Tomorowo Taguchi

Acting

Tomorowo Taguchi

Born 1957-11-30 · Musashino, Tokyo, Japan

Tomorowo Taguchi (born November 30, 1957) is a Japanese actor. After leaving Dokkyo University without graduating, he started to earn his living as an illustrator, writer and pornographic cartoonist. He joined a theatre called Hakken no Kai in 1978 and he made a screen debut in Zokubutsu Zukan (based on the book by Yasutaka Tsutsui) in 1982. He was also a prominent cult musician in the Tokyo underground scene with his band Bachikaburi in the 1980s and early 1990s. He is probably most well known to the West as the lead actor in Tetsuo and Tetsuo II directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. He also makes regular appearances in Takashi Miike's films. He became known to the Japanese public as a narrator for the TV documentary series Project X - Challengers which aired between 2000 and 2005 by NHK. Taguchi directed Iden & Tity in 2003 and his second film, Shikisoku Generation, is scheduled for release in 2009.

Acting credits

Love Letter poster
7.8

Hiroko attends the memorial service of her fiancé, Itsuki Fujii, who died in a mountain-climbing incident. Although Itsuki's mother says that their old house is gone, Hiroko records the address listed under his name in his yearbook and sends him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply, and discovers it came from his old classmate, a girl who also happens to be called Itsuki Fujii.

Love Letter

1995

September 11 poster
6.4

Eleven directors from eleven countries each contribute an eleven-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what's happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they've spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son's death. Tones vary, as do the locales. Most concern coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.

September 11

2002

The Egoists poster
4.9

Kazu attacks a bar in Kabukicho, a Tokyo red-light district, and flees to his hometown with abducts Machiko, a pole dancer he's been stuck on. They begin living together, but their happiness is short lived as their pasts torment them both.

The Egoists

2011

Gantz poster
6.5

After trying to rescue a man on the subway tracks, two teens wake up in a room dominated by a mysterious black sphere that sends them to hunt down and kill aliens hiding on Earth.

Gantz

2010

Gantz: Perfect Answer poster
6.6

Summoned by the black sphere, Kei and Masaru fight against extraterrestrials until Masaru grows tired of fighting and refuses to continue.

Gantz: Perfect Answer

2011

Tetsuo: The Iron Man poster
7.0

A "metal fetishist", driven mad by the maggots wriggling in the wound he's made to embed metal into his flesh, runs out into the night and is accidentally run down by a Japanese businessman and his girlfriend. The pair dispose of the corpse in hopes of quietly moving on with their lives. However, the businessman soon finds that he is now plagued by a vicious curse that transforms his flesh into iron.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

1989

The Blood of Wolves poster
7.2

Set in 1988 in Hiroshima, Japan, prior to the enactment of the anti-organized crime law. A rumor exists that Detective Shogo Ogami has ties with the yakuza. He is partnered with Detective Shuichi Hioka and they investigate a missing person case involving a financial company employee. Conflicts between opposing yakuza groups become more serious.

The Blood of Wolves

2018

The Eel poster
6.9

A businessman kills his adulterous wife and is sent to prison. After his release, he opens a barbershop and meets new people, talking to almost no one except for an eel he befriended while in prison.

The Eel

1997

Dead or Alive poster
6.4

Ryūichi and his small gang of Triad vie for control of the Japanese underworld in a crime-ridden Shinjuku quarter while Detective Jojima tries to bring it down.

Dead or Alive

1999

Fukushima 50 poster
6.5

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan risk their lives and stay at the nuclear power plant to prevent total destruction after the region is devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Fukushima 50

2020

A New Love in Tokyo poster
5.7

A look at the lives of two prostitutes in Tokyo: Rei, who works as an S&M dominatrix, and Ayumi, in the more straightforward profession of call girl. In addition to their working life, the film also looks at their private lives. Rei is acting in an amateur theatre company along with the receptionist from Ayumi's escort service, while Ayumi is living with her student-boyfriend as he struggles to finally get accepted to college.

A New Love in Tokyo

1994

Taboo poster
6.6

Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.

Taboo

1999

Tokyo Fist poster
6.8

A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.

Tokyo Fist

1995

The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi poster
5.5

Korean-Japanese director Gu Su Yeon makes his directorial debut with the mouthwateringly delicious The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi. As the title clearly states, pride of place goes to juicy, bite-sized meat, and viewers will get a delightful eyeful of food, food, and more food in this fabulously fulfilling gourmet comedy. Reveling in Japan's love for food-themed shows, the film revolves around a culinary battle of David and Goliath proportions, cheekily parodying Japanese cooking shows with Iron Chef-like editing, excited running commentary, and comedic how-to segments. The Yakiniku Movie also shines a light on the food culture of Japan's resident Korean population, proving that tasty food transcends all boundaries.

The Yakiniku Movie: Bulgogi

2007

Dead or Alive 2: Birds poster
6.8

Two contract killers cross paths in the middle of the same job and realize they are childhood friends. Together they take a break from killing and visit the small island they once called home. After reflecting on their past lives they decided to team up and use their talents in killing for good... much to the upset of the crime syndicates.

