Kyūsaku Shimada
Encyclopedia
Kyūsaku Shimada is a Japanese actor. He is perhaps best known in the West for the role of Yasunori Kato
in the historical fantasy
film Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
. He has a distinctive long facial profile with a large, protruding chin.
One of the productions the group undertook was a humorous adaptation of the occult
novel
Teito Monogatari
(Hiroshi Aramata
), penned by mangaka
Usamaru Furuya
. In this production Shimada became notable for his portrayal of the protagonist Yasunori Kato
. He was recruited to star as Kato in the 1988 film adaptation of the same novel, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
. This was his film debut.
Since then, Shimada has gone on to perform in a variety of roles in both Japanese TV and film.
Yasunori Kato
is a fictional character, the antagonist of the Japanese historical fantasy series Teito Monogatari, created by Hiroshi Aramata.Since his first cinematic appearance in 1988, Yasunori Kato has gone on to become a well known and well respected archetype in Japanese popular culture having inspired a...
in the historical fantasy
Historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It is used as an umbrella term for the sword and sorcery genre and sometimes, if fantasy is involved, the sword-and-sandal genre too...
film Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
is a tokusatsu historical fantasy film produced in 1987 by Exe and distributed in 1988 by Toho Studios. It is the first live-action adaptation of the Teito Monogatari series by Hiroshi Aramata.-Plot:...
. He has a distinctive long facial profile with a large, protruding chin.
History
Shimada was originally part of the Tokyo Grand Guignol Theater group, formed by artist Norimizu Ameya. He stayed with the group until its dissolution in 1986.One of the productions the group undertook was a humorous adaptation of the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Teito Monogatari
Teito Monogatari
is a massive Japanese historical fantasy epic written by Hiroshi Aramata.-Overview:The story is a retelling of the history of Edo from an occultist perspective. The premise is based on the idea that the curse of Taira no Masakado greatly influenced the city's history from its inception to the...
(Hiroshi Aramata
Hiroshi Aramata
is a Japanese author, translator, and screenplay writer, as well as a specialist in natural history and cartography.His most popular novel was Teito Monogatari , which has sold over 3.5 million copies in Japan alone. He also wrote Alexander Senki, a novel which eventually evolved into the anime...
), penned by mangaka
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
Usamaru Furuya
Usamaru Furuya
is a Japanese manga artist. He graduated from Tama Art University where he majored in oil painting and developed an interest in sculpting and Butoh dance....
. In this production Shimada became notable for his portrayal of the protagonist Yasunori Kato
Yasunori Kato
is a fictional character, the antagonist of the Japanese historical fantasy series Teito Monogatari, created by Hiroshi Aramata.Since his first cinematic appearance in 1988, Yasunori Kato has gone on to become a well known and well respected archetype in Japanese popular culture having inspired a...
. He was recruited to star as Kato in the 1988 film adaptation of the same novel, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis
is a tokusatsu historical fantasy film produced in 1987 by Exe and distributed in 1988 by Toho Studios. It is the first live-action adaptation of the Teito Monogatari series by Hiroshi Aramata.-Plot:...
. This was his film debut.
Since then, Shimada has gone on to perform in a variety of roles in both Japanese TV and film.
Partial Filmography
- Tokyo: The Last MegalopolisTokyo: The Last Megalopolisis a tokusatsu historical fantasy film produced in 1987 by Exe and distributed in 1988 by Toho Studios. It is the first live-action adaptation of the Teito Monogatari series by Hiroshi Aramata.-Plot:...
(1988), as Yasunori Kato - Tokyo: The Last WarTokyo: The Last WarTokyo: The Last War is a tokusatsu dark fantasy/historical fiction film directed by Takashige Ichise and distributed by Toho Studios. It is an adaptation of the eleventh book of the Teito Monogatari novel by Hiroshi Aramata...
(1989), as Yasunori Kato - A Watcher in the Attic (1993), as Kogoro Akechi
- No Way Back (1995), as Tetsuro
- Murder on D StreetMurder on D Streetis a 1998 Japanese film directed by Akio Jissoji based on a novel by Edogawa Rampo.-Awards:20th Yokohama Film Festival* Won: Best Supporting Actress - Yumi Yoshiyuki...
(1998), as Kogoro Akechi - Sakuya: Demon Slayer (2000), as Syuzo
- The Princess BladeThe Princess BladeThe Princess Blade is a 2001 Japanese action film directed by Shinsuke Sato. It is a reimagining of the manga Lady Snowblood by Kazuo Koike.- Cast :*Yumiko Shaku as Yuki*Hideaki Ito as Takashi*Shiro Sano as Kidokoro...
(2001), as Byakurai - Dragon HeadDragon Headis a post-apocalyptic disaster manga by Minetaro Mochizuki. It was published by Kodansha in Young Magazine from 1995 and 2000 and collected in ten tankōbon volumes. It is licensed in English by Tokyopop, with Volume 10 released 2008-04-01...
(2003), as Minila - The Clone Returns Home (2008), as Dr. Kageyama