# Eiji Funakoshi

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Japanese actor (1923–2007)

Eiji Funakoshi Nobuko Otowa and Eiji Funakoshi in 1952 Japanese movie Ataka-ke no hitobito Born Eijiro Funakoshi (1923-03-17)17 March 1923 Tokyo, Japan Died 17 March 2007(2007-03-17) (aged 84) Shizuoka, Japan Occupation Actor Years active 1947–2001

**Eiji Funakoshi** (船越 英二, *Funakoshi Eiji*; 17 March 1923 – 17 March 2007) was a Japanese actor. He received the [Kinema Junpo Award](/source/Kinema_Junpo_Awards) for Best Actor and the [Mainichi Film Concours](/source/Mainichi_Film_Concours) for Best Actor for his performance in *[Fires on the Plain](/source/Fires_on_the_Plain_(1959_film))*.

## Biography

Born Eijirō Funakoshi on 17 March 1923, in Tokyo, Eiji Funakoshi signed up for the [Daiei Motion Picture Company](/source/Daiei_Motion_Picture_Company) in 1947 and made his acting debut the following year with *Beautiful Enemy*. In a career that spanned three decades Funakoshi starred in a variety of genres and worked for directors [Kōzaburō Yoshimura](/source/K%C5%8Dzabur%C5%8D_Yoshimura), [Mikio Naruse](/source/Mikio_Naruse), [Kon Ichikawa](/source/Kon_Ichikawa) and [Yasuzo Masumura](/source/Yasuzo_Masumura).[1]

Funakoshi was a favorite actor of internationally renowned director [Kon Ichikawa](/source/Kon_Ichikawa).[1] Perhaps their most notable film was the [World War II](/source/World_War_II) drama *[Fires on the Plain](/source/Fires_on_the_Plain_(1959_film))* (Nobi, 1959). Funakoshi played the lead role of [Imperial Army](/source/Imperial_Japanese_Army) Private Tamura, a soldier stationed on [Leyte Island](/source/Leyte_Island) in the [Philippines](/source/Philippines). *[Fires on the Plain](/source/Fires_on_the_Plain_(1959_film))* won awards in Japan and overseas, including prizes for [Kon Ichikawa](/source/Kon_Ichikawa) from the Blue Ribbon in Japan and the [Locarno Film Festival](/source/Locarno_Film_Festival) in Switzerland.

For several years, Funakoshi portrayed Tanokura Magobei, a close associate of the shogun, on *[Abarenbō Shōgun](/source/Abarenb%C5%8D_Sh%C5%8Dgun).*

His son [Eiichirō Funakoshi](/source/Eiichir%C5%8D_Funakoshi) is also a famous actor in Japan.

Eiji Funakoshi died of a stroke on 17 March 2007, his 84th birthday.[1]

## Filmography

Year Film Role 1953 Older Brother, Younger Sister (あにいもうと Ani Imōto) Kobata 1955 A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love (薔薇いくたびか Bara ikutabika) Tsuruo Ichioka 1957 The Hole (穴 Ana) Koisuke Sengi 1958 The Loyal 47 Ronin (忠臣蔵 Chūshingura) Tsunanori Uesugi 1959 Fires on the Plain (野火 Nobi) Tamura 1960 Jokyo (女経 Jokyo) Yasushi 1961 Ten Dark Women (黒い十人の女 Kuroi Jūnin no Onna) 1962 Being Two Isn't Easy (私は二歳 Watashi wa nisai) Goro, the father 1962 The Graceful Brute (しとやかな獣 Shitoyakana kedamono) Eisaku Kamiya 1963 An Actor's Revenge (雪之丞変化 Yukinojō Henge) Heima Kadokura 1964 Manji (卍) Kotaro Kakiuchi 1965 Gamera (大怪獣ガメラ Daikaijū Gamera) Dr. Hidaka 1966 Shiroi Kyotō (白い巨塔) Professor Kikukawa 1969 Gamera vs. Guiron (ガメラ対大悪獣ギロン Gamera Tai Daiakujū Giron) Dr. Shiga 1969 Blind Beast (盲獣 Mōjū) Michio Sofu 1975 Tora-san's Rise and Fall (男はつらいよ 寅次郎相合い傘 Otoko wa Tsurai yo: Torajirō Aiaigasa)

## Honours

- [Medal with Purple Ribbon](/source/Medals_of_Honor_(Japan)) (1989)

- [Order of the Rising Sun](/source/Order_of_the_Rising_Sun), 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (1995)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-scifijapan.com_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-scifijapan.com_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-scifijapan.com_1-2) [SciFi Japan » Eiji Funakoshi: 1923–2007](http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2007/03/19/eiji-funakoshi-1923-2007/)

## External links

- [Eiji Funakoshi](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0298576/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e Mainichi Film Award for Best Actor Masayuki Mori (1947) Chishū Ryū (1948) Takashi Shimura (1949) Shin Saburi (1950) Chishū Ryū (1951) Shin Saburi (1952) Ken Uehara (1953) So Yamamura (1954) Hisaya Morishige (1955) Keiji Sada (1956) Toshiro Mifune (1957) Keiju Kobayashi (1958) Eiji Funakoshi (1959) Keiju Kobayashi (1960) Tatsuya Nakadai (1961) Taiji Tonoyama (1962) Keiju Kobayashi (1963) Kō Nishimura (1964) Rentarō Mikuni (1965) Shoichi Ozawa (1966) Kunie Tanaka (1967) Minori Terada (1968) Kiyoshi Atsumi (1969) Hisashi Igawa (1970) Shintaro Katsu (1971) Takeo Chii (1972) Tetsurō Tamba (1973) Rentarō Mikuni (1974) Shin Saburi (1975) Tetsuya Watari (1976) Ken Takakura (1977) Ken Ogata (1978) Tomisaburo Wakayama (1979) Tatsuya Nakadai (1980) Takahiro Tamura (1981) Kō Nishimura (1982) Ken Ogata (1983) Tsutomu Yamazaki (1984) Kin'ya Kitaōji (1985) Eiji Okuda (1986) Masahiko Tsugawa (1987) Hajime Hana (1988) Rentarō Mikuni (1989) Masato Furuoya (1990) Masatoshi Nagase (1991) Kyōzō Nagatsuka (1992) Gorō Kishitani (1993) Eiji Okuda (1994) Koji Yakusho (1995) Koji Yakusho (1996) Yoshio Harada (1997) Masahiro Motoki (1998) Keiju Kobayashi (1999) Tadanobu Asano (2000) Tatsuya Mihashi (2001) Hiroyuki Sanada (2002) Toshiyuki Nishida (2003) Takeshi Kitano (2004) Tadanobu Asano (2005) Kōichi Satō (2006) Taichi Kokubun (2007) Hiroshi Abe (2008) Kenichi Matsuyama (2009) Shinichi Tsutsumi (2010) Mirai Moriyama (2011) Isao Natsuyagi (2012) Ryuhei Matsuda (2013) Go Ayano (2014) Shinya Tsukamoto (2015) Masahiro Motoki (2016) Masaki Suda (2017) Tasuku Emoto (2018) Ryo Narita (2019) Mirai Moriyama (2020) Takeru Satoh (2021) Kenji Sawada (2022) Ryohei Suzuki (2023)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eiji Funakoshi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiji_Funakoshi) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiji_Funakoshi?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.