Ushio Akashi

Born in 1898 in a small town in Tottori Prefecture at the tail end of the Meiji era, Ushio Akashi is one of those figures who makes you step back and appreciate just how deep the roots of Japanese cinema and theater actually go. A Waseda University graduate at a time when that meant something truly rare, he clearly had the intellectual ambition to match the audacity of leaving rural Tottori for the stage. He lived through 88 years that took Japan from the Meiji era all the way through postwar reconstruction — the entire arc of modern Japanese entertainment, basically — and the fact that so little documented detail survived about his actual work says more about the era than about the man. Performers from the early Showa period often left their mark in live performances and early films that simply didn't get preserved. I like to imagine him as someone quietly serious about the craft, the kind of actor who just kept showing up, doing the work, and letting the work speak.

Ushio Akashi (1898–1986) was a Japanese actor born in Shikano, Tottori Prefecture. He studied at Waseda University, placing him among the educated performers of the Meiji and Taisho eras. Active during the formative decades of Japanese cinema and theater, he lived to the age of 88. Detailed records of his specific works and career timeline are not publicly documented in current sources.

Name (English)

Ushio Akashi

Name (Japanese)

明石潮

Reading

あかし うしお

Born

September 11, 1898 – November 26, 1986

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Dog

Origin

Shikano, Tottori Prefecture, Japan

Occupation

Actor

University

Waseda University

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%98%8E%E7%9F%B3%E6%BD%AE
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11512534

Tags

• Tottori Prefecture
• 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.