Taiji Tonoyama
# 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. He was a close friend of Kaneto Shindo and one of his regular cast members. He was also an essayist. In 1950 he helped form the film company Kindai Eiga Kyokai with Shindo and Kōzaburō Yoshimura.

He served in the Japanese military in China in the Second Sino-Japanese War and considered himself to have narrowly escaped from death. He was married but also had a mistress and maintained relationships with both women until the end of his life. He was a keen reader of detective stories and a fan of jazz music. 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, meaning "The death of a third-rate actor", which he also filmed as By Player.

## 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 | |
| 1962 | Ningen | Kamegoro |
| 1963 | Kanto Wanderer | |
| 1963 | The Insect Woman | |
| 1964 | Onibaba | Ushi |
| 1965 | An Innocent Witch | Yamasan |
| Akuto | |
| 1965 | Kuroneko | Farmer |
| Profound Desires of the Gods | |
| 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 | |
| 1981 | Edo Porn | Woodcarver |
| 1981 | Muddy River | |
| 1983 | The Ballad of Narayama | |
| 1985 | Seburi monogatari | |
| 1986 | Tree Without Leaves | Sakuzo |
| 1986 | 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 |
