Ken Watanabe
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1959-10-21
Place of Birth
Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
Ken Watanabe
Biography
Ken Watanabe (born October 21, 1959) is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. To English-speaking audiences he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in Letters from Iwo Jima and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in The Last Samurai, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Among other awards, he has won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Actor twice, in 2007 for Memories of Tomorrow and in 2010 for Shizumanu Taiyō. He is also known for his roles in director Christopher Nolan's Hollywood blockbusters Batman Begins and Inception.
Also Known For
Batman Begins
Jun 10, 2005
Letters from Iwo Jima
Dec 09, 2006
The Last Samurai
Dec 05, 2003
Tampopo
Nov 23, 1985
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
Oct 23, 2009
Inception
Jul 15, 2010
Shanghai
Jun 10, 2010
T.R.Y.
Jan 11, 2003
Space Travelers
Apr 08, 2000
第三の時効
Feb 24, 2003
The Creator
Sep 27, 2023
Unforgiven
Sep 13, 2013
Godzilla
May 14, 2014
Memories of Tomorrow
May 13, 2006
The Making of "Tampopo"
Jan 01, 1986
劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編
Oct 31, 2020
The Unbroken
Oct 23, 2009
A School Behind Bars
Oct 11, 2010
Year One in the North
Jan 14, 2005
Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home
Feb 11, 2012
Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS
Jun 16, 2002
Earth
Oct 10, 2007
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Jun 25, 2014
True Love: Making The Creator
Nov 14, 2023
The Whispered City
Jul 07, 2000
Drowning Fish
Feb 03, 2001
The Sea and Poison
Oct 17, 1986
Dirty, Clean, & Inbetween
Jan 28, 2017
MacArthur's Children
Jun 23, 1984
Evolution Within Extinction
Sep 30, 2014
Hanzo, the Razor
Jan 01, 1993
All Lives
May 06, 2024
Transformers: The Last Knight
Jun 16, 2017
Snow Jack
Aug 02, 2014
Rage
Sep 17, 2016
Ganryujima: Kojiro and Musashi
Jan 01, 1992
Kekkon Annai Mystery
Jun 15, 1985
The Sea of Trees
Apr 27, 2016
Commando Invasion
Jan 01, 1987
Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -
Jan 01, 2011
Oda Nobunaga
Jan 05, 1992
Chronicle of the Town Magistrate
Dec 23, 1992
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
May 29, 2019
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
May 03, 2019
Isle of Dogs
Mar 23, 2018
Bel Canto
Sep 13, 2018
Fukushima 50
Mar 06, 2020
The Memories of Happiness
Jan 08, 2017
The King and I
Nov 29, 2018
Kensuke's Kingdom
Feb 07, 2024
Bonds
Jun 06, 1998
Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald
Nov 08, 1997
Baian the Assassin
Dec 26, 1990
Baian the Assassin: Showdown
Oct 06, 1993
Memoirs of a Geisha
Dec 06, 2005
7 Guardians of the Tomb
Jan 19, 2018
Another Battle/Conspiracy
Feb 15, 2003
An Artist of the Floating World
Mar 30, 2019
A Naive History of the Bakumatsu Era
Jul 06, 1991
Kokuho
Jun 06, 2025
The Final Piece
Oct 31, 2025
Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'
May 22, 2007
Revenge in Kobikicho
Feb 27, 2026
The Cartier Panther
Sep 18, 2025
星ひとつの夜
May 25, 2007
Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Apr 14, 2000
Kagi-shi
Mar 12, 1993
Oda Nobunaga
Jan 01, 1989
Vessel of Sand
Jan 18, 2004
Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen
Oct 04, 1990
川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語
Dec 21, 2003
NHK WORLD PRIME
Oct 07, 2017
横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)
Jul 08, 2002
Masamune Shogun
Jan 04, 1987
Segodon
Jan 07, 2018
強行犯捜査第七係
Jun 29, 2002
Izakaya Chōji
Jul 10, 1992
Gokenin Zankuro
Jan 09, 1995
Waga Machi
Oct 13, 1992
Tokyo Vice
Apr 07, 2022
Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko
Dec 28, 2002
Baian the Assassin
Oct 09, 1991
五年目のひとり
Nov 19, 2016
Shimei Tehai
Nov 24, 1998
Back of Father
Jul 13, 2014
藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」
Jan 19, 2003
Hanekonma
Apr 07, 1986
Hojo Tokimune
Jan 07, 2001
The Fire Still Burns
Jun 04, 1993
Toubousha
Dec 05, 2020
Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjo
Oct 16, 2011
Musuko no Gokikan
Oct 07, 1990
Unbound
Jan 05, 2025
TRUE COLORS
Jan 05, 2025
A Tale of Two Truncheons
Apr 12, 1984