Dead or Alive 2: Birds

2000

Swallowtail Butterfly poster
7.5

The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.

Swallowtail Butterfly

1996

Midnight Swan poster
6.9

Nagisa is transgender. She grew up in Hiroshima as a man, but now lives in Shinjuku, Tokyo as a woman. Due to an incident, she begins to live with middle school student Ichika, who is a distant relative. Ichika has been neglected by her mother Saori. From living in solitude by herself, to now living with Ichika, Nagisa develops maternal instincts for the first time.

Midnight Swan

2020

Andromedia poster
4.9

After his daughter Mai is killed in an auto accident, a genius programmer recreates her in the form of a computer program called AI. His jealous brother-in-law, wanting to get his hands on the technology for profit, sends his client to steal it and Mai’s father is killed in the process. Learning of her capture, Mai’s old friends race to free AI from her captors so that she won’t fall into the corporate clutches that threaten to erase her soul.

Andromedia

1998

The Supporting Actors in Byplaywood poster
6.7

In a studio at the foot of Mt. Fuji, Gaku Hamada is struggling to shoot a movie with a dog in the lead role. Enter a huge cast of veteran actors who get involved in misadventures while on set.

The Supporting Actors in Byplaywood

2021

White-Collar Worker Kintaro poster
5.5

Kintaro is a reformed delinquent, the former leader of a biker gang who has gone straight. Working at a construction company, his unorthodox tactics cause trouble with his colleagues. He is transferred to a tiny countryside branch, where he butts heads with his lazy superior until the two men discover a plot by the competition to put the construction company out of bussiness. With the help of his old biker friends, Kintaro prepares to confront the masterminds behind the scheme.

White-Collar Worker Kintaro

1999

Guinea Pig Part 5: Android of Notre Dame poster
3.9

A dwarf scientist has his dreams frustrated when his sister becomes seriously ill. Determined to find a way to preserve the essence of his sister after the death, the scientist begins to use humans as guinea pigs in a bizarre experiment.

Guinea Pig Part 5: Android of Notre Dame

1989

Dr. Akagi poster
6.4

At the end of WWII, Japanese doctor Akagi searches for the cure for hepatitis in the prisoner-of-war camp.

Dr. Akagi

1998

Spirited Away: Live on Stage poster
8.0

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family. The film version of the stage production was shot during the play’s 2022 run at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo.

Spirited Away: Live on Stage

2023

L'amant poster
5.0

When three older men buy a 17-year-old schoolgirl named Chikako for a year's-worth of sexual services -- her motivation, aside from money, is never explained -- the relationships among the men (whom she calls A. B and C) keep shifting in ways that redefine power and sex.

L'amant

2004

Behind the camera

Street Kingdom: Make your own sound. poster
5.2

No synopsis available yet.

Street Kingdom: Make your own sound.

2026

Piece of Cake poster
5.0

Shino Umemiya readily dates guys interested in her, because she believes that's better than being alone. She breaks up with her violent boyfriend after he discovered that she cheated on him. She moves to a new area to get a fresh new start on her life. There, Shino Umemiya meets her neighbor Kyoshiro Sugahara. He is also her manager at her new job. Shino Umemiya becomes interested in him, but he lives with mysterious woman Akari.

Piece of Cake

2015

Piece of Cake poster
5.0

Shino Umemiya readily dates guys interested in her, because she believes that's better than being alone. She breaks up with her violent boyfriend after he discovered that she cheated on him. She moves to a new area to get a fresh new start on her life. There, Shino Umemiya meets her neighbor Kyoshiro Sugahara. He is also her manager at her new job. Shino Umemiya becomes interested in him, but he lives with mysterious woman Akari.

Piece of Cake

2015

Iden & Tity poster
8.5

If you loved movies such as Shonen Merikensack and GS Wonderland, then this one, which predates the former, will impress you as well. The story is set in the 80s rock scene and revolves around Nakajima (Kazunobu Mineta), the lead singer of a band called 'Speed Way'. Because he refuses to write trite, pop-friendly songs he is constantly at odds with his own record company. However, he refuses to bend on his rock principles simply for better record sales. The most interesting parts of this movie is how they pay homage to music icon, Bob Dylan who gave the filmmaker his blessing, which is no small feat itself, especially for a Japanese indie debut.

Iden & Tity

2003

Oh, My Buddha! poster
6.0

Based on the semibiographical novel by Jun Miura, Oh My Buddha is the classic summer coming-of-age story that is burned to a crisp with teenage angst, youthful dreams and that warm sense of folk zeitgeist of the 70s. The narrator is a first-year student at an all-boys Buddhist school. Jaded by his dull, ordinary life, he longs for the type of creative, liberal and forward life his idol Bob Dylan leads, writing rock songs alone in his room, imitating his hero's signature croon, until one day he got invited on an island trip of sexual liberation with his fellow liberal friend.

Oh, My Buddha!

2009