Koji Yakusho

Source: Asian Film Awards Academy

Koji Yakusho

Japanese actor Koji Yakusho, known for his critically acclaimed performances in films such as Perfect Days and Shall We Dance?, is to receive the lifetime achievement honour at the 18th Asian Film Awards.

The veteran performer will accept the award at the ceremony in Hong Kong on March 16. As part of a schedule of events associated with the awards, he will attend a screening of Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days on March 15. Yakusho’s role in the film, as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo, won him the best actor award at Cannes in 2023 and the same honour at last year’s Japan Academy Awards and Asian Film Awards.

It marks the third time the AFAs have bestowed their highest honour on a Japanese recipient after director Yoji Yamada in 2008 and actress Kiki Kirin in 2016.

Yakusho said of the award: “I was truly humbled to hear the names of the past recipients and found myself in awe of such distinguished figures. I feel deeply honoured. Receiving this award motivates me to strive for even better work in the remaining years of my acting career.”

The actor, whose real name is Koji Hashimoto, made his screen acting debut in the late 1970s, and rose to fame in Japan for his role as the historical figure Oda Nobunaga in the drama series Tokugawa Ieyasu, which ran for 50 episodes in 1983.

He became further known internationally for roles in several lauded films in the 1990s, including Shohei Imamura’s Palme d’Or winner The Eel and Masayuki Suo’s Shall We Dance?, both of which earned Yakusho best actor at the Japan Academy Awards, and for several collaborations with horror auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa, including Cure, Charisma and License To Live.

In the 2000s, Yakusho began to take on roles in international features, including Rob Marshall’s Memoirs Of A Geisha and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel. He has won best actor at the Japan Academy Awards four times from 23 nominations.

In 2012, he was awarded a Medal with Purple Ribbon by the Japanese government. Along with Perfect Days, he has been feted by the Asian Film Awards with the best actor prize for 2018’s The Blood Of Wolves.

The 18th Asian Film Awards will take place at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District on March 16, a day before the opening of Hong Kong Filmart.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Korean actor Jang Dong-gun and Chinese actor Tang Wai will receive the excellence in Asian cinema award at the ceremony. Jang has an on-screen career of more than 30 years and is known for his roles in Friend, Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War and Dangerous Liaisons. Tang is known for her critically acclaimed performances in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, Finding Mr. Right, Ann Hui’s The Golden Era and more recently Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave.

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