Tachikawa Hiroshi

Tachikawa Hiroshi (born Tachikawa Yôichi) was a remarkably capable Japanese supporting actor.

Tachikawa joined the elite Haiyuza acting training institute fresh out of high school in 1951, entering as part of their second-ever graduating class. He appeared prominently on stage before making his feature film premiere for Toei in 1952. By 1954, Tachikawa officially became a contracted actor for Toho Studios. His career was interrupted in December 1958 when he was seriously injured in an auto accident, and Toho released him from his contract during his recovery. Tachikawa impressively rebounded and returned to Toho in the fall of 1959, opting to change his stage name to Tachikawa Hiroshi as a fresh start. He remained with the studio until 1971.

Tachikawa typically played bright, youthful, or energetic characters. He's best known to genre fans as Yoshida, the increasingly greedy, desperate author who succumbs to his psychotic tendencies in Honda Ishirô's Matango (1963). He's also recognizable as Yoichirô, the cowardly son of one of the feuding gang leaders in Kurosawa Akira's Yojimbo (1961).

After quitting Toho in 1971 and becoming a freelancer, he maintained a dual career; he continued acting on his own terms while founding and managing a successful advertising firm, the Tokyo Agency, in 1976.