidemic. Akagi earns the nickname...	Nosaka
1999	Tomie Tomie (film series) is a Japanese horror film series based on Junji Ito's manga series of the same name.- Casting :Tomie is played by a different actress in each film, and the role is as coveted by Japanese actresses as Emmanuelle is in France...
	Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys Gamera 3: Awakening of Irys is a 1999 Kaiju film. It is the third and last film in the Gamera Heisei series, and the last to be distributed by Toho. It was released in the United States on DVD in 2003 under the title Gamera: Revenge of Iris.-Plot:...
	Dead or Alive Dead or Alive (film) , abbreviated as DOA , is a 1999 Japanese yakuza action film directed by Takashi Miike. It stars Riki Takeuchi, as the Chinese Triad boss and former yakuza Ryūichi, and Show Aikawa, as the Japanese cop Detective Jojima, and focuses on their meeting and conflict...
	Gemini	Middle-aged Patient
	Taboo Taboo (1999 film) is a 1999 Japanese film directed by Nagisa Ōshima. It shows life in a samurai training school during the bakumatsu period, the end of the samurai era in the mid-19th century, specifically concentrating on the issue of homosexuality in the shudō tradition in the partially-closed environment.-Plot...	Tojiro Yuzawa
	Ley Lines
	Bullet Ballet Bullet Ballet Bullet Ballet is a Japanese film directed by and starring Shinya Tsukamoto, and co-starring Hisashi Igawa, Sujin Kim, Kirina Mano, Takahiro Murase, Tatsuya Nakamura and Kyoka Suzuki....
2000	Keizoku Keizoku The Japanese mystery thriller Keizoku aka Unsolved cases, created as both a TV drama and film about a female Detective Jun Shibata who handles unsolvable cases with her hardened partner Mayama Tôru.-Cast:*Shibata Jun: Nakatani Miki...
2002	Doing Time Doing Time (2002 film) is a 2002 film directed by Korean-Japanese film director Yoichi Sai. Based on Kazuichi Hanawa's manga, it follows the day-to-day routine of a middle-aged inmate at a low security Japanese prison....
	Aiki Aiki (film) Aiki is a film about a martial artist in a wheelchair. The film is from Japan and was released in 2002. It is loosely based on the life of a Danish practitioner of the Roppokai branch of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, Ole Kingston Jensen, who started training in Daitō-ryū after he was handicapped in an...	Saburo Ishikawa
	11'9"01 September 11
2003	A Snake of June A Snake of June A Snake of June is a Japanese movie directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. His seventh film, it is notable for its striking monochrome blue cinematography tinted in post production...
2005	Strange Circus Strange Circus -Plot:School principal Ozawa Gozo rapes his daughter, Mitsuko, after she sees her parents having sex. Her mother Sayuri witnesses the rape. Gozo now rapes both of them as he pleases, while his family is undermined by incest, suicide, and murder... such is the erotic novel wheel-bound novelist Taeko...	Taeko's Editor
	It's Only Talk It's Only Talk It's Only Talk is a Japanese film, released in 2005 and is based on the prize winning novel of the same title written by Akiko Itoyama and directed by Ryuichi Hiroki.-Plot summary:...	K
	Spring Snow Spring Snow (2005 film) Spring Snow is a film adaptation of Yukio Mishima's novel Spring Snow, directed by Isao Yukisada.The cast includes Satoshi Tsumabuki as Kiyoaki Matsugae, Yūko Takeuchi as Satoko Ayakura, and Sosuke Takaoka as Shigekuni Honda.The film was nominated for nine Japanese Academy Awards...	Yamada
2006	Sway Sway (film) is a 2006 film directed by Japanese director Miwa Nishikawa. It was given the Best Film award at the 2007 Yokohama Film Festival. A young woman falls to her death from a bridge while walking in the country with two brothers, one a small town gas station attendant, the other a trendy Tokyo...	Judge
	Gamera the Brave Gamera the Brave Gamera the Brave, released in Japan as , is a kaiju film released in 2006, produced by Kadokawa Pictures. This is the 12th and final Gamera film and the first produced by Kadokawa Pictures after they purchased a percentage of the remaining assets of Daiei Motion Picture Company, the original...
	God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand is a 2006 Japanese horror film based on Kazuo Umezu's ultra-violent/horror manga Kami no Hidarite, Akuma no Migite. The cast includes Asuka Shibuya, Ai Maeda, Saaya Irie and Reon Kadena....	Koichiro Kubota
	Akihabara@Deep Akihabara@DEEP is a 2004 novel by Ira Ishida which spawned a manga, television drama, and movie adaptation.The drama and manga versions have considerable differences from the original novel....
2007	Kamen Rider The Next Kamen Rider The Next is a 2007 Japanese tokusatsu film directed by Ryuta Tasaki and written by Toshiki Inoue. The film was released on October 27, 2007. The film borrows elements from the Kamen Rider V3 television series and is a sequel to the Kamen Rider The First movie...	Scissors Jaguar
	Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad is a 2007 Japanese film directed by Joji Matsuoka. The film is adapted from the best selling autobiography of Lili Franky, a Japanese novelist, actor, illustrator, designer, musician and photographer. In a unique bit of casting, the young Eiko is played by Yayako Uchida, who in real life is the...	Mailman
	Like a Dragon Like a Dragon Like a Dragon or Yakuza: Like a Dragon known in Japan as is a 2007 Japanese crime drama-comedy film directed by Takashi Miike. It is based upon Toshihiro Nagoshi's 2005 video game Yakuza released on PlayStation 2...	the Korean-Japanese barbershop owner
2008	Climber's High Climber's High is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Masato Harada.-Awards and nominations:51st Blue Ribbon Awards* Won: Best Film* Won: Best Supporting Actor - Masato Sakai-External links:...
2009	April Bride April Bride is a 2009 Japanese film directed by Ryuichi Hiroki.- Cast :* Nana Eikura: Chie Nagashima* Eita: Taro Akasu* Satomi Tezuka* Misako Yasuda* Akira Emoto- Notes :...	Okuno
	Long Haired Monster Gehara		Daikaiju Kaiju is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....  eiga
2010	Tetsuo: The Bullet Man Tetsuo: The Bullet Man Tetsuo: The Bullet Man is the third film in Shinya Tsukamoto's cyberpunk film series, and the first to be filmed in English.-Plot:Anthony is a man with an American father and a deceased Japanese mother living and working in Tokyo. One day his son is run over and killed by Yatsu, this film's version...		Cameo appearance
2011	Gantz Gantz is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroya Oku. Gantz tells the story of Kei Kurono and his friend Masaru Kato who die in a train accident and become part of a semi-posthumous "game" in which they and several other recently deceased people are forced to hunt down and kill aliens...	Yoshikazu Suzuki
2011	Household X Household X is a 2010 Japanese film directed by Kōki Yoshida. It was shown at the Forum section of the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.-External links:* at Midnight Eye...

External links

• Yahoo! Japan profile