Taiji Tonoyama

Taiji Tonoyama (殿山 泰司, Tonoyama Taiji; October 17, 1915 – April 30, 1989) was a Japanese character actor who made many appearances in films and on television from 1939 to 1989.^[1] He was a close friend of Kaneto Shindo and one of his regular cast members.^[2] He was also an essayist. In 1950 he helped form the film company Kindai Eiga Kyokai with Shindo and Kōzaburō Yoshimura.

Taiji Tonoyama
殿山 泰司
Born	(1915-10-17)October 17, 1915 Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Died	April 30, 1989(1989-04-30) (aged 73)
Occupation	Actor

He served in the Japanese military in China in the Second Sino-Japanese War and considered himself to have narrowly escaped from death.^[2] He was married but also had a mistress and maintained relationships with both women until the end of his life.^[2] He was a keen reader of detective stories and a fan of jazz music.^[2] He wrote a series of semi-autobiographical essays under the title Sanmon Yakusha (三文役者), meaning "third rate actor". Kaneto Shindo wrote a biography of Tonoyama called Sanmon yakusha no shi,^{[n 1]} meaning "The death of a third-rate actor", which he also filmed as By Player.^[2][3]

Filmography (selected)

Date	Title	Role
1947	Record of a Tenement Gentleman
1948	President and female clerk	Butler Kurokawa
1951	The Tale of Genji
1952	Dedication of the Great Buddha
1952	Avalanche
1952	Children of Hiroshima
1953	Epitome
1953	Life of a Woman
1953	Jazz musume tanjō
1955	Wolf
1956	Shirogane Shinjū
1956	An Actress
1956	Fearful Attack of the Flying Saucers	Dr. Otsuki
1957	Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate
1958	Night Drum
1959	My Second Brother
1959	Good Morning	Door-to-door salesman
1959	Lucky Dragon No. 5	Mayor of Yaizu
1960	The Naked Island	Husband
1962	Foundry Town
	Ningen	Kamegoro
1963	Kanto Wanderer
	The Insect Woman
1964	Onibaba	Ushi
1965	An Innocent Witch	Yamasan
Akuto
1965	Kuroneko	Farmer
Profound Desires of the Gods[4]
1971	A Soul to Devils
1972	The Rendezvous
1973	The Heart
1974	The Homeless
1976	In the Realm of the Senses	Old beggar
1976	Torakku Yarō: Tenka Gomen
1977	The Life of Chikuzan
1977	Ballad of Orin	Charcoal Man
1978	Ogin-sama	Ankokuji Ekei
1978	Empire of Passion
1979	Vengeance Is Mine	Tanejiro Shibata
1979	Tantei Monogatari (episode 6)	Boss of Kyoei Shoji
1981	Eijanaika
	Edo Porn	Woodcarver
	Muddy River
1983	The Ballad of Narayama
1985	Seburi monogatari
1986	Tree Without Leaves	Sakuzo
	Comic Magazine
1987	Zegen
1989	Black Rain

Books

Date	Romanized title	Original title	Notes	ISBN
1969	Nihon onna chizu: shizen wa nikutai ni donna eikyo o ataeru ka	日本女地図: 自然は、肉体にどんな影響を与えるのか	A comparison of women's bodies, particularly their vaginas, in different parts of Japan.	ISBN 978-4-04-154201-9
1980	Sanmon yakusha anaki den parts one to three	三文役者あなあきい伝PART1~PART3		ISBN 978-4-480-02937-9

Notes

1. 三文役者の死