Akira Kubo

Akira Kubo

Original Name 久保 明
Birth Name Yasuyoshi Yamauchi (山内 康儀)
Born December 1, 1936 (87)
Tokyo, Japan

Kubo was a child actor on the stage, and joined Toho in 1952 when he was 16, debuting in Seiji Maruyama’s Puberty (1952). He appeared in that film using his real name, Yasuyoshi Yamauchi, but afterwards he adopted the name of his character in that film, “Akira Kubo,” as his stage name.

He appeared in supporting roles for Akira Kurosawa, particularly as a young heir in Throne of Blood (1957) and as one of the nine young samurai in Sanjuro (1962). He also played many youthful supporting and lead characters in Toho’s budding sci-fi genre, culminating in his appearances in Son of Godzilla (1967), Destroy All Monsters (1968, famously as the captain of the SY-3), and Space Amoeba (1970). He retired from regular film acting after Space Amoeba and transitioned to television where he often played villainous characters, in stark contrast to his film work.

Kubo was allegedly in the running to play the human alter-ego of Ultraman (1966) in the original television series, but the role went instead to Susumu Kurobe. He has a cameo in the beginning of Shusuke Kaneko’s Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1995) as the captain of the plutonium transport ship.

Original Name 久保 明
Birth Name Yasuyoshi Yamauchi (山内 康儀)
Born December 1, 1936 (87)
Tokyo, Japan

Kubo was a child actor on the stage, and joined Toho in 1952 when he was 16, debuting in Seiji Maruyama’s Puberty (1952). He appeared in that film using his real name, Yasuyoshi Yamauchi, but afterwards he adopted the name of his character in that film, “Akira Kubo,” as his stage name.

He appeared in supporting roles for Akira Kurosawa, particularly as a young heir in Throne of Blood (1957) and as one of the nine young samurai in Sanjuro (1962). He also played many youthful supporting and lead characters in Toho’s budding sci-fi genre, culminating in his appearances in Son of Godzilla (1967), Destroy All Monsters (1968, famously as the captain of the SY-3), and Space Amoeba (1970). He retired from regular film acting after Space Amoeba and transitioned to television where he often played villainous characters, in stark contrast to his film work.

Kubo was allegedly in the running to play the human alter-ego of Ultraman (1966) in the original television series, but the role went instead to Susumu Kurobe. He has a cameo in the beginning of Shusuke Kaneko’s Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1995) as the captain of the plutonium transport ship.