was a Japanese actor. Starting as a stage actor in the 1950s, he also worked in film and television and was active until the time of his death. From the 1970s he starred in several of Yukio Ninagawa's productions, including an acclaimed role as Macbeth. Described as "Japan's best Shakespearean actor", Hira received several awards throughout his career, including an excellence award at the 2011 hosted by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Biography Early life Hira was born in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from in Jōge, Hiroshima Prefecture, he studied at the training school of the Haiyuza Theatre Company and officially joined the company in 1956. One of his early roles was in a production of Goethe's Faust.

Acting career Hira's television debut in the 1963 series Three Outlaw Samurai, in which he played a nihilistic masterless samurai, saw his popularity rise. In 1968 he played Hamlet with the Shiki Theatre Company, a role which received very high reviews.

Performance style Hira's stage performances were heralded throughout his career. In 2009, Tokyo University professor emeritus of English literature described Hira as Japan's best Shakesperean actor, noting the incandescence he brought to his roles as mythical characters. The range in his performance as King Lear, from solemnness to madness, was praised by Kindai University professor and theatre critic . An obituary by the Chunichi Shimbun identified Hira's special ability to deliver profound performances and his high-toned delivery of lines.

Personal life Hira married actress Yoshiko Sakuma in 1970 and they had a son, Takehiro, who was born in 1974 and is also an actor. The pair divorced in 1984. In 1998 Hira received a Medal of Honour from the Japanese government and in 2005 he was appointed to the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class.

Death On October 23, 2016, he died at his home in Setagaya, Tokyo at the age of 82. At the time of his death he had a role in Fuji Television's Monday night drama Cain and Abel, which was taken over by Akira Terao. Hira's final performance, in the second episode of Cain and Abel, was filmed on 29 September and aired on 24 October, shortly after his death. Hira also had a role in NHK's production of Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. Filming of the second season finished earlier in 2016 and premiered in January 2017. In the third season, which premiered in November 2017, Hira was replaced by Takeshi Kaga.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Director Notes 1962 The Inheritance Yasuko's lover Masaki Kobayashi 1964 Adventures of Zatoichi Gounosuke Kimiyoshi Yasuda 1964 Three Outlaw Samurai Einosuke Kikyo Hideo Gosha 1965 Sword of the Beast Gen'nosuke Hideo Gosha 1966 The Face of Another Psychiatrist Hiroshi Teshigahara 1968 The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun Grunwald the Demon of Ice Isao Takahata Voice 1982 Willful Murder Superintendent General Okuno Kei Kumai 1982 To Trap a Kidnapper Detective Kenmochi Shunya Itō 1985 Early Spring Story Takenaka Shinichiro Sawai 1988 Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis Yasumasa Hirai Akio Jissoji 1988 Oracion Masuhara Shigemichi Sugita 1994 Rampo Marquis Ōgawara Rintarō Mayuzumi 1997 Sharan Q no enka no hanamichi Daisuke Naruto Yōjirō Takita 2001 Pistol Opera Gorō Hanada Seijun Suzuki 2005 Azumi 2: Death or Love Sanada Masayuki Shusuke Kaneko 2005 Princess Raccoon Azuchi Momoyama Seijun Suzuki 2008 Aibō the Movie Kimihiko Mikuriya Seiji Izumi 2009 Goemon Sen no Rikyū Kazuaki Kiriya 2010 13 Assassins Doi Toshitsura Takashi Miike 2011 Ninja Kids!!! Headmaster Ōkawa Takashi Miike 2012 The Tibetan Dog Tenzing (Adult) Masayuki Kojima Voice 2013 The Eternal Zero Hasegawa Takashi Yamazaki

Television Year Title Role Network Notes Ref. 1963–1969 Three Outlaw Samurai Einosuke Kikyo Fuji 1970 Mominoki wa Nokotta Kai Harada NHK Taiga drama 1973 Kunitori Monogatari Saitō Dōsan NHK Taiga drama 1979 Fumō Chitai Tadashi Iki TBS 1988 Takeda Shingen Takeda Nobutora NHK Taiga drama 1992 Nobunaga Zuiten NHK Taiga drama 2001 Hōjō Tokimune Hōjō Shigetoki NHK Taiga drama 2005 Yoshitsune Emperor Go-Shirakawa NHK Taiga drama 2006 Kemonomichi Kitō Kōta TV Asahi 2007 Mito Kōmon Tokugawa Mitsusada TBS 2008 Atsuhime Zusho Hirosato NHK Taiga drama 2014 Team Medical Dragon Shuzō Sakurai Fuji 2016 Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Season 1) Hibitonan NHK 2016 Shizumanu Taiyō The Prime Minister Tonegawa WOWOW 2016 Cain and Abel (Episodes 1-2) Sōichirō Takada Fuji Final role 2016 Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Season 2) Hibitonan NHK

Theater Antony and Cleopatra Cyrano de Bergerac Faust Hamlet Iliad King Lear Macbeth Medea The Merchant of Venice NINAGAWA Macbeth Oedipus Rex Othello Richard III Rokumeikan The Tempest The Threepenny Opera Twelfth Night The Winter's Tale

Dubbing roles Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) – King Kashekim Nedakh

Awards and honours Awards 2008: Asahi Performing Arts Awards - Artist Award (for his performances in King Lear and Yama no Kyojintachi)

Honours Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon (1998) Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2005)

References

External links Official profile