Akira Emoto
Born: 1948-11-03 in Chuo, Tokyo, Japan
Known For: Acting
Biography
Old good "Emo-chan" of modern Japanese cinema. Emo's father was a close friend of legendary episode player Taji Tonoyama in elementary school days. His mother's grandfather ran a shamisen store in Ginza, Tokyo. Both parents like movies and theaters. After graduating from Machinery Department of Tokyo Industrial High School, Emoto got a job at a trading company. However, he became an actor and became a student of the acting classes of the theater company "Marui", which is headed by Nobuo Kaneko, and met Yusaku Matsuda who was in the same class. In 1999, he won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Dr. Akagi. He also won the award for best supporting actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award for Dotonbori River and Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san.
Filmography
2026
- Convenience Store Kyodai as Umeda Shohei
- 無垢なる証人 as Hiroki Oyagi
- Kyoto Hippocrates
- The Imaginary Dog and the Lying Cat
2025
- Rental Family as Kikuo Hasegawa
- Scandal Eve
- Samurai Fury
- The Final Piece as Motoji Kanesaki
- The Boy and the Dog as Yaichi Katano
- The Way of The Prison Guard
- One Last Throw as Kawato Kozo
2024
- Shinjuku Field Hospital as Keisuke Takamine
- JK to Roppozensho as 桜木倫太郎
- Rotting
- Maru as Teacher
- Don't Lose Your Head! as Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu
- The God of Curling as Susumu Komiyama
2023
- Get Ready! as Hiroshi Bojo
- Umami as Salaryman
- Hard Days as Yutaka Senba
- September 1923 as Teiji Igusa
- Yudo: The Way of the Bath as regular customer
- Do Unto Others as Shosaku Shiba
- Egoist as Yoshio Saito
- Ripples as Taro Kadokura
- Shylock's Children as Hajime Sawazaki
- The Innocent Game
- Touken Ranbu: The Movie -Dawn- as Fujiwara no Michinaga
- 満天のゴール as トクじい
- Goal of the Sky
2022
- Ten Count to the Future as Kenzo Ashiya
- Lost Man Found as Himself
- The New Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga: Classmates are Warriors as Yotaro Befunokami
- Teen Regime as Washida Tsuguaki
- Japanese Style as Hifuji Umekoshi
- Goodbye My Dear as Hiroshi Yamawaki
- The Wandering Moon as Agata
- A Man as Norio Komiura
- No Place to Go as Bomber
- 混声の森
- Noise as Shoji
- The Setting Sun as Dr. Miyake
- Barber Shop with a View of the Sea as 老店主
2021
- Bullets, Bones and Blocked Noses as Hadashi no Tyosuke(裸足のチョウスケ)
- Re: The End of the Tiny World - Half a Year Later as Kawabata
- Baragaki: Unbroken Samurai as Shop Owner
- The Great Yokai War: Guardians as old man
- The Master Plan as Kawabata
- Utsusemi no mori as Police Inspector Kariya Shinichi
- てにあまる
- 祈り ―幻に長崎を想う刻―
- Girls, Guns and Gangsters: Shinji Somai & Sailor Suit & Machine Gun
2020
- Underdog: Part Two as Sakuro
- Stardust over the Town as Kumabe Rokuzo
- Wonderful Paradise as Homeless
- I Never Shot Anyone as Takashi Renjo
- Underdog: Part One as Sakuro
- Living in the Sky as Concierge Kondo
- Nosari: Impermanent Eternity
2019
- It Feels So Good as Kenji's Father (voice)
- In Hand
- Villain: Perpetrator Chase Investigation as 铃本茂树
- Banjo no Himawari
- They Say Nothing Stays the Same as Toichi
- The Promised Land as Goro Fujiki
- Iwane: Sword of Serenity as Urakusai
- Show Me the Way to the Station
- BON-UTA, A Song from Home as (voice)
- Castle of Sand as Chiyokichi
- Finding Light at the Darkness Festival
- Godot of the Emotos
2018
- Segodon as Ryu Samin
- Shoplifters as Yoritsugu Kawado
- Good Doctor as Akira Shiga
- Oz Land as Boss
- Recall as Seiji Nomura
- Color Me True as Tadashi Honda
- Evil and The Mask as Detective Aida
2017
