Photo: 警察庁 / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
There is something wonderful about a 181 cm actor from Yugawara, a hot-spring town in Kanagawa, becoming the face of the Japanese two-hour television mystery. Eiichiro Funakoshi is nicknamed the king of suspense, and the image of him facing down a culprit on a clifftop is close to public property here. What impresses me is the sheer volume. That format collapses instantly if the lead is thin, and he held it together, episode after episode, for decades. He studied film at Nihon University alongside Hiroyuki Sanada, which I find quietly poetic: one classmate went to Hollywood, the other spent a career guarding Japanese evening television. Neither is the better outcome. Somebody had to be standing in that timeslot, and he was.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Eiichirō Funakoshi
- Name (Japanese)
- 船越英一郎
- Born
- July 21, 1960 (age 66)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rat
- Origin
- Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
- Height
- 181 cm
- Occupation
- actor / tarento
2. Background
- University
- Nihon University
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Official sitehttp://funakoshieiichiro.hp2.jp/
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%88%B9%E8%B6%8A%E8%8B%B1%E4%B8%80%E9%83%8E
Frequently asked questions
When was Eiichirō Funakoshi born?
Born July 21, 1960 (age 66).
Where is Eiichirō Funakoshi from?
Eiichirō Funakoshi is from Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
What does Eiichirō Funakoshi do?
Eiichirō Funakoshi works as actor, tarento.
How tall is Eiichirō Funakoshi?
Eiichirō Funakoshi is 181 cm.
Actor — see all → · Tarento — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-07-26
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.