Kōji Tsuruta

I'll be honest, the first thing that pops into my head with Kōji Tsuruta is that famous pose, one hand cupped to his ear, crooning something aching and bittersweet, and somehow that single image tells you everything about him. He was one of those postwar giants who could anchor a whole film just by standing there, all quiet gravity and shadowed cool, and when he stepped into a ninkyo yakuza role the air on screen just tightened up. He didn't smile cheaply, which is exactly why it landed so hard when he did. To me he's the blueprint for a certain Showa-era masculinity, the guy who says more with his back turned than most can with a monologue.

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.

Kōji Tsuruta (December 6, 1924 – June 16, 1987) was a Japanese singer and film actor born in Hyogo Prefecture. He attended Kansai University and rose to prominence as one of the leading stars of postwar Japanese cinema, particularly in yakuza and chivalry films. He was recognized with a Golden Arrow Award during his career. He remained active until his death in 1987.

Name (English)

Kōji Tsuruta

Name (Japanese)

鶴田浩二

Reading

つるた こうじ

Born

December 6, 1924 – June 16, 1987

Origin

Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Height

172 cm

Occupation

Singer / Actor / Film Actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Rat

Active years

1948 - 1987

University

Kansai University

Awards & achievements

• Golden Arrow Award (year unknown)

Works summary

Appearances

347 (1950–1987)

By year (titles with a known year)

1950: 12, 1951: 13, 1952: 10, 1953: 9, 1954: 11, 1955: 11, 1956: 10, 1957: 9, 1958: 11, 1959: 10, 1960: 10, 1961: 11, 1962: 12, 1963: 10, 1964: 8, 1965: 15, 1966: 13, 1967: 16, 1968: 16, 1969: 9, 1970: 12, 1971: 13, 1972: 10, 1973: 2, 1974: 1, 1975: 1, 1976: 1, 1977: 7, 1978: 6, 1979: 4, 1980: 4, 1981: 6, 1982: 2, 1983: 3, 1984: 3, 1985: 2, 1986: 1, 1987: 1, year unknown: 42

Debut work

続影法師 龍虎相搏つ

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%B6%B4%E7%94%B0%E6%B5%A9%E4%BA%8C
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1092063

Tags

• From Hyogo Prefecture
• Singer
• Actor
• Film Actor

Last updated

November 2, 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.