- A Life as Danjo Toranosuke
- Silver and Gold as Hitoshi Kuramae
- Home Sweet Tokyo as [Ramen Shop Owner]
- Frankenstein's Love as Tsurumaru
- Survival Family as Sasaki Shigeomi
- Lu Over the Wall as Ashimoto's Grandfather (voice)
- Random Lives as Hanamura
- Mukoku as Seppo Mitsumura
- Neko Ninja as Kariyazaki
- The Dog Bridegroom as Kenkichi Okumura
- Solitary Gourmet New Year's Eve Special ~Final Meal! Setouchi Business Trip~
2016
- Shin Godzilla as Ryuta Azuma : Chief Cabinet Secretary
- Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit as Sfar
- Love That Makes You Cry as Masahiko Hayashida
- Arashi no Namida
- A Grain of Wheat as Honda
- Black Widow Business as Jun Sakurada
- Shippu Rondo as Masaomi Togo
- A Living Promise as Zenzo Takeda
- The Mohican Comes Home as Osamu Tamura
- Sniper as Tatsuyuki Miyata
2015
- The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk
- GARO: Gold Storm Flight as Priest Soutatsu
- Journey to the Shore as Hoshitani
- Living Rights
- Vampire in Love as Sojiro
- The Big Bee as Murofushi
- 新 法廷荒らし 猪狩文助〜終の棲家〜
- Present for You
- The Pearls of the Stone Man as Kumaji Ueda
2014
- The Long Goodbye as Heizo Harada
- Wood Job! as Toshiro Yamane
- A Woman from Ashio
- 0.5 mm as Takeshi Sasaki
- Sleeping Forest as Daisuke Ota
- Time Trip App as Ryuzo Yanagita
- Oh! Father as Hayashi Tomita
- A House on a Hill as Yoshitarō Terashima
- Cold as Jin Ichinose
2013
- Kumokiri Nizaemon
- Hanzawa Naoki as Keiji Minobe
- Black Kite as Kaiun
- Olympic Ransom
- Unforgiven as Kingo Baba
- The War and a Woman as client of woman
- Banana, Gloves and Whale Shark as Lawyer
- Yellow Elephant as Arechi
- Ask This of Rikyu
- Fly, Dakota, Fly!
- The Partner as Ōkuma Shigenobu
2012
- Folktales from Japan
- Ace Attorney as Saibancho (Judge)
- Platinum Town
- The Life of Budori Gusuko as Narrator / Dr. Kūbō (voice)
- Casting Blossoms to the Sky as Seijiro Nose
- Humanoid Monster, Bem as Kao no nai otoko
- 疑惑
- One Day in January
- A Sower of Seeds as Shuzo Morikawa
2011
- HUNTER - Women After Reward Money as Shogo Ooiwa
- Humanoid Monster Bem as Nameless Man
- Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet as Yoneuchi
- Life Back Then as Masashi Inoue
- Ninja Kids!!!
- Karate-Robo Zaborgar as Dr. Akunomiya
- In His Chart as Doctor
- A Honeymoon in Hell: Mr. & Mrs. Oki's Fabulous Trip as wet guy
- Shikei Kijun as Kyusaku Tsushima
2010
- Absolute Zero as Sosuke Kagami
- Mori no Asagao as Keizukuri Hukahori
- Villain as Yoshio Ishibashi
- Golden Slumber as Hodogaya Yasushi
- Naze Kimi wa Zetsubo to Tatakaeta noka
- Hutch the Honeybee
- Haru's Journey as Michio Nakai
- A Lone Scalpel as Matsuo Okawa
- After the Flowers as Soan Nagai
- Sakurada Gate Incident as Magojiro Kaneko
- Ekeb of Dekye as Soichi Yanagimachi
- A Crowd of Three
- The Lightning Tree as Kakunoshi Enokido
- Heaven's Story as Souichi
- Postcard as Yukichi Morikawa, the Father-in-Law
- Cast Me If You Can as Homeless guy
2009
- Clouds Over the Hill as 乃木知幸介
- John Rabe as Matsui Iwane
- Boku to Mama No Kiiroi Jitensha as Shotaro
- Rain Fall as Tatsu Ishikura
- Yona Yona Penguin as Jii (voice)
- April Bride as Teishi Nagashima
- Asahiyama Zoo Story: Penguins in the Sky as Itsuro Usui
2008
- Ties of Shooting Stars as Togami Masayuki
- ICHI
- Happy Flight as Saito
- Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit as Counselor
- All Around Us as kunimasa Yasuda
- The Most Beautiful Night In The World as Journalist
- The Chasing World as Doctor
- Your Friend
- The Taste of Fish as Shojiro Sanada
- Teacher and Three Children as Yoshio Ichikawa
- The Cycling Genius Is Coming!
