Rentarō Mikuni | |
|---|---|
 Mikuni,c. 1950s | |
| Born | Masao Sato (1923-01-20)20 January 1923 |
| Died | 14 April 2013(2013-04-14) (aged 90) |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, film director |
| Years active | 1950–2013 |
| Children | Kōichi Satō |
| Relatives | Kanichiro (grandson) |
Rentarō Mikuni (Japanese:三國連太郎,Hepburn:Mikuni Rentarō; 20 January 1923 – 14 April 2013) was a Japanese actor and film director. He starred in several films ofKeisuke Kinoshita,Mikio Naruse,Tadashi Imai,Shōhei Imamura,Tomu Uchida and many others.[2][3] Mikuni received numerous awards for his performances[4] and was awarded theJury Prize at the1987 Cannes Film Festival for his filmShinran: Path to Purity, which he wrote and directed.[5]
Mikuni's parents met in October 1922 at the port ofNumazu. His mother had been amaid inKure, but had been laid off and was on her way home. His father was working inŌta, Gunma, and was on his way home. They hit it off so well that they did not return to their parents' home, but got married and began to live at Mikuni's father's residence.[6] Mikuni was born there in January 1923. His real name was Masao Sato (佐藤政雄,Satō Masao). Although Mikuni was his father's biological son on the family register, he said he was probably the child of another man and that his father was adoptive father. The reason for this was that the time between the meeting of the parents and the birth was too short.[6][Note 1] When he was seven months old, the family moved to his father's hometown,Nishiizu,Shizuoka Prefecture,[7] where he grew up.[8] Mikuni's father was anelectrician, only graduated fromprimary school, so he wanted his son to have an education, so he sent Mikuni to former Touyou Middle School (laterShimoda High School inShizuoka Prefecture).[6][9]
But Mikuni lost interest in education of middle school because he was disgusted by teachers discriminating against students based on their parents' occupations and themilitary education that took place in schools.[6] His father was furious and beat him because he skipped school and spent every day wandering around aimlessly.[10] One day when he was 14 years old, his father found him sleeping under the porch of the house and severely beat him with a clothes pole, so he ran away from home. He left middle school in the second grade.[6] After running away from home, Mikuni hid in thehold of a ship docked inShimoda, Shizuoka and crossed over toQingdao, China (then under Japanese control). He was found on the way, but he could not turn back, so he continued to work as a temporarycabin boy on the ship.[10] After landing in Qingdao, he wandered around, working in lunchbox shops anddance halls under false pretenses of age, and then wandered throughManchuria and theKorean peninsula (then under Japanese control).[10] Later, at the age of 16, he returned to Japan on the ferry fromBusan.[6]
In 1941, thePacific War began, and he eventually received adraft card when he was 20.[4] However, he refused to be drafted because he did not want to kill anyone or die in the war.[11] He fled with his girlfriend toKaratsu, Saga, and was thinking of crossing the ocean to the continent when he was arrested bySpecial Higher Police.[10] This was because his mother, fearing that her village would beostracized,[12][13] reported him to police.[14] He was sent to the front inChina in December 1943.[6] In combat, he witnessed the death of many of his comrades and was himself wounded by a bullet piercing his armpit. However, he finally did not fire a single shot because he did not want to be part of the killing spree.[15] Regarding his lethargic attitude, his superiors tried to correct him by beating, but he wouldn't listen no matter how much they beat him. Eventually, he pretended to be sick and worked as a medic or tended to horses in the rear, where he remained until the end of the war.[10] The 34th Infantry Regiment inShizuoka, where he belonged, had more than 1,000 men at the time of his deployment, but only thirty-odd survived after the war.[6] The war ended in August 1945 when he was inHankou, and returned Japan in June 1946.[9]
After returning to Japan, he wandered around Japan, working as a bus driver and peddler oflaundry soap,miso, and other products.[9][6] There are several stories as to how he made his debut,[Note 2] but it is generally believed to be as follows. While living inTottori, Mikuni had taken a picture at a photo studio inKurayoshi, Tottori. The owner of the studio had taken the liberty of submitting it toShochiku's advertisement for new actors. Then in December 1950, a Shochiku producer, who had seen Mikuni's picture, happened to find Mikuni inHigashi-Ginza and scouted him.[17] When he was scouted as an actor, he thought he would do any job as long as he could eat.[6]
