Kiichi Nakai (中井 貴一, Nakai Kiichi, born 18 September 1961) is a Japanese actor. His name was given by Yasujirō Ozu. His father, Keiji Sada, also a movie actor, died when Nakai was only two years old. Nakai started his acting career while he was still in university and was awarded the Rookie of the Year at the Japan Academy Awards in 1981.

Kiichi Nakai
Born (1961-09-18) September 18, 1961 (age 63)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationActor
Years active1981–present

He won the Japan Academy Best Supporting Actor award in 1994 (for 47 Ronin) and Best Actor award in 2003 (for When the Last Sword Is Drawn). He also won the award for best supporting actor at the 19th Hochi Film Award for 47 Ronin.[1]

In 2003 he played a Japanese delegate to a Chinese emperor of the Tang dynasty in Warriors of Heaven and Earth. Though a few of his lines are in Japanese, most are in Mandarin.

His older sister, Kie Nakai, is also an actress.

Selected filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1981 The Imperial Navy
1983 Tora-san Goes Religious?
1985 The Burmese Harp Mizushima Lead role
1986 Final Take Lead role
1987 Princess from the Moon Minister of the Military
1990 Tokyo Heaven Fumio Amemiya
1992 Gekashitsu
1993 Moving Lead role
1994 47 Ronin
1995 Marks Lead role
1998 Begging for Love
1999 Owls' Castle Lead role
2000 Tales of the Unusual Ōishi Kuranosuke Lead role
2001 All About Our House Himself
The Firefly
Darkness in the Light Lead role
2002 Shura no Mure
2003 When the Last Sword Is Drawn Yoshimura Kanichiro Lead role
The Yin Yang Master 2
Warriors of Heaven and Earth Emissary Lai Xi Chinese film
2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles Kenichi Takada (voice) Chinese film
2006 Aegis
2007 Hero Akihiko Takita
Dororo Kagemitsu Daigo
2008 The Magic Hour Tōru Iawata [2]
Samurai Gangsters Shimizu no Jirochō Lead role
2009 Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess Hiroshi Kataoka (voice)
2010 Railways Hajime Tsutsui Lead role
2011 A Ghost of a Chance Tōru Osano [3]
The Warring States King of Qi Chinese film
Wild 7
2012 The Wings of the Kirin Takeaki Aoyagi
Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer Tokugawa Mitsukuni
2014 Zakurozaka no Adauchi Kingo Shimura Lead role
2015 Again Haruhiko Lead role
2016 Good Morning Show Shingo Sumita Lead role
Ken san Narrator Documentary film
Kōfuku no Alibi Lead role
2017 Flower and Sword Oda Nobunaga
Honnōji Hotel Narrator
2018 We Make Antiques! Norio Koike Lead role [4]
2019 Hit me Anyone One More Time Prime Minister Keisuke Kuroda Lead role [5]
Aircraft Carrier Ibuki Keiichi Nakano [6]
2020 We Make Antiques! Kyoto Rendezvous Norio Koike Lead role [4]
2022 Dreaming of the Meridian Arc Ikemoto / Takahashi Kageyasu Lead role [7]
2023 We Make Antiques! Osaka Dreams Norio Koike Lead role [4]
2024 The Silence of the Sea Suiken [8]
Samurai Detective Onihei: Blood for Blood Kyōgoku Takahisa [9]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1983–1997 Apples and Oranges Yoshio Nakategawa Lead role; 4 seasons [10]
1988 Takeda Shingen Takeda Shingen Lead role, Taiga drama [11]
1995 Hachidai Shōgun Yoshimune Tokugawa Muneharu Taiga drama [12]
2001 Someday Like Storm
2003 Musashi Yagyū Munenori Taiga drama [11]
2005 Yoshitsune Minamoto no Yoritomo Taiga drama [11]
2007 Barefoot Gen Daikichi Nakaoka Lead role; miniseries
2009 Smile Kazuma Ito
2010 Japanese Americans Chokichi Hiramatsu
2012 Priceless Kengo Moai
Taira no Kiyomori Taira no Tadamori Taiga drama [13]
Second to Last Love Wahei Nagakura Lead role
2016 Kinpika Kenta Sakaguchi Lead role
2018 Musume no Kekkon Takahiko Kunieda Lead role; TV movie
2021 The Grand Family Daisuke Manpyo Lead role [14]
2023 Taiga Drama ga Umareta Hi Narushima TV movie [15]

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2020 Yakuza: Like a Dragon Masumi Arakawa [16]
2024 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Masumi Arakawa [16]

Japanese dubbing

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Title Role Notes Ref.
Despicable Me 2 Eduardo "El Macho" Pérez [17]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ 報知映画賞ヒストリー (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  2. ^ "ザ・マジックアワー". eiga.com. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  3. ^ "ステキな金縛り". eiga.com. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "中井貴一×佐々木蔵之介「嘘八百」第3弾製作、秀吉にまつわるお宝めぐりだまし合い". Natalie. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  5. ^ "記憶にございません!". eiga.com. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  6. ^ "空母いぶき". eiga.com. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  7. ^ "中井貴一×松山ケンイチ×北川景子で立川志の輔の創作落語「伊能忠敬物語-大河への道-」を映画化!". eiga.com. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  8. ^ "海の沈黙". eiga.com. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  9. ^ ""新たな鬼平" 第一弾「鬼平犯科帳 本所・桜屋敷」が遂に完成! 松本幸四郎、市川染五郎、松平健が登場!". Kyodo News PR Wire. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  10. ^ "【インタビュー】中井貴一×時任三郎 50代になった"ふぞろいの林檎たち"がテレビの時代を語り合う". Cinema Cafe. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  11. ^ a b c "中井貴一". NHK. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  12. ^ "八代将軍吉宗". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  13. ^ "平清盛の出演者・キャスト一覧". The Television. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  14. ^ "「欲望に、限りはない。」中井貴一扮する"万俵"がお披露目「華麗なる一族」ビジュアル". Cinema Cafe. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  15. ^ "中井貴一、生田斗真主演『大河ドラマが生まれた日』出演 父・佐田啓二さんを演じる中村七之助に"形見"預ける【コメントあり】". Oricon. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  16. ^ a b "『龍が如く8』主要キャスト発表 King Gnu井口理&成田凌&長谷川博己シリーズ初参戦". Mantan-web. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  17. ^ "中井貴一:吹き替え声優に初挑戦「怪盗グルー」LAプレミアで発表". Mantan-web. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  18. ^ "紫綬褒章・俳優の中井貴一さん 幅広い演技「必死に一つのこと継続」". Sankei Shimbun. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
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