
Tatsuya Nakadai (仲代 達矢, Nakadai Tatsuya; born Motohisa Nakadai; December 13, 1932 – November 8, 2025) was a Japanese actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Japanese cinema, he collaborated extensively with many of Japan's best-known and acclaimed directors. In his over seven decade career, he appeared in more than 160 films, and received numerous accolades. He was honored with a Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1996 and Japan's Order of Culture in 2015.
Nakadai rose to prominence starring in Masaki Kobayashi's films, with his breakthrough being the protagonist of the epic anti-war trilogy The Human Condition (1959–1961). He won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for his performance as the vengeful ronin in Harakiri (1962), a role he considered his finest. Nakadai collaborated on eleven films with Kobayashi—including Kwaidan (1964) and Samurai Rebellion (1967)—and five with Akira Kurosawa, most notably as the tragic warlord in Ran (1985), a performance that earned global acclaim. His other notable credits included Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), The Sword of Doom (1966), The Face of Another (1966), Goyokin (1969), Kagemusha (1980), and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013).
Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA. Credits and photos from TMDB.
The titles people know Tatsuya from.
IMDb rating of each title on Cineora, by year.

as Narrator (voice)

as Makino Tadayuki

as Unokichi

as Hyoma Sekine

as Narrator (voice)

as Narrator (voice)
as Kuwahata Chokichi
as Suzaki Kiyoshi · 1 episode

as Yohei Tachibana

as Sanosuke Shoji

as Kyozo Hayami
as (archive footage)

54 episodes
as Sahei Inugami

as Takanori Wakamiya

as Minabuchi no Syôan
as Matsumoto Kentaro · 11 episodes

as Hideaki Sasaki

as Seijiro Miyazawa

11 episodes

as Kaishu Katsu


as Yagyu Retsudo
as Daishu

as Sugiyama
as Major Harada

as Shimamura

as Heihachiro Wagu

as Shujiro Ueno

as Narrator (voice)
as Gomyo Kiyoemon

as Minami

as Jingi the Conqueror, leader of the Takamagahara
as Kumokiri Nizaemon

as Ginzo Daidoji

as Yano

as 今西栄太郎 · 6 episodes

as Tadashi Iki

as Sentaro
as Yoshihide
as Hanpeita Takechi

as Major Genjiro Akashi

as Masaomi Takeuchi
as Magobei Wakizaka
as Narrator (voice)

as Narrator (voice)
as Kaji

as Kaname

as Kyosuke Tamura
as Kimura

as Kunihiko Date
as Kaji

as Jiro Maeda
as Tokari
The people who keep turning up in Tatsuya’s titles.









