Shoichi Ozawa

I have such a soft spot for Shoichi Ozawa, because he's the rare actor who clearly cared more about craft than fame. Born in 1929 Tokyo, Waseda-trained, he came up in that postwar wave of brainy stage performers and then spent decades being the guy who quietly anchored a scene rather than chewing the scenery. What I love most is how restless his curiosity was beyond acting, the essays, the radio musings, the genuine scholar's obsession with Japan's old wandering folk arts. That Kikuchi Kan Prize and the Shiju Hosho ribbon tell you the establishment respected his brain, not just his face. He felt like a warm, wry, slightly melancholy uncle who'd seen everything. He passed in 2012 at 83, and honestly, that's a life of steady, unglamorous mastery I can only tip my hat to.

Shoichi Ozawa (April 6, 1929 – December 10, 2012) was a Japanese actor born in Tokyo. A graduate of Waseda University, he built a distinguished career spanning film and television and was recognized as one of Japan's most accomplished character performers. He received the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1960, the Purple Ribbon Medal in 1994, the Shincho Literary Prize in 1999, and the Kikuchi Kan Prize in 2007, among other honors. He passed away at the age of 83.

Name (English)

Shoichi Ozawa

Name (Japanese)

小沢昭一

Reading

おざわ しょういち

Born

April 6, 1929 – December 10, 2012

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aries / Snake (巳)

Origin

Tokyo, Japan

Occupation

Actor / Television Actor

University

Waseda University

Awards & achievements

• Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actor (1960)
• Purple Ribbon Medal (1994)
• Shincho Literary Prize (1999)
• Kikuchi Kan Prize (2007)
• Order of the Rising Sun, Fourth Class (year unknown)
• Golden Arrow Award (year unknown)

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B0%8F%E6%B2%A2%E6%98%AD%E4%B8%80

Tags

• From Tokyo
• Actor
• Television Actor

Last updated

2026-06-02

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.