Eijirō Tōno


Eijirō Tōno was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting more than 50 years, appeared in over 400 television shows, nearly 250 films and numerous stage productions. He is best known in the West for his roles in films by Akira Kurosawa, such as Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, and films by Yasujirō Ozu, such as Tokyo Story and An Autumn Afternoon. He also appeared in Kill! by Kihachi Okamoto and Tora! Tora! Tora!, a depiction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His final film was Juzo Itami's A-ge-man in 1990. Tōno also starred as the title character in the long-running television jidaigeki series Mito Kōmon from 1969 to 1983. In the early years of his career he acted under the name of Katsuji Honjo.

Early life

Eijirō Tōno was born on 17 September 1907 in Tomioka City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Born to a sake brewery, his father was a Hino merchant, who had moved to Kantō alone from a mountain village in Ōmi Province and worked his way to become a sake brewer from the ground up. Tōno attended Tomioka Middle School. After enrolling as a student in the Commerce Department of Meiji University he joined the left-wing Society for the Study of Social Science. This was politically dangerous, as the Peace Preservation Law of 1925 made members of any association whose object was the alteration of the kokutai, or of the system of private property, liable to imprisonment for up to ten years. In 1931 he became a student on the proletarian drama course run by the Tsukiji Little Theatre. He made his stage debut in the Tokyo Left-wing Theatre production of The Mount Osore Tunnel by Jūrō Miyoshi. Having completed the proletarian drama course, he joined the New Tsukiji Theatre Group and took the stage name Katsuji Honjō.

Career

Through the 1930s, Tōno appeared in almost all of the New Tsukiji Theatre Group's productions, receiving favourable reviews. In particular, his performances as Heizō in Earth, Yugorō in The Composition-writing Classroom and the Gravedigger in Hamlet established his reputation as an actor. He also came to play an important part in the management of the troupe. In 1936, he made his film debut in Older Brother, Younger Sister . In 1938 he appeared in Teinosuke Kinugasa's Kuroda seichū roku and subsequently had roles in pictures for the Shōchiku, Nikkatsu and Tōhō studios. Up to this point, he was credited under his stage name, 'Katsuji Honjō'.
In August 1940 the New Tsukiji Theatre Group was forcibly disbanded. From this time on, he was credited as 'Tōno Eijirō'. In 1943 he appeared in Keisuke Kinoshita's debut film Port of Flowers . In 1944 Tōno, Eitarō Ozawa, Koreya Senda, Sugisaku Aoyama, Chieko Higashiyama and others formed the Actors' Theatre Haiyuza. During the last year of the Pacific War, he toured Japan under the auspices of the Japan Peripatetic Drama League, an officially sponsored body whose remit was to raise morale, and therefore productivity, by bringing drama to factories, mines, farming communities and fishing villages.
After the war ended in August 1945, Tōno returned to the Actors' Theatre as one of its central figures, both actor and administrator. Between the end of the war and 1990 he also played supporting roles in well over 200 films. Notable among them were seven films for Akira Kurosawa, including Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, four for Yasujirō Ozu, including Tokyo Story and An Autumn Afternoon, and nine for Keisuke Kinoshita, including Marriage and The Ballad of Narayama.
He also voiced Doc in the 1958 Japanese dub of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film).
The role for which he is perhaps best remembered in Japan, however, is that of the title character in the hugely popular TV jidaigeki Mito Kōmon, in which the historical Tokugawa Mitsukuni, retired daimyō of the Mito Domain, roams the country in the guise of a retired merchant, Mitsuemon, righting wrongs and correcting injustice with the aid of two samurai retainers. Tōno played the role in 381 episodes between 1969 and 1983.
Tōno died of heart failure on 8 September 1994, nine days before his 87th birthday.

