Toshiaki Karasawa

Okay, Toshiaki Karasawa just quietly impresses me every single time. Here's a guy who started out as a suit actor doing stunts and martial arts, and somehow that same person turns around and plays Goro Zaizen in Shiroi Kyoto, this ice-cold, scheming surgeon, with a face so calm it's almost scary. Then in the very next breath he's the warm, goofy dad voice of Woody in the Japanese Toy Story dub. The range is honestly ridiculous, and I love that he never seems to be showing off about it. He's been married to Tomoko Yamaguchi for decades and they've stayed solid, which in showbiz feels borderline miraculous. And the man hates sweets but loves natto and gyoza, which is just endearingly down-to-earth. Total respect from me.

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.

Toshiaki Karasawa (born June 3, 1963, in Taito, Tokyo) is a Japanese actor and voice actor who began his career as a suit performer at Toei Action Club before debuting on stage in 1987. He rose to national prominence with the 1992 Fuji TV drama "Ai to iu Na no Moto ni" and cemented his status as a leading man with his portrayal of the driven surgeon Zaizen Goro in the 2003 drama "Shiroi Kyoto." Beyond live-action work, he is widely recognized as the Japanese dubbing voice of Woody in the Toy Story film series. He has been married to actress Tomoko Yamaguchi since 1995.

Name (English)

Toshiaki Karasawa

Name (Japanese)

唐沢寿明

Reading

からさわ としあき

Real name

唐沢潔

Born

June 3, 1963 (age 63)

Origin

Taito, Tokyo, Japan

Height

175 cm

Occupation

Actor / Voice Actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Rabbit

Blood type

A

Agency

TEAM KARASAWA

Agency history

Sanseisha (c. 1987–)
Toei Action Club (training period)

Active years

1987 – present

High school

Tokyo Metropolitan Kuramae Industrial High School (withdrew after 2nd year)

University

Did not attend

Debut

1987 — stage debut at Hakuhinkan Theater in "Boys Review: Stay Gold"

Awards & achievements

• 1992 — 15th Japan Academy Prize, New Actor Award (Oishii Kekkon / Hello Harinezumi)
• 1998 — 21st Japan Academy Prize, Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Radio no Jikan)
• 2008 — Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists, Theater Division (FY2007)
• 2016 — 90th Television Drama Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor (Toto Nee-chan)

Timeline

1. 1979Joined Toei Action Club; began appearing as a suit performer in tokusatsu productions
2. 1987Stage debut at Hakuhinkan Theater; signed with Sanseisha and made acting debut
3. 1988Appeared in NHK morning drama Junko no Oengka; met actress Tomoko Yamaguchi on set
4. 1992Broke through with Fuji TV drama Ai to iu Na no Moto ni; won Japan Academy Prize for New Actor
5. 1995Married actress Tomoko Yamaguchi
6. 1997Starred in the film Radio no Jikan (Outstanding Leading Actor at the Japan Academy Prize the following year)
7. 2003Starred in Fuji TV drama Shiroi Kyoto; production achieved record-high ratings
8. 2008Won Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Encouragement Prize for New Artists (Theater Division)
9. 2009Starred in Fuji TV drama Fumou Chitai
10. 2014Starred in TBS drama Roosevelt Game

Spouse

Tomoko Yamaguchi (married 1995)

Siblings

Second of three brothers (older brother, younger brother)

Hobbies

• Watching films
• Watching television
• Automobiles (owns Honda NSX and others)

Specialties

• Shorinji Kempo
• Stunt action

Works summary

Appearances

279 (1980–2026)

By year (titles with a known year)

1980: 4, 1981: 4, 1982: 3, 1984: 3, 1985: 1, 1986: 2, 1987: 3, 1988: 3, 1989: 4, 1990: 9, 1991: 11, 1992: 9, 1993: 11, 1994: 7, 1995: 8, 1996: 11, 1997: 10, 1998: 2, 1999: 6, 2000: 5, 2001: 8, 2002: 7, 2003: 6, 2004: 10, 2005: 5, 2006: 9, 2007: 4, 2008: 4, 2009: 4, 2010: 5, 2011: 4, 2012: 5, 2013: 6, 2014: 9, 2015: 4, 2016: 6, 2017: 4, 2018: 7, 2019: 6, 2020: 8, 2021: 2, 2022: 1, 2023: 3, 2024: 4, 2025: 4, 2026: 3, year unknown: 25

Debut work

処刑儀式

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://spn.ken-on.com/profile/?id=karasawa_toshiaki
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%94%90%E6%B2%A2%E5%AF%BF%E6%98%8E
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1078523

Tags

• Actor
• Taito Tokyo
• Ken-On
• Shiroi Kyoto
• Toy Story dubbing
• Ai to iu Na no Moto ni
• Husband of Tomoko Yamaguchi

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.