2007
- 愛の流刑地 as 北冈耕造
- Tokyo Towers: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad as Doctor from Sasazuka Clinic
- Prodigy as Hisashi Kikuna
- The Go Master as Kensaku Segoe
- The Shadow Spirit as mimasaka koushirou
- Life Can Be So Wonderful as Haeo
- Three for the Road
- Starfish Hotel as Mr. Trickster
2006
- Love and Glory as Hideyoshi Toyotomi
- Memories of Matsuko as Tsunehiro Kawajiri
- Japan Sinks as Professor Fukuhara
- Tokumei! Keiji Dongame
- It's Only Talk
- The Summer of Stickleback
- The Happiness
2005
- Haru and Natsu as Kotaro Nakayama
- The Great Yokai War
- The Lakeside Murder Case as Tomoharu Fujima
- Tetsujin 28: The Movie as Yunosuke Otsuka
- The Suspect: Muroi Shinji as Seigo Tsuda
- Scrap Heaven as Detective Yabuta
- Love Is Five Seven Five as Grandfather
- For the coming day
2004
- 竜馬がゆく
- Drugstore Girl as Koji Nabeshima
- Chicken Is Barefoot
- Zebraman as Kitahara the Crab Man
- Moon & Cherry as Sakamoto
- The Motive as Yoshifumi Katakura
- River of First Love as Hidejiro Tasaki
- The Hunter and the Hunted as Neko
- Winning Pass
- Takada Wataru Teki as Self
2003
- Water Boys as Mama (of a bar)
- Zatoichi as Pub Owner
- Worst by Chance as Shigeharu Kaneshiro
- Love & War of a Samurai
- Owl
- Doppelgänger as Murakami
- Samurai Resurrection as Nobutsuna Matsudaira
- Teacher's suitcase as Sensei/Matsumoto Harutsuna
- Farewell, Kuro as Shuzo Hanazono
- Hana as Hiroshi Torigoe
2002
- AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo as Hyoue Yarikura
- The Private Detective Mike
- Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
- September 11 as Sakichi Furuhashi (segment "Japan")
- KT as Hiroshi Uchiyama
- Barber's Sorrow
2001
- Waterboys as Mama
- Prince Shotoku as Anahobe no miko
- Kaza-hana as Hot Spring Inn Owner
- Turn as Matsubara
2000
- Nagisa as Priest Shinto
- As the River Flows
- The City of Lost Souls as Kuwata
- Another Heaven as Doctor Akagi
- The Whispered City as Toyohashi, sculptor
1999
- Genroku Ryoran as Genshiro
- Out - Tsumatachi no Hanzai
- Kaizokuban Bootleg Film as Tatsuo
- Will to Live as Doctor
- Round About Midnight as Totsuka
- The Nagaharu Yodogawa Story: A Cineaste's Life in Kobe as Matashichi
1998
- Yanchakure as 水嶋钦一
- Dr. Akagi as Dr. Fuu Akagi
- Love Letter
1997
- The Key as Soichiro Anzai
- The Eel as Tamotsu Takasaki
- Body and Soul as Sekiya/Reiko's lover-Aya's ex
- Abduction as Chief Superintendent Tachibana
1996
- Shall We Dance? as Detective Miwa
- The Rainbow Seeker
- Free and Easy 8 as Yukawa
1995
- Eighth Shogun Yoshimune as Tokugawa Munenao
- Maborosi as Yoshihiro
1994
- Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla as Major Akira Yuki
- The Friends as Nagatomo
1993
- Family Court Judge as Shibuya Naomasa
- Private Lessons II as Oba
- When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang as Narrator (voice)
- I Can Hear the Duck Singing
- Sky Cannot Be This Blue ... (Director)
1992
- Yamai wa kikara: Byôin e ikô 2
- Sumo Do, Sumo Don't as Professor Tokichi Anayama
- Manhattan Kiss
1991
- Taiheiki as Moronao Kô-no
- Goodbye Mama
- A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era as Kogoro Katsura
- Dance till Tomorrow
- The Last Frankenstein as Prof. Sarusawa
1989
- Fancy Dance as Masoho's boss
- Beijing Watermelon as Mr. Teramoto
- Harimao as Army Major
- Tora-san Goes to Vienna as Hyoma Sakaguchi
- Battle Heater as Riichi Hama
- Mottomo Abunai Deka as Maeo
1988
- Angel Guts: Red Vertigo as Yakuza
- The Silk Road
- あそびにおいでョ!
- あじさい色のレディ
- The Yen Family as Shinichi Amemiya
- Revolver as Keisuke Mineya
1987
1985
- I Want To Live Once More: Shinjuku Bus Fire Incident as Hirofumi Maruyama
- Capone Cries a Lot as Ushiemon
- The Second Is a Christian as Kumashiro
- Congratulatory Speech as Yasuhei Higashida
1984
- 水曜ドラマスペシャル
- Make-Up as Kikuo Tsutano
- Location as Konno
1983
- Amagi Pass
- Double Bed as Tôru Yamazaki
- Legend of the Cat Monster as Ryohei Shimura / Joji Tamura
1982
- Lovers Lost as Ishizuka
- Suspicion as Shigekazu Akitani
- Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san as Kondo
- The Man from Shimizu
1981
- Sailor Suit and Machine Gun as Detective Kuroki
1979
- Fujio Akatsuka's Gag Porno: In the Mood Once Again as Daigorô Hatayama
- Masked Crusader, Mr. Jirenman as Kantarô Iwata
- Shimo-ochiai Yakitori Movie