Selected filmography

Older Brother, Younger Sister as A laborer Port of Flowers as HayashidaKaigun Kanko no machi Army as SakuragiIzu no musumetachi as MurakamiMorning for the Osone Family as Ippei YamakiKekkon as Kōhei, Fumie's fatherTsukinode no ketto Joyū Sumako no koi as Shoyo TsubouchiNatsukashi no buruusu Jutai Taifuken no onna as YoshiiThe Broken Commandment Waga Koi wa Moenu as State Councillor ItoShin'ya no kokuhaku Mahiru no embukyoku as Sampei KuribayashiStray Dog as Old man of wooden tub shopRinchi Ma no ogon Akagi Kara kita otoko Les Miserables Sasaki Kojiro Zoku Sasaki Kojiro Ginza Cosmetics as Hyôbei SuganoJiyû gakkô Hopu-san: sararîman no maki Kanketsu Sasaki Kojirô: Ganryû-jima kettô as Jinnai ÔbaSekishun as Sakichi ArakawaYamabiko gakkô Sengoku burai Children of Hiroshima Bijo to touzoku as JurotaMuntinlupa no yo wa fukete Himitsu as Jonosuke TajimaFuun senryobune Jûdai no seiten as Tomekichi, Fusae's fatherAsama no karasu as Hyakusuke no OnojiHiroba no kodoku as SonedaHana no naka no musumetachi as Shôroku IshiiThe Wild Geese as Suezô, the moneylenderWaseda daigaku as NomuraShishun no izumi as Nakamura, a policemanTokyo Story as Sanpei NumataLife of a Woman as KyuzaemonSeven Samurai as ThiefThe Sound of Waves as Schoolmaster, a peddlerTaiyo no nai machi Midori no nakama as Tamon TsuburagiNyonin no yakata as InokawaHorafuki tanji as Policeman IketaniKuroi ushio Kunsho Keisatsu nikki Koko ni izumi ari Ai no onimotsu Uruwashiki saigetsu as Imanishi's fatherTasogare sakaba as OnizukaWolf Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple as Baiken ShishidoUkikusa nikki Record of a Living Being as Old man from BrazilShuzenji Monagatari as Hōjō TokimasaSamurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island as Baiken ShishidoHanayome no tameiki as Tahei KawamuraEarly Spring as Tokichi HattoriHakusen midare kurokami Kyûketsu-ga as Tetsuzô Ibuki / Shunsaku EtôFarewell to Dream as Yôichi's father, GenkichiHana no kyodai Byaku fujin no yoren Zenigata Heiji Torimono no Hikae: Hitohada Gumo Nonki fufu Mori wa ikiteiru as A waiting manHadashi no seishun as Shiimbei HayashiAnata kaimasu as OgushiAn Actress as Tadao InoueTsuyu no atosaki Night River Namida Kome as SakuzoÔban as Chaplin-SanAn Osaka Story as Ninpei OmiyaSuzakumon as Tomofusa Kunokura, Yuhide's fatherNinjitsu as FugetsusaiUntamed Snow Country as Keisuke KiyamaHikage no musume Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen as Chaplin sanThe Lower Depths as Tomekichi the TinkerJun'ai monogatari as Garbage manKuroi kawa as KuriharaDotanba Ninkyo shimisu-minato as KansukeBoryoku no hatoba Yagyû bugeichô: Sôryû hiken as FugetsusaiHotarubi Ankoru watto monogatari utsukushiki aishu as ChamberlainYoru no tsuzumi as Mataemon KurokawaThe Ballad of Narayama as MessengerKisetsufu no kanatani Oban kanketsu hen Wakai kemono Hitotsubu no mugi Zokuzoku sarariman shussetai kôki Kami no taisho Hadaka no taishô as CommanderJinsei gekijô - Seishun hen Shirasagi Akujo no kisetsu as Taisuke YashiroWakai kawa no nagare as Shôkichi SoneThe Human Condition Dai san no shikaku as Kazuta KuboKiku to Isamu as PolicemanKaratachi nikki Ohayo as TomizawaHigh Teen as Tateishi, principalYajû shisubeshi as Detective KawashimaNaniwa no koi no monogatari Mi wa jukushitari as Saemon, Hikari's fatherNingen no kabe The Three Treasures as OotomoFutô no nâwabarî Shin santô jûyaku: Tabi to onna to sake no maki Ôinaru tabiji Chinpindô shujin Kunisada Chûji as KansukeAjisai no uta as Genjûrô KurataSake to onna to yari as Hideyoshi ToyotomiShin santo juyaku: teishu kyo iku no maki Kenka Tarô as KitauraThe Twilight Story as Teacher YamaiAshita hareru ka as Seisaku KajiwaraSararîman