{{Short description|Japanese actor (1915–1989)}} {{Infobox person | name = Taiji Tonoyama | image = Taiji Tonoyama Studio Still from Zankyo-no-Minato 1953 Scan10001.jpg | alt = | caption = | native_name = {{Nihongo2|殿山 泰司}} | native_name_lang = jpn | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|10|17}} | birth_place = [[Kobe, Hyogo]], Japan | death_date = {{Death date and age|1989|4|30|1915|10|17}} | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | known_for = | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1939–1989 }} {{Nihongo|'''Taiji Tonoyama'''|殿山 泰司|Tonoyama Taiji|October 17, 1915 &ndash; April 30, 1989}} was a Japanese character actor who made many appearances in films and on television from 1939 to 1989.<ref name=kotobank>{{kotobank|display=Tonoyama Taiji|name=%E6%AE%BF%E5%B1%B1%E6%B3%B0%E5%8F%B8|accessdate=17 February 2012}}</ref> He was a close friend of [[Kaneto Shindo]] and one of his regular cast members.<ref name=ikiteirukagiri/> He was also an essayist. In 1950 he helped form the film company [[Kindai Eiga Kyokai]] with Shindo and [[Kōzaburō Yoshimura]].

He served in the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese military]] in China in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and considered himself to have narrowly escaped from death.<ref name=ikiteirukagiri>{{kaneto-shindo-ikite-iru-kagiri}}</ref> He was married but also had a mistress and maintained relationships with both women until the end of his life.<ref name=ikiteirukagiri/> He was a keen reader of detective stories and a fan of jazz music.<ref name=ikiteirukagiri/> He wrote a series of semi-autobiographical essays under the title {{Nihongo||三文役者|Sanmon Yakusha}}, meaning "third rate actor". [[Kaneto Shindo]] wrote a biography of Tonoyama called ''Sanmon yakusha no shi'',<ref group=n>三文役者の死</ref> meaning "The death of a third-rate actor", which he also filmed as ''[[By Player]]''.<ref name=ikiteirukagiri/><ref>{{cite book|title=Sanmon yakusha no shi: Seiden Tonoyama Taiji|trans-title=The death of a third-rate actor: a true biography of Taiji Tonoyama|year=2000|isbn=978-4-00-602017-0|last=Shindo|first=Kaneto|authorlink=Kaneto Shindo}}</ref>

==Filmography (selected)== {| class=wikitable ! Date ! Title ! Role |- |1947 |''[[Record of a Tenement Gentleman]]'' | |- |1948 |''President and female clerk'' |Butler Kurokawa |- |1951 |''[[The Tale of Genji (1951 film)|The Tale of Genji]]'' | |- |1952 |''[[Dedication of the Great Buddha]]'' | |- |1952 |''[[Avalanche (1952 film)|Avalanche]]'' | |- |1952 |''[[Children of Hiroshima]]'' | |- |1953 |''[[Epitome (film)|Epitome]]'' | |- |1953 |''[[Life of a Woman]]'' | |- |1953 |''[[Jazz musume tanjō]]'' | |- |1955 |''[[Wolf (1955 film)|Wolf]]'' | |- |1956 |''[[Shirogane Shinjū]]'' | |- |1956 |''[[An Actress]]'' | |- |1956 |''[[Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers]]'' |Dr. Otsuki |- |1957 |''[[Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate]]'' | |- | 1958 | ''[[Night Drum]]'' | |- |1959 |''[[My Second Brother]]'' | |- |1959 |''[[Good Morning (1959 film)|Good Morning]]'' | Door-to-door salesman |- |1959 |''[[Lucky Dragon No. 5 (film)|Lucky Dragon No. 5]]'' |Mayor of [[Yaizu]] |- |1960 |''[[The Naked Island]]'' |Husband |- | rowspan="2" |1962 |''[[Foundry Town]]'' | |- |''[[Ningen (1962 film)|Ningen]]'' |Kamegoro |- | rowspan="2" |1963 |''[[Kanto Wanderer]]'' | |- |''[[The Insect Woman]]'' | |- |1964 |''[[Onibaba (film)|Onibaba]]'' |Ushi |- | rowspan="2&quot;" |1965 |''[[An Innocent Witch]]'' |Yamasan |- |''[[Akuto (film)|Akuto]]'' | |- | rowspan="2&quot;" |1965 |''[[Kuroneko]]'' | Farmer |- |''[[Profound Desires of the Gods]]''<ref>{{cite web |url= https://eiga.com/movie/35664/|title= 神々の深き欲望|access-date= March 12, 2021|work= eiga.com}}</ref> | |- |1971 |''[[A Soul to Devils]]'' | |- | rowspan="2&quot;" |1972 |''[[The Rendezvous (1972 film)|The Rendezvous]]'' | |- |''[[Dear Summer Sister]]'' |Takuzo Sakurada |- |1973 |''[[The Heart (1973 film)|The Heart]]'' | |- |1974 |''[[The Homeless (film)|The Homeless]]'' | |- |1976 |''[[In the Realm of the Senses]]'' |Old beggar |- |1976 |''[[Torakku Yarō|Torakku Yarō: Tenka Gomen]]'' | |- |1977 |''[[The Life of Chikuzan]]'' | |- |1977 |''[[Ballad of Orin]]'' |Charcoal Man |- |1978 |''[[Ogin-sama]]'' |[[Ankokuji Ekei]] |- |1978 |''[[Empire of Passion]]'' | |- |1979 |''[[Vengeance Is Mine (1979 film)|Vengeance Is Mine]]'' |Tanejiro Shibata |- |1979 |''[[Tantei Monogatari]]'' (episode 6) |Boss of Kyoei Shoji |- | rowspan="3" |1981 |''[[Eijanaika (film)|Eijanaika]]'' | |- |''[[Edo Porn]]'' |Woodcarver |- |''[[Muddy River (film)|Muddy River]]'' | |- |1983 |''[[The Ballad of Narayama (1983 film)|The Ballad of Narayama]]'' | |- |1985 |''[[Seburi monogatari]]'' | |- | rowspan="2" |1986 |''[[Tree Without Leaves]]'' |Sakuzo |- |''[[Comic Magazine]]'' | |- |1987 |''[[Zegen]]'' | |- |1989 |''[[Black Rain (Japanese film)|Black Rain]]'' | |}

==Books==

{|class=wikitable !Date !Romanized title !Original title !Notes !ISBN |- | 1969 |''Nihon onna chizu: shizen wa nikutai ni donna eikyo o ataeru ka'' |日本女地図: 自然は、肉体にどんな影響を与えるのか |A comparison of women's bodies, particularly their vaginas, in different parts of Japan. |{{ISBN|978-4-04-154201-9}} |- |1980 <!-- seems to be posthumous? --> |''Sanmon yakusha anaki den'' parts one to three |三文役者あなあきい伝PART1~PART3 | |{{ISBN|978-4-480-02937-9}}<br> |}

==Notes== <references group=n/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0867401}} *{{jmdb name|id=0290740|name=Tonoyama Taiji}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130305042058/http://movie.goo.ne.jp/cast/c55997/index.html Goo Movies]

{{Mainichi Film Award for Best Actor}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonoyama, Taiji}} [[Category:1915 births]] [[Category:1989 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century Japanese male actors]] [[Category:Military personnel of the Second Sino-Japanese War]]