Joe Odagiri

Acting

Joe Odagiri

Born 1976-02-16 · Okayama, Japan

Jō Odagiri (小田切 譲 Odagiri Jō, born February 16, 1976), better known by his stage name Joe Odagiri (オダギリ ジョー Odagiri Jō), is a Japanese actor and musician. South China Morning Post described him as "a rebel, something made evident by his grungy, gothic style" Odagiri Joe was born in Tsuyama, Okayama prefecture, a small town in central Japan renowned for its beautiful cherry blossoms in the spring. Though he was accepted by Kochi University, he turned it down for an opportunity to study in the United States. He had originally intended to study movie directing at California State University in Fresno, but mistakes in the application process landed him in acting classes. It may have been a blessing in disguise, for two years after studying in Fresno and later starring in a few stage performances in Japan, Odagiri would find himself catapulted to fame in his role in the Kamen Rider series, playing the central character of Kamen Rider Kuuga, Yusuke Godai. He became the predecessor of the "Ikemen Hero" craze (literally, "good-looking actors playing hero roles in popular TV series"). Since then, Odagiri has appeared in many movies and dramas. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 2003 Japan Academy Awards for his role as the uniquely bisexual nemesis in the film "Azumi", and in the following year, was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Award for his electrifying performance in internationally acclaimed director Kitano Takeshi's 2004 film, "Blood and Bones". Odagiri's creative acting skills and strong presence in films have secured him a place in stardom. He is slated to appear in numerous more films in 2005, including "Maison de Himiko", where he portrays a homosexual man in a relationship with the protagonist (played by Shibasaki Kou's father).

Acting credits

My Way poster
7.9

During the invasion of Normandy the photograph of a slim Korean man in German uniform was found. It transpired that the man had served as a soldier in the Japanese, Russian and German armies. His incredible story inspired director Kang Je-Gyu to create this epic war drama.

My Way

2011

On Summer Sand poster
8.1

In parched Nagasaki, grieving Koura drifts after losing his son. When his sister leaves her daughter in his care, an unexpected life together begins.

On Summer Sand

2025

I Wish poster
7.3

Twelve-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, hears a rumor that the new bullet trains will precipitate a wish-granting miracle when they pass each other at top speed.

I Wish

2011

Blood and Bones poster
6.6

In 1923, teenager Kim Shun-Pei moves from Cheju Island, in South Korea, to Osaka, in Japan. Along the years, he becomes a cruel, greedy and violent man and builds a factory of kamaboko, processed seafood products, in his poor Korean-Japanese community exploiting his employees.

Blood and Bones

2004

The World of Kanako poster
6.4

When Kanako, a model daughter and a brilliant student, disappears, her mother asks her ex-husband, a violent former policeman, to find her. As his investigation progresses, his idealized image of Kanako cracks: the girl hides a dark life that her father can not even imagine.

The World of Kanako

2014

The Samurai and the Prisoner poster
7.9

When Lord Murashige rises up against the tyrannical Oda, he finds himself besieged within the walls of his own castle. Isolated, he is confronted with a series of mysterious crimes that shatter the fragile order of his court, plunging the fortress into fear and suspicion. With Oda's army closing in and a traitor hiding among his ranks, Murashige is forced into an uneasy alliance with Kanbei, a brilliant and dangerous strategist held prisoner in the dungeon, as he must outwit his enemies and uncover the truth before time runs out.

The Samurai and the Prisoner

2026

We Made a Beautiful Bouquet poster
7.7

Two people meet each other after missing the last train home, leading to a beautiful relationship over five years.

We Made a Beautiful Bouquet

2021

Azumi poster
6.9

In war-torn Japan, the Tokugawa Shogun, desperate to restore peace to his people, orders the assassination of the hostile warlords. A beautiful young woman is raised from birth with nine other orphans, to become an assassin. Her name is Azumi, the ultimate assassin.

Azumi

2003

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade poster
6.6

Even though Gennosuke and Oboro are from rival ninja villages, they are secretly in love. At an annual conference with the Lord, it is dictated that a competition--a fight to the death--will take place between the five best shinobi from each village. Gennosuke and Oboro's love is made even more impossible when they each got picked as the leader of the five to represent their respective villages.

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

2005

Jubaku: Spellbound poster
6.2

When a major bank is caught paying off a corporate extortionist, the media and prosecutors begin to dig, breaking open a money-and-favours scandal that threatens to rock the entire structure of business and government to its core. While the bank's top executives continue to vacillate, a quartet of middle-management reformers, led by straight-arrow Kitano (Koji Yakusho), decide to stage a boardroom coup and install a new, clean management team. With the aid of a hotshot news anchor (Mayumi Wakamura) and a hard-nosed prosecutor (Kenichi Endo), heads begin to roll.

Jubaku: Spellbound

1999

Modest Heroes poster
6.6

Two tiny, aquatic humanoids search for their missing father, a boy battles a lethal allergy to eggs, and an invisible salaryman tries to become a hero.

Modest Heroes

2018

Mr. Go poster
6.6

A 15-year-old circus ringmaster Wei-wei is left all alone with gorilla Ling-ling after grandfather passes away. Thanks to her grandfather's love for baseball, Ling-ling was trained to play baseball and has developed remarkable hitting skills.

Mr. Go

2013

Suite Dreams poster
6.2

New Year's Eve at a posh hotel and all should be shipshape. It is not. There is the traditional party, an official ceremony, entertainment and a special dinner planned and yet there is trouble everywhere. An Animal is on the loose, a politician to protect, a prostitute to handle, a bellhop to focus and a few things more.

