Tetsuya Watari

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title: "Tetsuya Watari" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1941-births", "2020-deaths", "japanese-male-film-actors", "japanese-male-stage-actors", "japanese-male-television-actors", "japanese-male-video-game-actors", "japanese-male-voice-actors", "actors-from-shimane-prefecture", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-japan", "male-voice-actors-from-shimane-prefecture", "taiga-drama-lead-actors", "recipients-of-the-medal-with-purple-ribbon", "recipients-of-the-order-of-the-rising-sun,-4th-class"] description: "Japanese actor (1941–2020)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Watari" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Japanese actor (1941–2020) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Tetsuya Watari
native_name	渡 哲也
image	Tetsuya Watari.jpg
imagesize	200px
caption	Watari in 1965
birth_name	Michihiko Watase
birth_date
birth_place	Awaji, Hyōgo, Japan
death_date
death_place	Tokyo, Japan
yearsactive	1964–2020
occupation	Actor
relatives	Tsunehiko Watase (brother)
::

| name = Tetsuya Watari | native_name = 渡 哲也 | image = Tetsuya Watari.jpg | imagesize = 200px | caption = Watari in 1965 | birth_name = Michihiko Watase | birth_date = | birth_place = Awaji, Hyōgo, Japan | death_date = | death_place = Tokyo, Japan | yearsactive = 1964–2020 | occupation = Actor | spouse = | children = | relatives = Tsunehiko Watase (brother)

Tetsuya Watari born Michihiko Watase (December 28, 1941 – August 10, 2020) was a Japanese film, stage, and television actor.

Life

He graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Watari belonged to the karate club at university. He made his screen debut in 1964, in Isamu Kosugi's Abare Kishidō, and received one of the Elan d'or Awards. At Nikkatsu, Watari starred in such films as Seijun Suzuki's Tokyo Drifter and Toshio Masuda's Outlaw series.

Watari was mentored at Nikkatsu by Yujiro Ishihara. When Nikkatsu shifted to focusing on Roman Porno films in the early seventies, Watari was one of many actors who left the studio.

Watari was due to play the main role in Kinji Fukasaku’s film Battles Without Honor and Humanity, but because of illness he was not able to appear.渡哲也インタビュー 高平哲郎」『渡哲也 さすらいの詩』芳賀書店〈シネアルバム(67)〉、1978 P.153-168 In 1974, he was forced to step down from the lead role of Katsu Kaishū in the Taiga drama Katsu Kaishū on NHK, again because of illness, after appearing in only nine episodes. In 1976, Watari won best actor of Blue Ribbon Award for his role in Kinji Fukasaku`s film Yakuza Graveyard.

In Japan, Watari is probably still best known for his role as Keisuke Daiomon in the detective series "Seibu Keisatsu" on TV Asahi. He also appeared in the popular detective drama "Taiyō ni Hoero!" as a replacement for Yujiro Ishihara in 1986.

Watari became the president of after Yujiro's death in 1987 but in 2011 he resigned due to his declining health.

On June 10, 2015 he was hospitalised after suffering a heart attack and underwent surgery. Seven days later it was announced that he was in rehabilitation and would be discharged from hospital in about a month.

He had a younger brother, Tsunehiko Watase, who was also an actor. As a singer, Watari is known for his hit song "Kuchinashi no Hana" and he appeared in the Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 1974 and 1993.

He died of pneumonia on August 10, 2020, at the age of 78.

