Born in 1956, Kōji Yakusho is an acclaimed Japanese actor and one of Asia’s most successful and internationally recognised performers.
In 2005 he co-starred in Memoirs Of A Geisha, which was nominated for six Academy Awards. In the following year, he co-starred in Babel, a film that was honoured by the Cannes Film Festival and earned various awards, including those in the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.
Along with his international success, Yakusho has starred in a wide array of films in his home country, where his diverse acting range has garnered him high praise, including The Eel (1997) and Eureka (2001). He was awarded Best Leading Actor at the Chicago International Film Festival for his magnetic performance in Under the Open Sky (2020).
He received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes International Film Festival 2023 for his performance in Perfect Days (2023).
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
