Issey Ogata

Issey Ogata began his acting career in the theater aſter graduating high school. He soon won roles on popular TV programs and mounted successful one-man stage show “Life Never Stops” in Shibuya. For international audiences, Ogata is best known for his roles in major art-house films, including the character of Ota in Edward Yang’s Yi Yi: A One and a Two, and the title character in Jun Ichikawa’s Tony Takitani (an adaptation of the Haruki Murakami short story). He most notably played the role of Japanese Emperor Hirohito in Aleksandr Sokurov’s 2005 film “The Sun”, which had its world premiere in competition at the Berlin film festival. His co-star in “The Sun” was Kaori Momoi, who played the empress. “Magic kimono” marks the highly anticipated screen reuniting of the pair. Most recently, Ogata played one of the main roles in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming film “Silence”. In describing Issey Ogata, Scorsese stated “I cast him immediately aſter a reading. He’s a remarkable performer.”

Filmography in our catalog