is a Japanese actor and theatre director. He established himself on the stage in classical theatre, becoming a regular in Yukio Ninagawa's Shakespeare productions and co-founding the theatre company Performance Unit AUN in 1997. Television roles in Hanzawa Naoki (2013) and Hanako to Anne (2014) brought him wider recognition and led to frequent film and television work. In 2016 he succeeded Ninagawa as the second artistic director of the Sai no Kuni Shakespeare Series. He is affiliated with Horipro.

Biography Yoshida spent six years in Osaka during his grade school days, and later grew up in Hino, Tokyo. While a student at St. Paul High School, he saw the Shakespearean comedy "Twelfth Night" by the Kumo Theater Company and decided to become an actor. While studying at the Department of German Literature in the Faculty of Literature at Sophia University, he made his debut by performing Twelfth Night in the Shakespeare Study Group. He later dropped out of the university.

After working with the Shiki Theatre Company for six months, he worked with Shakespeare Theatre, Lyming Theatre Company, and Tokyo Ichigumi before forming Performance Unit AUN with director Yoshihiro Kurita in 1997, which he also directed. He was valued as an actor capable of performing the roles required of foreign classics such as Shakespeare and Greek tragedies, and was a regular in Yukio Ninagawa's productions. His roles for Ninagawa included Titus in a Japanese-language production of Titus Andronicus that played the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 2006. He is a close friend of Tatsuya Fujiwara and Shun Oguri, who often appeared in Ninagawa's works. Starting in 2010, he expanded his activities into television dramas and films on the advice of Oguri.

Yoshida played Hanzawa's boss in Hanzawa Naoki in 2013 and Densuke Kanō, who was modeled after businessman Den'emon Itō, in Hanako to Anne in 2014. These performances attracted attention, which led to an increase in his appearances in films, his first starring role being in Tokyo Sentimental.

He married on January 1, 2016, a woman 22 years his junior, and held a wedding ceremony in February 2017. In October 2016, he succeeded Yukio Ninagawa as the second artistic director of the Sai no Kuni Shakespeare Series.

Filmography

Stage Year Title Role Director Notes 1985 Twelfth Night Harumi Nakashima 1997 Othello Othello Yukio Ninagawa 1998 The Merchant of Venice Shylock Norio Deguchi 2001 Hamlet Hamlet Norio Deguchi 2006 Titus Andronicus Titus Yukio Ninagawa Royal Shakespeare Theatre 2008 King Lear Earl of Gloucester Yukio Ninagawa 2014 Julius Caesar Cassius Yukio Ninagawa 2015Death Note: The MusicalRyukTamiya Kuriyama

Film Year Title Role Notes 2010Surely SomedayKitō2015Assassination ClassroomKensaku Ōno2015Shinjuku SwanAmano2017To Each His OwnMamoru Yamagami2017Teiichi: Battle of Supreme HighJōsuke Akaba 2017The Third MurderDaisuke Settsu2017Mixed DoublesSeiichirō Yamashita2017Shinjuku Swan IIAmano2018The Lies She Loved2018Love × Doc2018Over DriveIssei Tsuzuki2019Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon ExplorationDiabolo (voice)2019Ossan's Love the MovieMusashi Kurosawa2019Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV Akio's fatherLead role2019Dragon Quest: Your StoryLadja (voice)2019Lupin III: The FirstLambert (voice)2019Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion the Movie: Mirai Kara Kita Shinsoku no ALFA-XOhanefu (voice)2020Kaiji: Final GameYoshihiro Kurosaki2020From Today, It's My Turn!!Ichirō Mitsuhashi2021CubeKazumasa Ando2021Last of the WolvesYōzō Watafune2022The Way of the HousehusbandKondō2023YudōCritic2023We're Millennials. Got a Problem?: The MovieIwao Aso2024Love You as the World Ends: The FinalSaijō 2024Hey Handsome!! Gentaro ItoLead role2024MaruAkimoto2024Oshi no Ko: The Final ActIchigo Saitō2025Showtime 7Shōji2025Stigmatized Properties 2Kioshi Fujiyoshi2025ScarletVoltemand (voice)2026Goodbye My CarAtsushi Miyake

Television Year Title Role Notes 2013 The Brothers Karamazov Bunzō Kurosawa 2013 Hanzawa Naoki Hiroshi Naitō 2014 Hanako and Anne Densuke Kanō Asadora2014 Mozu Jin Nakagami 2016 Sanada Maru Oda Nobunaga Taiga drama2016 Totto TV Hisaya Morishige 2016 Yuriko-san no Ehon Hiroshi Harashima 2016 We're Millennials. Got a Problem? Iwao Aso 2018 From Today, It's My Turn!! Ichirō Mitsuhashi 2018–24 Ossan's Love Musashi Kurosawa 3 seasons 2019 Ieyasu, Edo wo Tateru Gotō Tokujō2020 The Yagyu Conspiracy Yagyū Munenori Lead role; TV movie2020 The Sun Stands Still: The Eclipse Tōru Nagashima 2020–21 Awaiting Kirin Matsunaga Hisahide Taiga drama2021 Nakamura Nakazo: Shusse no Kizahashi Miniseries2021 Japan Sinks: People of Hope Mamoru Amami Special appearance 2022 Hey Handsome!! Gentaro Ito Lead role2024Oshi no KoIchigo Saitō 2025 Anpan Kamaji Asada Asadora

Awards and honors Year Honors 2026Medal with Purple Ribbon

YearAward ceremonyCategoryResult20147th Tokyo Drama AwardsBest Supporting Actor201811th Tokyo Drama AwardsBest Supporting Actor

References

External links

Kōtarō Yoshida on NHK Archives