Masahiko Tsugawa

Masahiko Tsugawa (津川 雅彦)
Tsugawa in 2016
Background information
Birth name Masahiko Kato
Born (1940-01-02)2 January 1940
Origin Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan
Died August 4, 2018(2018-08-04) (aged 78)
Occupation(s) Actor, Film director, Critic
Years active 1945–2018

Masahiko Tsugawa (津川 雅彦, Tsugawa Masahiko), born Masahiko Kato (加藤雅彦 Katō Masahiko, January 2, 1940—August 4, 2018) was a Japanese actor and director.

Career

Tsugawa was born January 2, 1940 in Kyoto, Japan. After acting as a child, he made his major debut at the age of 16 in the Kō Nakahira film Crazed Fruit in 1956. Tsugawa's family was heavily involved in the film industry since before his birth. Tsugawa attended school until dropping out of Waseda University Graduate School to pursue acting alone.

He gradually grew in popularity and appeared in films like Otoko wa tsurai yo: Watashi no tora-san and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. He was eventually adopted as one of director Juzo Itami's favourite actors, and went on to appear in nearly every one of his movies since Tampopo.

Tsugawa recently debuted as a director under the pseudonym Makino Masahiko with his film Nezu no Ban. He chose this name because he is the nephew of the Japanese director Masahiro Makino, his mother's brother. Legend has it that Tsugawa was so awed by the director while watching him at work as a young child that he asked if he could use Makino as his last name should he ever be a director, because of the similarities of the first names.

Tsugawa comes from an illustrious film family. His older brother Hiroyuki Nagato was an actor. His wife Yukiji Asaoka was an actress. His grandfather is the director Shōzō Makino, his father, Kunitarō Sawamura, and his mother, Tomoko Makino, were both actors. His aunt and uncle through his father are the actors Sadako Sawamura and Daisuke Katō.

Tsugawa passed away August 4, 2018 due to heart failure. He was 78.

Filmography

Director

Film

Television

Awards and honors

Honor

Awards

References

  1. ↑ 第 11 回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品 (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
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