Chûshingura as Gonosuke KiraOre no kokyô wa western as ÔkawaTekkaba no kazê Botchan yaro seizoroi Pigs and Battleships as Kan'ichiZoku sararîman Chûshingura as Gonosuke KiraEddoko bugyo tenka o kiru otoko Yojimbo as Gonji - Tavern KeeperTôshi reijô as GinrokuAi to honoho to as KudoThe Littlest Warrior as Sanshô Dayû Kako Akai kôya as Shinzô OkuiImmortal Love as PolicemanSekai daisensô Dôdôtaru jinsei as Daisaku HaraBuda as SurathaHadakakko as Shohei, Akiko's fatherKanpai! Gokigen yarou Taiheî hara no otoko Salary man Shimizu minato as Komazô KurodaZoku sararîman shimizu minato Watakushi-tachi no kekkon Musume to watashi as GrandfatherSeinen no isu as Genjûrô HatadaKyûpora no aru machi as Tatsugorô Ishiguro Shachô yôkôki Nakayama shichiri Chiisakobe as IkichiAkitsu Springs as PriestAo beka monogatari as Grandpa YoshiShin no shikôtei as Li TangAn Autumn Afternoon as Seitarō Sakuma, "The Gourd"Kawa no hotori de as Tôgo SawadaAkai kage-bôshi as Jinzaburô KamoSen-hime to Hideyori as Tokugawa IeyasuHakone-yama Twin Sisters of Kyoto as Sosuke OtomoHigh and Low as factory workerShiro to kuro Shitamachi no taiyô as GensukeKono kubi ichimangoku as Tenzen ÔshikôchiBushido, Samurai Saga as Shibiku-Shosuke HoriJinsei gekijo: zoku hisha kaku Kekkonshiki Kekkonshiki as GorôOtoko no monshô Zoku shinobi no mono as Toyotomi HideyoshiKaigun Eden no umi Kureji sakusen: Kudabare! Musekinin Gobanchô yûgirirô as KunigiThe Elegant Life of Mr. Everyman as Meiji, his fatherTange Sazen: zankoku no kawa Shin shinobi no mono Ukyonosuke Junsatsu-ki Hachigatsu umare no Onna Miyamoto Musashi: Ichijôji no kettô as HaiyaPale Flower as Gang LeaderHanayome wa jûgo sai Kizudarake no sanga as Shinzo KozukiEchigo Tsutsuishi Oyashirazu as EndôHadaka no jûyaku as Kosugi, presidentHorafuki taikôki as Koroku HachisukaOtoko no monshô - fuun futatsu ryu Kûroi daîsu ga ore o yobû Dokonjô monogatari: Zuputo iyatsu Baka ga tanku de yatte kuru Aa, seishun no mune no chi wa as Sôtarô ShimizuShachô ninpôchô Samurai Assassin as Masagorô KisoyaRed Beard as GoheijiNippon ichi no goma suri otoko Muhômatsu no isshô as Jûzô YûkiIllusion of Blood as PriestSword of the Beast as MinisterAbashiri bangaichi: Bôkyô hen Akutô as CommentatorUzushio Supai An Innocent Witch as Mountain shamanIki-ni kanzu Shachô gyôjôki Tobenai chinmoku Yojôhan monogatari: Shôfu Shino as UyûIzuko e Yoidore hakase as MarshalLost Sex as Neighbor / WriterThe Great White Tower as Professor Azuma Yorû no bara o kesê Zatôichi tekka tabi as SenzoKitaguni no ryojô as Kichinosuke KawaraLost Spring as SogaKureji no Kaitô Jibako Zoku ô-oku maruhi monogatari as Narrator Moero! Taiyô Waka oyabun senryû-hada Nippon ichi no otoko no naka no otoko as Gonosuke OkandaKamo to negi as Shigejiro OhnoTeppô denraiki as Kinbei YaitaKill! as Hyogo MoriuchiThe Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun as Ganko, the blacksmith Âh himeyuri no tô as Nakaji, PrincipalMoero! Seishun as Zenkichi MisawaOtoko no chosen Fukushû no uta ga kikoeru Kureji no buchamukure daihakken as OnikumaShachô enmachô Tirania Zoku shachô enmachô Zoku otoko wa tsurai yo as Sanpo SenseiShachô gaku ABC Zoku shachô gaku ABC Fuji sanchō Tora! Tora! Tora! as Vice Admiral Chuichi NagumoTenkan no abarembo Shokon ichidai tenka no abarenbo Showa hito keta shachô tai futaketa shain Gekido no showashi: Okinawa kessen Zoku Showa hito keta shachō tai futaketa shain: Getsu-getsu kasui moku kinkin Gokumon-to as Kaemon Kitō - Yosamatsu's FatherMito Komon as Tokugawa MitsukuniHunter in the Dark as ShogenEireitachi no oenka: saigo no sōkeisen Izakaya Chōji as MatukawaSo What Death of a Tea Master as KokeiHarasu no ita hibi Ageman as Prime Minister

Honours