Masahiko Tsugawa

Masahiko Tsugawa (津川 雅彦)
Background information
Birth name Masahiko Kato
Born (1940-01-02) 2 January 1940
Origin Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Occupation(s) Actor, Film director
Years active 1945–present

Masahiko Tsugawa (津川 雅彦 Tsugawa Masahiko), born Masahiko Kato (加藤雅彦 Katō Masahiko) on January 2, 1940 in Kyoto, Japan, is a Japanese actor and director.

He made his debut at the age of 16 in the Kō Nakahira film Crazed Fruit in 1956. Tsugawa's family was heavily involved in the film industry since before his birth. Tsugawa attended school until dropping out of the Waseda University Graduate School to pursue acting alone.

He gradually grew in popularity and appeared in films like Otoko wa tsurai yo: Watashi no tora-san and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. He was eventually adopted as one of director Juzo Itami's favourite actors, and went on to appear in nearly every one of his movies since Tampopo.

Tsugawa recently debuted as a director under the pseudonym Makino Masahiko with his film Nezu no Ban. He chose this name because he is the nephew of the Japanese director Masahiro Makino, his mother's brother. Legend has it that Tsugawa was so awed by the director while watching him at work as a young child that he asked if he could use Makino as his last name should he ever be a director, because of the similarities of the first names.

Tsugawa comes from an illustrious film family. His older brother Hiroyuki Nagato is an actor. His wife Yukiji Asaoka is an actress. His grandfather is the director Shōzō Makino, his father, Kunitarō Sawamura, and his mother, Tomoko Makino, were both actors. His aunt and uncle through his father are the actors Sadako Sawamura and Daisuke Katō.

Filmography

Director

Film

Television

Awards and honors

Honor

Awards

Trivia

Masahiko has a minor role as Zushio a youngster boy in Sansho the Bailiff (1954)- aged 14.

References

  1. ↑ 第 11 回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品 (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
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