Suite Dreams

2006

Her Love Boils Bathwater poster
7.4

After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Futaba resolves to spend her remaining time reuniting her broken family, reopening the long-closed bathhouse, and helping her shy daughter Azumi learn to stand on her own.

Her Love Boils Bathwater

2016

Human, Space, Time and Human poster
5.5

A group of very different people set sail on an old warship. The passengers include a senator with his son, a newly-wed couple, a mysterious old man, a group of sex workers and a gang of violent criminals. At first the aggressive behaviour of the thugs and their leader is directed at the first class passengers, but then more and more indiscriminately against the rest of those on board. Rape is followed by murder and it’s not long before the first of numerous and increasingly brutal mutinies takes place.

Human, Space, Time and Human

2018

The Solitary Gourmet poster
7.3

Upon receiving a message from an old friend’s daughter, Goro arrives in Paris and learns of the elderly man’s wish to taste a particular soup he had in his childhood before he dies. Deciding to help, Goro sets out on a quest to find this mysterious soup, traveling through Japan, braving a storm, and even ending up in South Korea.

The Solitary Gourmet

2025

Air Doll poster
6.9

A life-size, inflatable sex doll suddenly comes to life one day. Without her owner knowing, she goes for a walk around town and falls in love with Junichi. She starts to date Junichi and gets a job at the same store where he works. Everything seems to be going perfectly for her until something unexpected happens.

Air Doll

2009

The Great Passage poster
7.2

Majime, an eccentric man in publishing company, who has unique ability of words, joins the team that will compile a new dictionary, The Great Passage. In the eclectic team, he becomes immersed in the world of dictionaries. But the team is overwhelmed with problems.

The Great Passage

2013

Bring Him Down to a Portable Size poster
6.8

Four hectic days unfold as a family reunites after the death of the world’s most troublesome big brother.

Bring Him Down to a Portable Size

2025

Midnight Diner 2 poster
7.5

The Master's late-night diner welcomes a woman troubled by funeral fans, an elderly scam victim, and a noodle delivery man struggling with love.

Midnight Diner 2

2016

Bright Future poster
6.9

Buddies working at an oshibori factory bond over an uncontrollable rage neither can control, as well as a strange jellyfish they keep as a pet.

Bright Future

2003

Saturday Fiction poster
6.8

It’s 1941, and China has become a wartime intelligence battlefield. Actor Jean Yu returns to Shanghai, ostensibly to appear in the play “Saturday Fiction,” directed by her former lover. But what is her true aim? To free her ex-husband? To gather intelligence for the Allied forces? To work for her adoptive father? Or to escape from war with her lover? As she embarks on her mission, with friends ever more difficult to distinguish from undercover agents, Jean Yu starts to question whether to reveal what she has learned about the imminent Pearl Harbor attack.

Saturday Fiction

2021

Midnight Diner poster
7.7

A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.

Midnight Diner

2014

Foujita poster
5.2

A biopic of seminal 20th century artist Leonard Foujita, a contemporary of Picasso and Modigliani, who was famous for mixing up European and Japanese styles.

Foujita

2015

Behind the camera

Gosh!! poster
4.0

Life seems pretty normal at the Forensics Division. Ippei's canine partner, Oliver, appears to him as a womanizing middle-aged drunk in a dog suit, but that's nothing new. However, when "Super Volunteer" Konishi vanishes, the investigation pulls them into a bizarre mystery. Joined by Supervisor Hagoromo, Ippei and Yukina follow Konishi's trail, Urushibara uncovers a family secret, and former handler Mizoguchi stumbles upon a takoyaki-infested town and a tiny fairy man. All while mysterious red doors keep appearing… Something is obviously deeply wrong. Can the team find Konishi and save him from unseen forces before chaos consumes them all?

Gosh!!

2025

Gosh!! poster
4.0

Life seems pretty normal at the Forensics Division. Ippei's canine partner, Oliver, appears to him as a womanizing middle-aged drunk in a dog suit, but that's nothing new. However, when "Super Volunteer" Konishi vanishes, the investigation pulls them into a bizarre mystery. Joined by Supervisor Hagoromo, Ippei and Yukina follow Konishi's trail, Urushibara uncovers a family secret, and former handler Mizoguchi stumbles upon a takoyaki-infested town and a tiny fairy man. All while mysterious red doors keep appearing… Something is obviously deeply wrong. Can the team find Konishi and save him from unseen forces before chaos consumes them all?

Gosh!!

2025

They Say Nothing Stays the Same poster
6.8

Toichi is a boatman who ferries the villagers to a town on the other side of the river. Besides rowing a boat for the villagers all day long, he barely communicates with anyone except Genzo, a young neighbour. Upstream, a large bridge is being constructed. Everyone is excited, but Toichi has mixed feelings about it. One day, Toichi meets a mysterious girl. Having no family and no place to go, Toichi lets her stay with him, but this encounter starts to bring about changes to Toichi's life.

They Say Nothing Stays the Same

2019

They Say Nothing Stays the Same poster
6.8

Toichi is a boatman who ferries the villagers to a town on the other side of the river. Besides rowing a boat for the villagers all day long, he barely communicates with anyone except Genzo, a young neighbour. Upstream, a large bridge is being constructed. Everyone is excited, but Toichi has mixed feelings about it. One day, Toichi meets a mysterious girl. Having no family and no place to go, Toichi lets her stay with him, but this encounter starts to bring about changes to Toichi's life.

They Say Nothing Stays the Same

2019

Looking for Cherry Blossoms poster
3.7

Three strangers gather in search of an elusive cherry blossom. The tree hardly matters after a while, though, as they stumble into one funny and revealing episode after another.

Looking for Cherry Blossoms

2009