Tatsuya Nakadai passes away at 92

One of the greatest actors of all time has just passed away due to pneumonia (as Naoko Ema, an actress, reports).

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/movies/tatsuya-nakadai-dead.html

“The Eighth Samurai.”

Thanks for sharing the news, Mark! What a life and what a career. So many memorable performances.

Oh my. That is sad. But what a legacy he leaves.

With Masahiro Shinoda and Tatsuya Nakadai gone this year only the ladies from the Golden Age are left: Shima Iwashita (84), Ayako Wakao (92), and Kyoko Kagawa (93).

May I suggest celebrating both the late actor Nakadai and late director Shinoda by watching “The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikan” (1970) directed by Shinoda with Nakadai in a rare comedic turn as roguish neer-do-well ronin and would-be actor Naojiro in love with a prostitute (Shima Iwashita) who can’t seem to get rid of his meddlesome mother despite ever more extreme attemps to do so.

Another inteseting lesser know Nakadai film is “The Portrait of Hell, directed by Shirô Toyoda, a horror film in which he plays a Korean painter. The film is a subtle examination of racism against Korean-Japanese.

If you want something is the samurai vein with Nakadai in his action/leading man prime then I’d recommend “Kill!” (1968) and “Goyôkin” (1969).

I kinda thought he would just live forever… He was still acting on stage this year.

I’ll have to check out Portrait of Hell. The Akutagawa short story (usually translated as “Hell Screen”) is one of my all-time favorites. I can’t imagine how they’d translate some of the story’s perspective shifts to film, but I can totally see Nakadai as Yoshihide…

Also, don’t leave out Tsukasa Yôko, who’s still alive at 91!

I also thought he would live forever. He certainly had a great run, both by being long-lived and having a stellar and exceptional career.

Not long ago, I watched a YouTube video analyzing sword fights from Japanese movies, two of which featured him (from Harakiri and Yojimbo).

RIP, Nakadai-san!

Great recommendation, Christopher. “The Scandalous Adventures of Buraikain” also has a deliciously swanky score from Masaru Sato that slots in well alongside his playful score for “Sanjuro”.

The Criterion Channel put up a few of his I had not seen, an 80s yakuza picture whose title I can’t remember and “Black River” which is a fantastic Kobayashi I had not seen. Not that I am gunning up for a repeat viewing but if you have the time for “The Human Condition” it is quite a monumental work.

So it goes.