Takeshi Kaga

Takeshi Kaga
Born	Shigekatsu Katsuta (1950-10-12) October 12, 1950 Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan
Occupation	Actor
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Children	1 son
Website	Official site

Takeshi Kaga (鹿賀 丈史, Kaga Takeshi), real name Shigekatsu Katsuta (勝田 薫且, Katsuta Shigekatsu, born October 12, 1950), is a well-known stage and movie actor in Japan who is probably best known internationally for his portrayal of Chairman Kaga in the Japanese television show Iron Chef produced by Fuji TV.

Biography

Kaga was born on October 12, 1950 in the city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. His first experience on stage was at the age of seven when he joined the Kanazawa City Boys choral group.

In 1972, he joined the Japanese theatrical company Gekidan Shiki. While with the company, he played the role of Jesus in the Japanese stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), and role of Tony in West Side Story (1974). In 1980 he left SHIKI to play the role of Sanada in the movie The Beast To Die. He starred in several movies throughout the 1980s, but his most famous role would be that of "Chairman Kaga", the eccentric and flamboyant host of Ryōri no Tetsujin, a cooking competition show (1993–1999). It became very popular, not only in Japan, but around the English-speaking world. Previously broadcast on the Food Network, then on the Fine Living network in the United States and on SBS in Australia, under the name Iron Chef, the show is now being carried on the Cooking Channel in the United States, and in the UK in Iron Chef UK. The host of Iron Chef America, Mark Dacascos, is claimed on ICA to be Takeshi's nephew, though the stated relationship is actually between the fictional characters played by the two men.

Despite his international fame with the show, he has not given up his love for musicals. In 1987 he starred in the popular Japanese production of Les Misérables as Jean Valjean and Javert. He reprised his role as Valjean in 1995 as the representative of Japan during the encore of the 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Misérables at the Royal Albert Hall in London. During the encore, Valjeans from 17 different countries joined the cast on stage. He also starred in Macbeth in 2000, and in Jekyll & Hyde as well as in The Threepenny Opera in 2001. In 2009, he starred in a Japanese-language version of La Cage aux Folles .

He has also lent his voice to Japanese anime. Notably, he voiced Jirarudan, an antagonist, in 1999's Pokémon the Movie - Revelation Lugia, the second Pokémon movie, and also sung his theme song, "Ware Wa Collector." He also notably voiced Dr. Kiriko in 2005's Black Jack: The Two Doctors of Darkness.

After Iron Chef ended, he returned to acting in movies and dramas. He also hosted Time Shock 21, a quiz show on Asahi Television in Japan. In 2005, Kaga performed as the lead in the Japanese production of Michael Frayn's Democracy and starred in the blockbuster film Sengoku Jieitai 1549. Kaga also appeared in both installments of the highly successful Death Note film series as Soichiro Yagami.

His most recent role, as of December 2007, is that of Emperor Kinkaku (King of the Golden Horn) in the film adaptation of the TV series Saiyuki. He also provided the voice for Golbez in the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, and has reprised the same role in Dissidia: Final Fantasy for the PSP.

He is also the Official Japanese voice actor for Teridax in Japanese Bionicle Media as of 2004

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1980	The Beast To Die	Tetsuo Sanada
1981	Akuryoto	Kosuke Kindaichi
1982	Suspicion	Katsuo Toyosaki
1984	Mahjong horoki	dosa-Ken
1986	cabaret	Takigawa
1988	Kimurake no hitobito	Hazime Kimura
1993	Graduation Journey: I Came from Japan	Momoo Momoyama
1996	Sasurai no Trouble buster	Kunihiko Ugajin
1996	Ultraman Zearth	Akuma Ogami / Alien Benzene
1997	Ultraman Zearth 2	Alien Benzene
1999	Pokémon: The Movie 2000	Jiraldan
2005	Sengoku Jieitai 1549	Tsuyoshi Matoba / Oda Nobunaga
	Black Jack: Two Doctors in Black	Dr. Kiriko
2006	Moyurutoki THE EXCELLENT COMPANY	Fukai
	Death Note	Soichiro Yagami
	Death Note: The Last Name
2007	Saiyuki	Kinkaku Daio (King of the Golden Horn)
2008	K-20: Legend of the Mask	Mysterious Gentleman
2009	Zero no shoten	Gisaku Murota
	Warau keikan	Masazumi Ishioka
2011	Andalucía: Megami no hofuku	Yosuke Ando
	Ninja Kids!!!	Yukitaka Saito
	Kaibutsu-kun	Kaibutsu Daio (King Monster)
2013	Bushi no Kondate	Naomi Maeda
2015	Sinbad: Sora Tobu Hime to Himitsu no Shima	Captain (voice)

Year	TV dramas	Role
1978	Ougon no hibi	Dom Justo Takayama
1980–1981	Tenno no ryoriban	Shintaro Takayama
1981	Honzitsumo seitennari	Masamichi Ohara
	G-Men '75	Kusaka
1983	Tokugawa Ieyasu	Ishida Mitsunari
	Ooku	Tokugawa Yoshimune
1984	Shitetsuensen 97bunsyo	Nara
1987–1988	Jungle / NEW Jungle	Kuniaki Tsugawa
1990	Tobugagotoku	Okubo Toshimichi
1992	Kireini naritai	Moriya Hirose
1993	Furikaereba yatsugairu	Junichi Nakagawa
1994	Furuhata Ninzaburo	Junichi Nakagawa
	Shizukanaru Don	Ryugi Naruto
1995	Kura	Izo Tanouchi
1999	jyoi	Atsuro Wakisaka
2000	Renai chudoku	Kojiro Itsuji
2003	Black Jack ni yoroshiku	Yoshiyuki Yasutomi
2004	FIRE BOYS - Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M	Hazime Gomi (Capt. Gomi)
2007	Yukan Club	Tokimune Shochikubai
2008	Oh! My Girl!!	Kazuo Ishizaka
2009	Dandy Daddy? ~Renaishosetsuka Ryunosuke Izaki~	Taizo Sasaki
2010	Kaibutsu-kun	Kaibutsu Daio (King Monster)
	JOKER Yurusarezaru sosakan	Masaaki Izutsu
2011	Diplomat Kosaku Kuroda	Yosuke Ando
	Good Life~Arigato,papa.sayonara~	Shinpei Yukimura
	The Bull Doctor	Izuru Jyomongi

Year	Stage	Role
1973–1979	Jesus Christ Superstar	Jesus Christ
1974–1979	West Side Story	Tony
1986 / 1988	Torch Song Trilogy	Arnold
1987–2001	Les Misérables	Jean Valjean / Javert(1987 - 1988 / 2005 / 2007 / 2011)
2000	Macbeth	Macbeth
2001	The Threepenny Opera	Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife
2001 / 2003 / 2005 / 2007	Jekyll & Hyde	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde
2005 / 2008	Democracy	Willy Brandt
2006	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Lawrence Jameson
2007 / 2009	Kinshu	Yasuaki Arino
2008	The Seagull	Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin
	La Cage aux Folles	Georges
2009	Cyrano	Cyrano de Bergerac
2010	The Fantasticks	El Gallo
2011	Burnt by the Sun	Comdiv Sergei Petrovich Kotov
2014	Death Note: The Musical	Soichiro Yagami

External links

• Official Website (Japanese)
• Takeshi Kaga Biography from FineLiving.com
• Takeshi Kaga at the Internet Movie Database
• Daisuke & Yasuyoshi's Takeshi Kaga Unofficial Fan & Fun Page
• The Official Time Shock 21 Website