Ken Watanabe
Known for acting · Born 21 October 1959 · 66 · Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
107 credits
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.
Known for
Inception
2010
The Last Samurai
2003
Letters from Iwo Jima
2006
Godzilla
2014
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
2019
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
2019
The Creator
2023
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005
The Sea of Trees
2016
Tampopo
1985
Tokyo Vice
2022
Hanekonma
1986
Acting (103)
2026Samurai VengeanceKinji ShinodaFilm
2026Kyotojin no Hisokana Tanoshimi Rouge: Keisho東雲朔太郎 · 9 episodesSeries
2025KokuhoHanjiro HanaiFilm
2025UnboundTamema Okitsugu · 48 episodesSeries
2025The Final PieceShigeyoshi ToumyoFilm
2025TRUE COLORSTaichirou Tsujimura · 9 episodesSeries
2025LA PANTHÈRE DE CARTIERFilm
2024Kensuke's KingdomKensuke (voice)Film
2024All LivesFilm
2023The CreatorHarunFilm
2023True Love: Making The CreatorSelfFilm
2022Tokyo ViceHiroto Katagiri · 18 episodesSeries
2020Alice in BorderlandOld GentlemanSeries
2020Fukushima 50Masao YoshidaFilm
2020劇場の灯を消すな！PARCO劇場編Film
2020Toubousha · 2 episodesSeries
2019Pokémon Detective PikachuLieutenant Hide YoshidaFilm
2019Godzilla: King of the MonstersDr. Ishiro SerizawaFilm
2019An Artist of the Floating WorldOno MasujiFilm
2018Isle of DogsHead Surgeon (voice)Film
20187 Guardians of the TombFatherFilm
2018Bel CantoKatsumi HosokawaFilm
2018The King and IThe King of SiamFilm
2018SegodonShimazu Nariakira · 17 episodesSeries
2017Transformers: The Last KnightDrift (voice)Film
2017NHK WORLD PRIMESelf - PresenterSeries
2017Dirty, Clean, & InbetweenRestaurant PatronFilm
2017The Memories of HappinessTaro MiuraFilm
2016The Sea of TreesTakumi NakamuraFilm
2016RageYohei MakiFilm
2016五年目のひとり키자키 슈지Series
2015The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk東雲朔太郎 · 9 episodesSeries
2014GodzillaDr. Ishiro SerizawaFilm
2014Transformers: Age of ExtinctionDrift (voice)Film
2014Evolution Within ExtinctionSelfFilm
2014Back of FatherTakamura KoujiSeries
2014Snow JackReiji KurataFilm
2013UnforgivenJubee KamataFilm
2012Hayabusa: The Long Voyage HomeJunichiro KawaguchiFilm
2011Ai inochi - Shinjuku Kabukicho Kakekomi Dera -Film
2011Gyoretsuno dekiru sodanjoRegularSeries
2010InceptionSaitoFilm
2010ShanghaiTanakaFilm
2010A School Behind BarsFilm
2009Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's AssistantMr. TallFilm
2009The UnbrokenHajime OnchiFilm
2009刑事一代 平塚八兵衛の昭和事件史Series
2007EarthNarrator (voice)Film
2007Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of 'Letters from Iwo Jima'SelfFilm
2007星ひとつの夜Nonoyama HirojiFilm
2006Letters from Iwo JimaGeneral Tadamichi KuribayashiFilm
2006Memories of TomorrowMasayuki SaekiFilm
2005Batman BeginsRa's al GhulFilm
2005Memoirs of a GeishaChairmanFilm
2005Ashes and SnowJapanese Narrator (voice)Film
2005Year One in the NorthKomatsubara HideakiFilm
2004Vessel of SandShuichiro Imanishi · 11 episodesSeries
2003The Last SamuraiMoritsugu KatsumotoFilm
2003T.R.Y.Masanobu AzumaFilm
2003第三の時効Film
2003Another Battle/ConspiracyFujimaki HiroakiFilm
2003川、いつか海へ 6つの愛の物語 · 6 episodesSeries
2003藤田宜永サスペンス「異端の夏」Series
2002Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHSOkuboFilm
2002Mibu Gishiden: Shinsengumi de Ichiban Tsuyokatta Otoko · 4 episodesSeries
2002横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS) · 6 episodesSeries
2002強行犯捜査第七係Series
2001Love of a Thousand Years - Story of GenjiFilm
2001Drowning FishMiyotaFilm
2001Hojo TokimuneHojo Tokiyori · 49 episodesSeries
2001Proof of the Man 2001Munesue KoichiroFilm
2000Ikebukuro West Gate ParkYokoyama · 11 episodesSeries
2000Space TravelersSakamaki ("Crusher")Film
2000The Whispered CityIshidaFilm
1998BondsDetective Sako AkioFilm
1998Shimei Tehai · 4 episodesSeries
1997Welcome Back, Mr. McDonaldRaita OnukiFilm
1995Gokenin ZankuroZankuro Matsudaira · 8 episodesSeries
1993Hanzo, the RazorFilm
1993Baian the Assassin: ShowdownDr. BaianFilm
1993Kagi-shiSeries
1993The Fire Still BurnsFujiwara Tsunekiyo · 35 episodesSeries
1992Ganryujima: Kojiro and MusashiKojirōFilm
1992Oda NobunagaFilm
1992Chronicle of the Town MagistrateMochizuki KoheitaFilm
1992Izakaya ChōjiSeries
1992Waga Machi · 10 episodesSeries
1991A Naive History of the Bakumatsu EraRyoma SakamotoFilm
1991Takeda ShingenNarratorFilm
1991Baian the AssassinFujieda Baian · 5 episodesSeries
1990Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari Tokubetsuhen · 5 episodesSeries
1990Baian the AssassinDr. BaianFilm
1990Musuko no Gokikan · 2 episodesSeries
1989Oda NobunagaSeries
1987Masamune Shogun伊達政宗 · 50 episodesSeries
1987Commando InvasionFilm
1986The Sea and PoisonTodaFilm
1986HanekonmaGenzo Onodera · 156 episodesSeries
1986The Making of "Tampopo"SelfFilm
1985TampopoGunFilm
1985Kekkon Annai MysteryFilm
1984MacArthur's ChildrenTetsuo NakaiFilm
1984A Tale of Two Truncheons · 13 episodesSeries
Production (4)
2022Tokyo ViceExecutive ProducerSeries
2012Hayabusa: The Long Voyage HomeProduction ManagerFilm
2006Memories of TomorrowExecutive ProducerFilm
1989HarimaoProducerFilm