Akira Takarada

I have a real soft spot for Akira Takarada, because he was basically the dashing human face of the original 1954 Godzilla, back when that movie was a raw, smoke-and-rubble parable and not yet a franchise of guys in suits. Picture a leading man with matinee-idol looks and a warm, easy voice, holding the screen in black and white while a monster stomps Tokyo behind him. What gets me is how he kept going, decades of film, then stage, then musicals, still showing up and talking to younger generations right into his late years. He passed in 2022, but to me he stays frozen as that upright, gentle Showa-era heartthrob, the kind of actor who made you trust the camera. Genuinely a class act, and the sort of career you wish more people remembered.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Akira Takarada (1934–2022) was a Japanese actor who rose to prominence in the 1950s as a tall, classically handsome leading man in postwar Japanese cinema, most notably appearing in Toho's original Godzilla franchise. Born in Chongjin, Hamgyong Province (present-day North Korea) on April 29, 1934, he was educated at Tokyo Metropolitan Toshima High School and went on to a career spanning decades across film, stage, musical theater, and voice acting. He remained active on stage well into his later years, earning the Golden Arrow Award among his industry honors, and passed away on March 14, 2022.

Name (English)

Akira Takarada

Name (Japanese)

宝田明

Reading

たからだ あきら

Born

April 29, 1934 – March 14, 2022

Origin

Chongjin, Hamgyong Province (present-day North Korea)

Height

182 cm

Occupation

Actor / Voice Actor / Talent / Teacher / Musical Actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Dog

Blood type

O

Active years

1953 - 2022

High school

Tokyo Metropolitan Toshima High School

Awards & achievements

• Golden Arrow Award (year unknown)

Spouse

Akiko Kojima

Works summary

Appearances

241 (1954–2022)

By year (titles with a known year)

1954: 3, 1955: 8, 1956: 13, 1957: 14, 1958: 9, 1959: 9, 1960: 11, 1961: 8, 1962: 11, 1963: 5, 1964: 3, 1965: 5, 1966: 8, 1967: 2, 1968: 5, 1969: 2, 1971: 2, 1976: 1, 1977: 1, 1979: 2, 1981: 1, 1982: 1, 1983: 3, 1984: 2, 1985: 1, 1989: 1, 1990: 1, 1991: 1, 1992: 3, 1993: 2, 1994: 3, 1995: 3, 1996: 4, 1997: 3, 1998: 2, 1999: 1, 2000: 3, 2001: 3, 2002: 7, 2003: 2, 2004: 4, 2005: 2, 2007: 3, 2008: 1, 2009: 1, 2010: 3, 2011: 1, 2012: 2, 2013: 2, 2014: 4, 2015: 2, 2016: 1, 2018: 2, 2019: 3, 2020: 1, 2022: 2, year unknown: 38

Debut work

かくて自由の鐘は鳴る

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AE%9D%E7%94%B0%E6%98%8E
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q636593

Tags

• Born in Hamgyong Province
• Actor
• Voice Actor
• Talent

Last updated

October 18, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.