He made his debut as the lead role of a newspaper reporter in the filmThe Good Fairy, directed byKeisuke Kinoshita.[18] Originally,Eiji Okada was scheduled to play the lead role, but his appearance was cancelled due to theRed Purge, and Mikuni was selected because he had a similar facial appearance. The stage name Rentaro Mikuni was taken from his role in this film.[7][19] At the time of his debut, Mikuni's career was falsified and he was advertised as an intellectual and single male with a degree in engineering fromOsaka University.[Note 3] This degree of falsehood was common in the movie industry at the time.[7] Mikuni soon became popular as a beautiful features, handsome actor, mainly among young women. For his performance in this film, he won the 2ndBlue Ribbon Award for Best Newcomer.[20] Mikuni was favored by director Kinoshita and lived in his house for a while as a houseboy. He then became a research student atHaiyuza Theatre Company for some time in order to acquire acting skills. The following year, he continued to appear in Kinoshita's filmsBoyhood andFireworks over the Sea.[9]
Mikuni was free-spirited and disliked being bound by contracts. At that time, it was common for star actors to sign exclusive contracts with movie companies and not appear in other companies' films in Japan.[21] In 1952,Toho made a formal request toShochiku to cast Mikuni asToshiro Mifune's co-star inSword for Hire, but Shochiku refused, in part because Mikuni was their employee. However, Mikuni, attracted by the high fee,[6] appeared the film. Shochiku and Mikuni got into trouble over this issue, and Mikuni was fired from Shochiku.[9] In 1954, he appeared in theNikkatsu filmMuddy Youth over Toho's objections. This incident led to Mikuni being designated as the first actor to violateFive-Company Agreement, which prohibits the drawing of actors between the five major film companies.[22][23] It is said that a sign saying "Do not enter the dog, cat, or Mikuni" was attached to the gate of the Shochiku Ōfuna Studio inKamakura.[24] After that, Mikuni worked mainly in independent films and Nikkatsu, which did not participate in the five-company agreement. The 1956 Nikkatsu filmThe Burmese Harp, directed byKon Ichikawa, and the 1957 independent filmStepbrothers, both of which he appeared in during this period, later became among his best-known works. In October 1956, his contract with Nikkatsu expired and he became afreelancer. In 1959, he signed an exclusive contract withToei while maintaining his freedom to perform for other companies, which was unusual at the time.[9]
After that, Mikuni appeared in a number of films in both leading and supporting roles, and won numerous awards and honors.In 1960, he won theBlue Ribbon Award for Best Actor for his role inThe Great Journey (大いなる旅路), which chronicled the life of aJapanese National Railways engineer and his family over a thirty-year period.[25][26]In 1965, he wonMainichi Film Awards for Best Actor forA Fugitive from the Past, in which he played a man who commits a series of murders amidst extreme poverty.[27]In 1979, he won theBlue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a devoutChristian man who is the father of aserial killer inVengeance is Mine.[28] He became the first individual actor to win three Blue Ribbon Awards, and was called one of the most talented movie stars of theShōwa era.[29] TheTsuribaka nisshi series began in 1988, The humorous interaction between Su-san, the company president played by Mikuni, and Hama-chan, a useless employee played byToshiyuki Nishida, gained national popularity, and the series continued until the 22nd film,Tsuribaka Nisshi 20: Final, released in 2009.[17][30][31]He and his son,Koichi Sato, first co-starred in the 1986 filmA Promise, and played father and son in the 1996 film adaptation ofOishinbo, and also co-starred in the 2011 filmSomeday.[32]His last film wasChronicle of My Mother, released in 2012, and he appeared in 183 films during his lifetime.[17]
He also worked as a film director. In 1963, he established Nippon Productions and shotTyphoon (台風) as his first independent film, but it was not released due to opposition fromToei, with whom he had an exclusive contract at the time.[9] In 1969, he founded the production company A.P.C. and in 1972 he produced, wrote, directed, and starred inRiver Without a Shore (岸辺なき河), which was shot in the deserts ofPakistan andAfghanistan, but was not completed.[33][9] Finally, in 1987, he directed his own film adaptation ofShinran: Path to Purity, the novel he wrote and wonJury Prize of the40th Cannes Film Festival.[34]
He was also a talentedcalligrapher and painter.[35] Mikuni had a deep knowledge ofBuddhism and published several books, especially onShinran.
