Portrait of Eijirō Tōno

Eijirō Tōno

Acting

Biography

Eijirō Tōno (東野英治郎 Tōno Eijirō, 17 September 1907 – 8 September 1994) 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 (1954) and Yojimbo (1961), and films by Yasujirō Ozu, such as Tokyo Story (1953) and An Autumn Afternoon (1962). 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 (Tales of a Golden Geisha) 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 (本庄克二).

Born: September 17, 1907

Place of Birth: Gunma, Japan

Filmography

1990
Tales of a Golden Geisha

as Prime Minister

1983
1979
1978
Lord Mito

as Tokugawa Mitsukuni

1977
Island of Hell

as Kaemon Kito

1970
Five Gents and a Kuniang

as Gōji Keinosuke

1970
Tora! Tora! Tora!

as Admiral Chuici Nagumo

1970
Five Gents Fly to Taiwan

as Takeyunosuke Gōji

1969
1969
5 Gents Fly to Kyushu Part II

as Umehara Kannosuke (textile CEO)

1969
5 Gents Fly to Kyushu

as Kannosuke Umehara (President, Marubō Textiles)

1968
Monument to the Girl's Corps

as Nakaji, Principal

1968
Song of Vengeance

as 看守A

1968
Horus: Prince of the Sun

as Ganko (voice)

1968
Kill!

as Hyogo Moriuchi

1968
1967
Journey to the North

as Kichinosuke Kawara

1966
Lost Sex

as Neighbor / Writer

1966
Dynamite Doctor

as Marshal

1966
A Company President's Life Story

as Ōta Gōzaemon (Ōnichi Wool President)

1965
1965
Start Here

as President Sagara

1965
Red Beard

as Goheiji

1965
Samurai Assassin

as Masagorō Kisoya

1964
Eddy Currents of Life

as Shigesuke Hayashi

1964
The Naked Executive

as Kosugi, president

1964
Pale Flower

as Yasuoka

1963
Shinobi no Mono 2: Vengeance

as Toyotomi Hideyoshi

1963
1963
1963
High and Low

as Factory Worker

1963
Twin Sisters of Kyoto

as Sosuke Otomo

1962
An Autumn Afternoon

as Sakuma, The 'Gourd'

1962
The Great Wall

as Li Tang

1962
This Madding Crowd

as Grandpa Yoshi

1962
1962
Foundry Town

as Ishiguro, Tatsugoro (Jun's father)

1962
Lady Sen and Hideyori

as Tokugawa Ieyasu

1962
Our Marriage

as Father

1961
The Red Shadow

as Jinzaburô Kamo

1961
Buddha

as Suratha

1961
The Last War

as Captain Umehara

1961
Immortal Love

as Policeman

1961
The Crimson Plains

as Shinzô Okui

1961
The Orphan Brother

as Sanshô Dayû (voice)

1961
Yojimbo

as Gonji, Tavern Keeper

1961
1960
The Masterless 47

as Gonosuke Kira

1960
Wait for Tomorrow

as Seisaku Kajiwara

1960
The Man of Seven Faces

as Genkichi Miyashita

1960
1959
The Bride from Japan

as Mieko's father

1959
1959
Ripe and Marriageable

as Saemon, Hikari's father

1959
The Beast Shall Die

as Detective Kuwashima

1959
Good Morning

as Hiroshi Tomizawa

1958
1958
1957
Black River

as Kurihara

1957
The Lower Depths

as Tomekichi the Tinker

1957
Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen

as Chaplin san

1957
Untamed Woman

as Oshima's father

1957
Hateful Things

as Keisuke kiyama

1957
1957
An Osaka Story

as Gonzaemon Hoshino

1957
Ôban

as Chaplin-San

1957
1956
1956
Love on Rainbow Island

as Shiimbei Hayashi

1956
1956
Undercurrent

as Yujiro Funaki

1956
Farewell to Dream

as Yôichi's father, Genkichi

1956
The Vampire Moth

as Tetsuzô Ibuki / Shunsaku Etô

1956
Early Spring

as Tokichi Hattori

1956
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island

as Baiken Shishido (uncredited)

1955
I Live in Fear

as Old man from Brazil

1955
Floating Weeds Diary

as Magoro Ichikawa

1955
Twilight Saloon

as Onizuka

1955
Burden of Love

as Jozo Araki

1955
Policeman's Diary

as Old man Murata

1954
The Surf

as Schoolmaster

1954
The Street Without Sun

as President Kunio

1954
Seven Samurai

as Kidnapper

1953
Tokyo Story

as Numata

1953
1953
Shishun no izumi

as Nakamura, a policeman

1952
Farewell to Spring

as Sakichi Arakawa

1951
Ginza Cosmetics

as Hyôbei Sugano

1949
1949
Flame of My Love

as State Councillor Itô

1947
Marriage

as Fumie's father

1946
1944
Army

as Sakuragi

1944
Jubilation Street

as Shingo’s father

1943
Navy

as Teacher Ogata

1943
Port of Flowers

as Hayashida