Selected filmography

Films

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Other notes	Ref.
1965	Abare Kishidō	Tetsuya	Lead role
Nakaseruze
1966	Tokyo Drifter	Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo	Lead role
Tokyo Drifter 2: The Sea is Bright Red as the Color of Love	Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo	Lead role
The Hearth of Hiroshima		Lead role
1967	Kurenai no Nagareboshi		Lead role
1968	Outlaw: Gangster VIP	Gorō Fujikawa	Lead role
Moeru Tairiku	Keiichi Isomura	Lead role
Higashi Shinakai	Naoyuki
1969	The Wild Sea	Yōji Kitami	Lead role
Daikanbu Nagurikomi	Tetsu	Lead role
Savage Wolf Pack	Asai Tetsuya	Lead role
1970	Shinjuku outlaw: Step On the Gas	Yuji Nishigami (Shinigami)		Lead role
Fuji sanchō
	1971	Kantō Exile		Lead role
1973	Gokiburi Keiji	Detective Narugami	Lead role
Za Gokiburi	Detective Narugami	Lead role
Ningen Kakumei	Kumichō Shimatani
	1975	Graveyard of Honor	Rikio Ishikawa	Lead role
1976	Yakuza Graveyard	Detective Kuroiwa	Lead role
1986	Tokei – Adieu l'hiver		Special appearance
1993	Kinchan no Cinema Jack "Minato"
1996	Waga Kokoro no Ginga Tetsudō Miyazawa Kenji Monogatari	Seijirō
1997	Yūkai	Inspector Tsunami	Lead role
1998	Diary of Early Winter Shower		Lead role
2000	Nagasaki Burabura bushi	Gakusha (Koga, Jûjirô)	Lead role
2001	Brother	Jinseikai Kumichō
2002	Shura no Mure	Old Hiroyuki Inahara		script-title = ja:修羅の群れ〈2001年〉
2004	Lady Joker	Seizo Monoi	Lead role
2005	Yamato	Vice-Admiral Seiichi Itō
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Other notes	Ref.
1971	Daichūshingura	Horibe Yasubei
1974	Katsu Kaishū	Katsu Kaishū	Lead role, Taiga drama
1976–1979	Daitokai Series	Raisuke Kuroiwa	Lead role
1978	Haguregumo	Kumo	Lead role
1979–1984	Seibu Keisatsu	Keisuke Daimon	Lead role
1986	Taiyō ni Hoero!	Hyōgo Tachibana
1996	Hideyoshi	Oda Nobunaga	Taiga drama
1998	Shinsengumi Keppūroku	Isami Kondō	Lead role
2004	Seibu Keisatsu Special	Keisuke Daimon
2005	Yoshitsune	Taira no Kiyomori	Taiga drama
2009–2011	Clouds Over the Hill	Tōgō Heihachirō
2013	No Dropping Out: Back to School at 35	Yukinobu Asada
::

Video games

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Other notes	Ref.
2005	Ryū ga Gotoku	Shintaro Kazama
2006	Ryū ga Gotoku 2	Shintaro Kazama
2009	Ryū ga Gotoku 3	Jōji Kazama	Known as "Joji Fuma" in Western PS3 release
2015	Ryū ga Gotoku 0: Chikai no Basho	Shintaro Kazama
2016	Ryū ga Gotoku: Kiwami	Shintaro Kazama
2017	Ryū ga Gotoku: Kiwami 2	Shintaro Kazama
::

Honours

• Medal with Purple Ribbon (2005)
• Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2013)

References

References

1. (2020-08-14). "俳優 渡哲也さんが死去 78歳 肺炎のため". NHKニュース.
2. (2020-08-14). "俳優の渡哲也さんが死去 肺炎、78歳、家族葬…故人の遺志によりお別れ会なし". デイリースポーツ.
3. (15 August 2020). "【評伝】みんな憧れた「団長」大門刑事、昭和の美学貫いた人生". Sanspo.
4. "Tetsuya Watari biography". [[Kinema Junpo]].
5. "Tetsuya Watari official profile". Ishihara Promotion.
6. Mes, Tom, ''Graveyard of Honor'' DVD booklet, 2004, Home Vision Entertainment. Retrieved 2014-08-29
7. 杉作J太郎、植地毅「日下部五朗インタビュー　インタビュアー・高平哲郎」『仁義なき戦い 浪漫アルバム』徳間書店、1998 p.128-134 {{ISBN. 978-4198608460
8. "74年勝海舟は渡哲也から松方弘樹／大河ドラマ代役". Nikkan sports.
9. "太陽にほえろ! 1986". Amazon.
10. "Ishihara Promotion company profile". Ishihara Promotion.
11. "Office Kitano: Brother". Office Kitano.
12. "【1974年２月】くちなしの花／渡哲也 本人不在も大ヒット 紅白に出場したワケ". スポニチ.
13. (14 August 2020). "渡哲也さん、10日に肺炎で死去していた".
14. "東京流れ者".
15. "無頼より 大幹部".
16. PIA Corporation. link
17. "レディ・ジョーカー".
18. "男たちの大和 YAMATO".
19. "勝海舟".
20. "秀吉".
21. "義経".
22. "坂の上の雲".
23. "35歳の高校生の出演者・キャスト一覧".

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