Isao Kimura

Isao Kimura (木村 功, Kimura Isao, 22 June 1923 – 4 July 1981), sometimes credited as Kō Kimura,[1] was a Japanese stage and film actor[2][3] who appeared in more than one hundred films of directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse, Tadashi Imai and Yoshishige Yoshida.[4]

Isao Kimura
Isao Kimura in 1954
Born(1923-06-22)22 June 1923
Sendamachi, Hiroshima, Japan
Died4 July 1981(1981-07-04) (aged 58)
Tokyo, Japan
Other namesKō Kimura
OccupationActor

Biography

Kimura was born in Hiroshima City,[3][5] and graduated from the Bunka Gakuin school, Tokyo, in 1943. In 1945, he lost his parents in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and was himself exposed to radiation.[3] He joined the Haiyuza Theatre Company in 1946, but left four years later to form the Youth Actor Club (Gekidan Seihai) with Eiji Okada and Nobuo Kaneko.[2][3]

Kimura acted in films since 1942.[4] Notable appearances include Kurosawa's Stray Dog, Seven Samurai and Ikiru.[2][3] In addition, he worked with the Seihai theatre company and made numerous television appearances.[3] He succumbed to cancer and died in 1981, aged 58.[2][3]

Selected filmography
  • Hawai Mare oki kaisen (1942) – Kurata
  • The Love of Sumako the Actress (1947)
  • Stray Dog (1949) – Yusa the criminal
  • Angry Street (1950)
  • Elegy (1951)
  • Nakinureta ningyō (1951)
  • Dokkoi ikiteru (1951)
  • Dancing Girl (1951) – Nozu
  • Yamabiko gakkō (1952)
  • Boryoku (1952)
  • Ikiru (1952) – Intern
  • Vacuum Zone (1952) – Kitani
  • Onna hitori daichi o yuku (1953)
  • Pu-san (1953)
  • Seven Samurai (1954) – Katsushiro Okamoto
  • Okuman choja (1954) – Koroku Tate
  • Ashizuri misaki (1954)
  • Hi no hate (1954)
  • Ningen gyorai kaiten (1955)
  • Ofukuro (1955)
  • Beautiful Days (1955)
  • Asunaro monogatari (1955) – Kashima
  • Kyatsu o nigasuna (1956) – Takeo Fujisaki
  • Tengoku wa doko da (1956)
  • Boshizō (1956) – Shimizu
  • Throne of Blood (1957) – Phantom samurai
  • The Rice People (1957) – Senkichi
  • Bibō no miyako (1957)
  • Jun'ai monogatari (1957) – Doctor at Segawa Hospital
  • Anzukko (1958) – Ryokichi Urushiyama – the husband
  • Kisetsufu no kanatani (1958)
  • Summer Clouds (1958) – Okawa
  • Kēdamonō no torū michi (1959)
  • Onna to kaizoku (1959) – Koshichi
  • Hahakogusa (1959) – Yoshihiko Takayama
  • Keishichō monogatari: Iryūhin nashi (1959)
  • Shiroi gake (1960)
  • Yōtō monogatari: hana no Yoshiwara hyakunin-giri (1960)
  • Ikinuita jūroku-nen: Saigo no Nippon-hei (1960) – Takano, Army officer
  • Kēnju yaro ni gо̄yojin (1961)
  • Miyamoto Musashi (1961) – Hon'iden Matahachi
  • Machi (1961) – News paper editor
  • Hachi-nin me no teki (1961) – Kutsuda
  • Knightly Advice (1962)
  • Nippon no obaachan (1962) – Taguchi
  • The Temple of the Wild Geese (1962) – Atsumichi Uda
  • Watakushi-tachi no kekkon (1962)
  • Miyamoto Musashi: Showdown at Hannyazaka Heights (1962) – Hon'iden Matahachi
  • Seki no yatappe (1963)
  • High and Low (1963) – Detective Arai
  • Bushido, Samurai Saga (1963) – Hirotaro Iguchi
  • Miyamoto Musashi: Nitо̄ryū kaigen (1963) – Hon'iden Matahachi
  • Miyamoto Musashi: The Duel at Ichijoji (1964) – Hon'iden Matahachi
  • Assassination (1964) – Tadasaburо̄ Sasaki
  • Ware hitotsubu no mugi naredo (1964)
  • Shape of the Night (1964) – Saitо̄
  • Bakumatsu zankoku monogatari (1964)
  • Miyamoto Musashi: Ganryū-jima no kettо̄ (1965) – Hon'iden Matahachi
  • Akutō (1965) – Shioya Hangan
  • Tange Sazen: Hien iaigiri (1966) – Yagyu Genzaburo
  • Aogeba tōtoshi (1966)
  • The Affair (1967) – Mitsuhuru
  • Tabiji (1967) – Eikichi
  • Flame and Women (1967) – Shingo, Ibuki
  • Black Lizard (1968) – Detective Kogoro Akechi
  • Affair In The Snow (1968) – Kazuo Imai
  • Snow Country (1969) – Shimamura
  • Secret Information (1969) – Goro Izawa
  • Chōkōsō no Akebono (1969)
  • Sakariba nagashi uta: Shinjuku no onna (1970) – Funaki
  • Tenkan no abarembo (1970) – Hanpeita Takechi
  • Confessions Among Actresses (1971) – Director Nose
  • Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (1974) – Tsuchigumo Hyoei
  • Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974) – Film Critic
  • Nagisa no shiroi ie (1978) – Toshihiko Kurahashi

References
  1. Price, Stephen (1999). The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa (Revised and Expanded ed.). Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691010465.
  2. "木村功 (Kimura Isao)" (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  3. "木村 功 (Kimura Isao)" (in Japanese). Kotobank. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  4. "木村功 (Kimura Isao)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  5. "木村功 (Kimura Isao)" (in Japanese). Kinenote. Retrieved 8 July 2023.


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