Eitaro Ozawa


Eitarō Ozawa, also credited as Sakae Ozawa, was a Japanese film actor and stage actor and director. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1988, directed by notable filmmakers such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Kaneto Shindō.

Biography

After leaving high school prematurely, Ozawa started acting in the left-wing theatre groups Toho Sayoku Gekijo and Shinkyo Gekidan. He gave his film debut at the P.C.L. film studio in 1935. In 1940, the authorities ordered the dissolution of the Shinkyo Gekidan and arrested many of its members, including Ozawa, who was forced to change his stage name Sakae to his real name Eitarō. After his release, he joined the Shochiku studio and starred in films by Tomu Uchida, Tomotaka Tasaka and Keisuke Kinoshita. In 1944, he co-founded the Haiyuza theatre group, but was drafted in the same year. After the war, he returned to the Haiyuza and started appearing in films again such as Yasujirō Ozu's Record of a Tenement Gentleman, Akira Kurosawa's Scandal and Mizoguchi's Ugetsu and The Crucified Lovers. For a few years, he took his former stage name Sakae again, before ultimately returning to Eitarō.
In addition to acting, Ozawa was active as a director of stage plays, including Bertolt Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan which he had seen performed in Berlin, and as a writer.

Filmography (selected)

Films

Port of Flowers Morning for the Osone Family Marriage Record of a Tenement Gentleman Woman Apostasy The Love of Sumako the Actress Flame of My Love Lady from Hell as FujimuraScandal Lightning Ugetsu The Thick Walled Room The Crucified Lovers Princess Yang Kwei-Fei Wolf A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love An Actress River of the Night Suzakumon Kisses The H-Man The Loyal 47 Ronin Tsukihime keizu The Human Condition I: No Greater Love Ballad of the Cart Lucky Dragon No. 5 When a Woman Ascends the Stairs Scar Yosaburo Go to Hell, Hoodlums! The Demon of Mount Oe Kurenai no Kenju The Mad Fox Gorath Assassination Our Blood Will Not Forgive Akuto Shiroi Kyotō as Professor UgaiZatoichi Challenged Black Rose Mansion The Ceremony Long Journey into Love Sandakan No. 8 Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Last Days of the Boss Shōsetsu Yoshida gakkō as Tsuruhei MatsunoImperial Navy as Osami NaganoShinran: Path to Purity

Television

Shin Heike Monogatari as ShinzeiGenroku Taiheiki as Kira YoshinakaCastle of Sand Shiroi Kyotō as Professor UgaiHissatsu Karakurinin Fugakuhiyakkei Koroshitabi Akō Rōshi as Kira YoshinakaShadow Warriors III as Tokugawa MitsusadaŌoku as Tokugawa Mitsukuni

Awards and honours (selected)