He receivedMedal with Purple Ribbon in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of art and culture in 1984,[9]Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette (4th class) in 1993.[9]
Mikuni was known for his serious preparation for his roles. InStepbrothers, he pulled out his upper and lower 10 teeth in order to play the role of an old man. This was done in order to play the role of a married couple with an much elderKinuyo Tanaka in a naturalistic manner.[36] In the scene where he beatsIneko Arima, the actress who plays a wife who had committed adultery inNight Drum, he seriously beat her from the test and hit her more than 20 times until the director gives his permission in the production, causing Arima's face to swell up.[37]
Yoshio Shirai, a film critic and former editor-in-chief ofKinema Junpo, cited that Mikuni had prepared in his roles so thoroughly that he sometimes tended to overact, and needed a director who could control this well.[38] Shirai said that the combination with directorTomu Uchida was the best, and that Uchida'sA Fugitive from the Past was his best work. InKon Ichikawa'sThe Burmese Harp, Mikuni's overacting was truncated in order to make the most of his natural acting. InMiyoji Ieki'sStepbrothers, Mikuni's preparation in his role was tremendous, but he analyzes that the director is a man with a strong policy, so he made excellent use of his unusual emotions as an actor. On the other hand, he says that the range of Mikuni's acting ability is overwhelming when looking at his droll performance seen in theTsuribaka Nisshi series.[38]
He was uninhibited in his relationships with women throughout his life.[39]He was married four times.[40] He disliked being tied down to one woman and left her as soon as he lost his passion for her, because it would narrow his horizons and interfere with his work as an actor.[7][6]
His first marriage was asham marriage in April 1946 in China because he had heard a rumor that married people could return to Japan earlier. After returning to Japan, he lived inMiyazaki Prefecture with this woman and had a child, but they divorced in 1948.[9] His second marriage was to a woman he met while living inKurayoshi, Tottori, while working as apeddler, but divorced at the end of 1952.[9] His third marriage was to a woman who was ageisha inKagurazaka,Tokyo in 1953. During this marriage, in 1963, he had an affair withKiwako Taichi, an actress 20 years younger than him.[41] He lived with Taichi at her parents' house for a time. After months, he began to feel burdened by Taichi's passion and left her giving her a letter to say he was tired.[42] He and his wife officially divorced in 1972. He gave most of his property to his wife and set off on a wandering journey to theMiddle East.[6] His fourth marriage was to a noncelebrity, 27 years younger than him in 1976. He was older than her parents, and her grandmother, who knew of his history of his love affairs, was vehemently opposed to the marriage, but he lived with her until the end of his life.[7]
During his third marriage he had a son,Koichi Sato, who later became an actor.[43] Sato's son and Mikuni's grandson,Kanichiro, also made his acting debut in 2017 after Mikuni's passing.[44] Mikuni, who lived a free-spirited life, was said to have been feuding with his son Sato for many years. However, after the birth of his grandson Kanichiro, Mikuni doted on him so much that his relationship with his son was said to have improved.[45] Mikuni once said of his grandson Kanichiro that he was not suited to be an actor because he grew up being loved.[6]
In his later years, he lived inNumazu, traveling back and forth from Tokyo. He loved this place where he could seeSuruga Bay andMount Fuji, and spent his later years walking and tending to his garden.[46]
In his final years, his health failed and he was hospitalized.[47] Mikuni died in Tokyo on 14 April 2013 of acute heart failure[32][48][Note 4] at the age of 90.[49] As per Mikuni's wishes, the funeral was held in secret with only relatives and related persons.[49] Mikuni wished to have his ashes scattered after his death, but his son,Koichi Sato, placed them in the Sato family grave, which had existed for a long time at a temple inMatsuzaki, Shizuoka.[51] This was Sato's wish, as he had not been able to live with his father for a long time before his death.[51]
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