China mourns death of Japanese actor Takakura
Takakura, best known in the West for his role as a tough detective in Ridley Scott’s "Black Rain", came to prominence in China when Japanese movies were allowed into the country in the late 1970s
China on Wednesday mourned the death of Japanese film star Ken Takakura, in a rare expression of cultural affinity between the Asian rivals.
Takakura, best known in the West for his role as a tough detective in Ridley Scott’s “Black Rain”, came to prominence in China when Japanese movies were allowed into the country in the late 1970s.
He died last week of lymphoma at the age of 83, reports said Tuesday, after a decades-long acting career dotted with starring roles, often as a mobster or a police officer or other strong, silent types enduring hardship in the pursuit of justice.
“Ken Takakura is a witness to the history of friendship between the Chinese and Japanese people,” one user wrote Wednesday on Sina Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter.
Others hailed him as “Japan’s last tough guy” and “a Japanese national treasure who loves China”.
China’s official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday described Takakura as an actor who “helped redefine the image Chinese males hoped to obtain for an entire generation”.
“His iconic cool exuded on screen captured numerous hearts in China,” Xinhua wrote, noting that Takakura’s 1976 hit “Manhunt” was among the first Japanese films to be screened in China after the Cultural Revolution.
