Kōji Mitsui
Acting
Born March 6, 1910, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Mitsui Koji ( March 6, 1910 - April 20, 1979 ) was a Japanese actor. His real name was Mitsui Hikohide. After the war, he played an active role as a supporting actor in films directed by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu . His former stage name was Mitsui Hideo. Changed his stage name to Mitsui Koji in Ozu's Hen in the Wind (1948) . His role as the playboy Kisaburo in Kurosawa Akira 's The Lower Depths (1957) won him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 12th Mainichi Film Awards and the 8th Blue Ribbon Awards, solidifying his status as a supporting actor. After going freelance in 1960, he worked not only in films but also in television dramas and on stage, but after undergoing surgery for a stomach ulcer in 1971, his health deteriorated and he scaled back his acting career. He died of heart failure on April 20, 1979 at a hospital in Kamakura. He was 69 years old.
Filmography
- 1975Great Jailbreak
- 1972Beyond the Rainbow
- 1971The Battle of Okinawa — Old Man
- 1970Dodes'ka-den — Foodstand owner
- 1969Our Miyo-chan — Yagi
- 1968Nanami: The Inferno of First Love — Mr. Otagaki
- 1967Japan's Longest Day — Old Journalist
- 1967The Greatest Challenge of All
- 1966Ohana han — Mizorogi
- 1966Punch Guy
- 1965A Fugitive from the Past — Motojima
- 1965Red Beard — Heikichi
- 1965Salaryman's Medal
- 1964How to Make Money
- 1964I Am a Medical Examiner
- 1964Japan's No. 1 Braggart — Furui
- 1964The Honest Fool
- 1964Woman in the Dunes — Village Elder
- 1963High and Low — Second Reporter
- 1963Legends of Honor
- 1963Young Guy in Hawaii
- 1963Young Swordsman — Yabe Senjuro
- 1962A Roaring Trade
- 1962Aitsu bakari ga naze moteru
- 1962Drunkard's Paradise
- 1962Gang vs. Gang
- 1962Hadashi no hanayome
- 1962Mother Country
- 1962Otoko no Uta
- 1962Shin kitsune to tanuki
- 1962The Body
- 1962The Inheritance
- 1962Tokyo Bay — Narcotics Control Agent Hayashi
- 1962Zoku aizen katsura
- 1961Aoi kairyū
- 1961Epitaph to My Love — Torikie
- 1961Furimuita hanayome — Yasunosuke Fukuhara
- 1961Hijō no otoko
- 1961Hikkoshi yatsure
- 1961Incidental Murders — Genji
- 1961Kigeki: Kane no naru ki ni koi ga saku
- 1961Killers on Parade
- 1961Koi no gashū — Shuzo, Tomie's father
- 1961With Wife, Children, and Friends
- 1960Banana
- 1960Hot Corner Murder — Hobara
- 1960Irohanihoheto
- 1960Only She Knows
- 1960The Bad Sleep Well — Reporter A
- 1960The Last Trump Card — Yaichi Saito
- 1959Floating Weeds — Kichinosuke
- 1959Fox and Raccoon — Hangoro Iizuka
- 1959Kiku and Isamu: Two Siblings Born in Japan — Shopkeeper
- 1959Koko ni otoko ari
- 1959Lucky Dragon No. 5
- 1959The Human Condition I: No Greater Love — Furuya
- 1959Thus Another Day — Man A
- 1959Tokyo Omnibus
- 1958A Bridge for Two Alone
- 1958Botchan — Nodaiko
- 1958Firefly Light
- 1958Hibi no haishin
- 1958Maria of the Ant Village
- 1958Modan dôchû: Sono koi matta nashi
- 1958Monthly Salary: 13,000 Yen
- 1958Police Precinct Part 8
- 1958Tabi sugata nezumi kozō
- 1958The Hidden Fortress — Guard (uncredited)
- 1957A Case of Honor
- 1957A Tale of Dung and Urine
- 1957The Lonely Swordsman (Part 2)
- 1957The Lower Depths — Yoshisaburo the Gambler
- 1957The Unbalanced Wheel
- 1957Times of Joy and Sorrow — Mr. Kanemaki
- 1957Tokyo is a Fine Place
- 1956Early Spring — Hirayama
- 1956Headquarters of Crime Detection
- 1956Horeruna Yanpachi
- 1956I Will Buy You — Tamekichi Kurita
- 1956Sound of Youth
- 1956The Monster Cat of the Fifty-Three Stations
- 1956The Thick-Walled Room — Nishimura
- 1956Typhoon Furor
- 1955Christ in Bronze — Iwakichi
- 1955Chutaro of Banba
- 1955Ejima and Ikushima — 岡本五郎右衛門
- 1955Here Is a Spring
- 1955Iroha Elegy
- 1955The Vassal's Neck
- 1955元祿美少年記 — 父長助
- 1954Beautiful Tengu — 弥之助
- 1954Bored Hatamoto: The Million-ryo Mystery
- 1954Surprising 53 Stations of the Tokaido
- 1954Youth’s Romance Seat: Sitting on the Green Grass
- 1954慶安水滸傳 — 和尚廓念
- 1953Always in My Heart
- 1953Always in My Heart Part 2
- 1953Kurama tengu: Aomen yasha — 古門前の長次
- 1953Love Letter
- 1952Avalanche
- 1952Our Chief, Our Doctor
- 1952Tange Sazen
- 1951Carmen Comes Home — Oka
- 1951Fireworks Over the Sea — Moriyama
- 1951Five Men of Edo — Kodaira
- 1951Jōen no hatoba
- 1951The Inner Palace Conspiracy — Kichitarō
- 1951Weeping Doll — Shige
- 1950Crazy Uproar
- 1950Onna no ryūkō
- 1950Scandal — Cameraman A
- 1950The Actress and the Detective
- 1949A Fool's Love — Seki
- 1949Ishimatsu of the Forest
- 1949Jealousy
- 1948A Hen in the Wind — Hideo
- 1948Great X — Yoshioka
- 1948The Most Beautiful Day of My Life
- 1946Iki na fûraibô — Gentarô
- 1945Victory Song — Kawanishi
- 1944Field Army Orchestra — Murakami
- 1943Our Planes Fly South
- 1942Sumida River
- 1942The Spy Has Not Died Yet
- 1942There Was a Father — Graduate
- 1940Okinu and Banto
- 1939Haha o tataeru uta
- 1939Spring Thunder — Kensuke Ide
- 1938Children of the Sun
- 1935A Hero of Tokyo — Hideo Nemoto
- 1935Lumberjack and Lady
- 1934A Mother Should Be Loved — Kousaku
- 1934A Story of Floating Weeds — Shinkichi
- 1934Street Without End — Guest (at café)
- 1934The Genealogy of Women
- 1933Before the Wedding
- 1933Dragnet Girl — Hiroshi
- 1933Happy Times
- 1933The Boss's Son at College — Kitamura
- 1933The Layabout and Seabathing
- 1932No Blood Relation — Guy on bike
- 1932The Loyal 47 Ronin
- 1929The Father and His Son