Who is Koji Yakusho?
Koji Yakusho is an actor, born on 1 January 1956 in Isahaya, Japan. Best-known screen credits include Perfect Days (2023), The Boy and the Beast (2015) and 13 Assassins (2010).
Most searched questions about Koji Yakusho
Quick answers to common questions about Koji Yakusho.
How old is Koji Yakusho?
Koji Yakusho is 70 years old, born on 1 January 1956 in Isahaya, Japan.
What awards has Koji Yakusho won?
Cannes Best Actor 2023 (Perfect Days); Asian Film Awards Best Actor twice; AFA Lifetime Achievement Award (Mar 2025); Golden Mulberry lifetime honor at Udine FEFF (April 2026, presented by Wim Wenders); Japan Academy’s most-nominated Best Actor ever.
What is Perfect Days about / was it Oscar-nominated?
Wim Wenders film (2023) — Yakusho plays Hirayama, a Tokyo public-toilet cleaner; nominated for Best International Feature at the 2024 Oscars; born from the real “Tokyo Toilet” project in Shibuya.
What are Koji Yakusho’s most famous movies?
Shall We Dance? (1996 — sparked a ballroom-dance craze in Japan; Hollywood remake 2004), Tampopo (1985), The Eel (1997, Palme d’Or), Cure (1997), 13 Assassins (2010); Hollywood: Memoirs of a Geisha, Babel.
How did Koji Yakusho become an actor?
Former Nagasaki civil servant; inspired by Gorky’s The Lower Depths; answered a newspaper ad — 1 of 4 chosen from ~800 applicants; mentored by Tatsuya Nakadai. 2026 is his 48th year as an actor.
Has Koji Yakusho worked in Hollywood?
Yes — Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and Babel (2006); also directed one feature, Toad’s Oil (2009).
Celluloid Score career
From titles scored in the Celluloid catalogue.
- Career average
- 88%
- 1 scored titles
Where their Celluloid credits come from
Production country and primary language on titles in our catalogue — not personal nationality.
Ranked by Celluloid Score
Koji Yakusho titles in the Celluloid catalogue, sorted by Celluloid Score.
Popular credits
Top TMDB credits with character, festival, and worldwide box office.
| Title | Year | Role | Festival | Box Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect Days | 2023 | Hirayama | Cannes Film Festival | $24M |
| Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen | 1990 | — | — | — |
| Vivant | 2023 | Nogōn Beki | — | — |
| Did Someone Happen to Mention Me? | 2026 | Gen Takasegawa / Yorozu Mantaro | — | — |
| Chotchan | 1987 | 神谷容 | — | — |
| Idaten: Tokyo Olympics Story | 2019 | 嘉納治五郎 | — | — |
| THE DAYS | 2023 | Masao Yoshida | — | — |
| Back of Father | 2014 | Aoki Sosuke | — | — |
| Cure | 1997 | Kenichi Takabe | — | $235K |
| Inochi | 1986 | Naohiko Hamamura | — | — |
| Babel | 2006 | Yasujiro Wataya | — | $135M |
| Memoirs of a Geisha | 2005 | Nobu | — | $162M |