Masato Sakai Explained

Masato Sakai
Birth Date:	14 October 1973
Birth Place:	Kobe, Japan ancestral home: Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan
Occupation:	Actor
Years Active:	1992–present
Children:	2

is a Japanese actor. Since the success of Naoki Hanzawa (2013), he has become one of the most famous actors in Japan.

Career

Sakai aspired to become a bureaucrat until high school, but when he entered university, he decided to pursue a career as an actor.^[1]

He won the award for best actor at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival for The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio and The Chef of South Polar^[2] and the award for best supporting actor at the 2008 Nikkan Sports Film Award, at the 33rd Hochi Film Award and at the 51st Blue Ribbon Awards. He also received a nomination for best supporting actor at the 32nd Japan Academy Film Prize.^[3]

Personal life

He is married to Japanese actress and J-pop singer Miho Kanno. On August 14, 2015, he announced the birth of his first son.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Mars Sweet Home	Toshi Nakajima	Taku Ohshima
	The Goddess of 1967		Clara Law	Walk-on Part
	2001	Stake Out	Yasuo Arakawa	Tetsuo Shinohara
Being Here	2001	Maeno	Masahiko Nagasawa	Lead Role
2002	Tarou	Satoshi		Lead Role
2003	When the Last Sword Is Drawn	Okita Sōji
2006	Honey and Clover	Shūji Hanamoto	Masahiro Takata
2007	Sukiyaki Western Django	Taira no Shigemori
2007	2008	Climber's High	Tatsuya Sayama
The Two in Tracksuits		The Son	Lead role
2009		The Triumphant Return of General Rouge	Kōichi Hayami	Yoshihiro Nakamura
	Lush Life	Kurosawa
	2010	Golden Slumber	Masaharu Aoyagi	Yoshihiro Nakamura	Lead role
	2010	Abacus and Sword	Inoyama Naoyuki	Lead role
2011	Go! Boys' School Drama Club			Cameo appearance
	The Legacy of the Sun	Major Mashiba	Kiyoshi Sasabe	Lead role
	My So Has Got Depression	Mikio	Kiyoshi Sasabe
2012	Key of Life	Sakurai	Kenji Uchida	Lead role
	The Castle of Crossed Destinies	Emon'nosuke	Fuminori Kaneko	Lead role
	The Samurai That Night	Nakamura	Masaaki Akahori	Lead role
2013	7 Days of Himawari & Her Puppies	Shōji Kanzaki	Emiko Hiramatsu	Lead role
2000	Himawari	Yuichi Hirano		^[4]
2007	The Wall Man	Nishina	Lead role	^[5]
2008	After School	Kazuki Kimura		^[6]
2009	The Chef of South Polar	Nishimura	Lead role	^[7]
2009	The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio	Captain Kuhio	Lead role
2017	Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura	Masakazu Isshiki	Lead role	^[8]
2018	Sakura Guardian in the North	Shūjirō Ezure		^[9]
2022	Dr. Coto's Clinic 2022	Kei Narumi	Cameo appearance	^[10]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Scent of Jealousy		TV Asahi
2001	The Scarlet Camellia		NHK
2002	Extramarital Love		TV Asahi
2005	Engine	Gen'ichiro Torii	Fuji TV
2005	Flying Trapeze	Kohei Yamashita	Fuji TV	TV movie
2006	Izumo no Okuni	Sankuro	NHK
	The Woman Opposite	Shuji Tamura
	Dr. Coto's Clinic	Kei Narumi	Fuji TV	Season 2
2007	The Secret Garden	Kataoka Wataru	Fuji TV
2007	Kodoku no kake
Flower of Ice	Takayuki Seno
Be yourself	Yasushi Enomoto	TBS	Lead role; TV Movie
2009	Triangle	Shimano Takaya
2009	Summer for Bureaucrats	Niwano Takahisa	TBS
2010		Date Kazuyoshi	Lead role
2010	The Assistant Doctor	Yoshiaki Miyamae	Lead role; TV Movie
2011	Tsukahara Bokuden	Tsukahara Bokuden	Lead role
2011	2012		Madenokoji Arikoto	Lead role
2014	Pandora: Eternal life	Gen Suzuki	Lead role; TV Movie
2022	The Man Who Can't Defraud	Tadashi Kinusaki	Lead role; TV Movie
2000	Audrey	Hideki Sugimoto	Asadora	^[11]
2004	Shinsengumi!	Yamanami Keisuke	Taiga drama	^[12]
2008	Atsuhime	Tokugawa Iesada	Taiga drama	^[13]
2011	Antarctica	Himuro Haruhiko		^[14]
2012–2013	Legal High	Kensuke Komikado	Lead role; 2 seasons	^[15]
2013–2020	Naoki Hanzawa	Naoki Hanzawa	Lead role; 2 seasons	^[16]
2015	Dr. Rintaro, Psychiatrist	Dr. Rintarō Hino	Lead role	^[17]
2016	Sanada Maru	Sanada Yukimura	Lead role; Taiga drama	^[18]
2023	Vivant	Yūsuke Nogi	Lead role	^[19]

Dubbing

Live-action

Animation

External links

IMDb - Masato Sakai

Notes and References

Web site: 堺雅人、「もともとは官僚志望だった」. December 20, 2023. Sanspo.
Web site: 第31回ヨコハマ映画祭 2009年日本映画個人賞. 2010-12-12. ja. Yokohama Film Festival. https://web.archive.org/web/20110610063354/http://homepage3.nifty.com/yokohama-eigasai/31-2009/31_2009_shou.html. 2011-06-10. dead.
Web site: 第32回日本アカデミー賞(2009年). June 19, 2024. eiga.com.
Web site: ひまわり(2000). January 20, 2024. eiga.com.
Web site: 壁男. June 17, 2024. eiga.com.
Web site: アフタースクール. June 17, 2024. eiga.com.
Web site: 南極料理人. January 15, 2021. eiga.com.
Web site: DESTINY 鎌倉ものがたり. December 20, 2023. eiga.com.
Web site: 北の桜守. December 8, 2022. eiga.com.
Web site: Dr.コトー診療所:映画版にドラマキャストが復帰神木隆之介、伊藤歩、蒼井優、堺雅人出演. October 14, 2022. Mantan-web.
Web site: 連続テレビ小説オードリー. January 1, 2024. NHK.
Web site: 新選組！の出演者・キャスト一覧. June 17, 2024. The Television.
Web site: 篤姫の出演者・キャスト一覧. June 17, 2024. The Television.
Web site: 南極大陸の出演者・キャスト一覧. June 17, 2024. The Television.
Web site: 『リーガル・ハイ』続編シリーズ、10月クールに放送決定. June 16, 2024. Oricon.
Web site: 半沢直樹:続編・最終回視聴率は32.7% 番組最高で有終の美「グッバーイ、death！」などが話題に. December 20, 2023. Mantan-web.
Web site: Dr.倫太郎. October 19, 2022. TV drama database.
Web site: 堺雅人、『真田丸』1年2ヵ月の"長い旅"から帰宅「本当に楽しかった」. January 15, 2021. Crank-in!.
Web site: 堺雅人、阿部寛、二階堂ふみ、松坂桃李、役所広司が豪華共演 7月期TBS日曜劇場『VIVANT』放送決定. February 27, 2023. Crank-in!.
Web site: プーと大人になった僕 . March 18, 2019 . Fukikaeru.
Web site: 堺雅人＆麻生久美子、イルミネーション新作「FLY!」でカモの夫婦にヒコロヒーは"ワル"のハト役 . December 19, 2023 . eiga.com.