Masahiko Tsugawa (津川 雅彦), born Masahiko Katō (加藤 雅彦 Katō Masahiko; January 2, 1940 – August 4, 2018) was a Japanese actor and director.

Career

Tsugawa was born January 2, 1940, in Kyoto, Japan. After acting as a child, he made his major debut at 16 in the Kō Nakahira film Crazed Fruit in 1956. Tsugawa's family was deeply rooted in the film industry since before his birth. Tsugawa attended school until dropping out of Waseda University Graduate School to pursue acting. Tsugawa gained popularity playing villain roles in TV jidaigeki drama series as the Hissatsu series and appeared in films like Otoko wa tsurai yo: Watashi no Tora-san and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. He became a favorite actor of director Juzo Itami, appearing in nearly all his films since Tampopo. In television, Tsugawa portrayed Tokugawa Ieyasu five times, including in the 2000 Aoi Tokugawa Sandai becoming the oldest lead actor in a Taiga drama. Tsugawa recently debuted as a director under the pseudonym Makino Masahiko with his film Nezu no Ban. He chose this name because he is the nephew of the Japanese director Masahiro Makino, his mother's brother. Legend has it that Tsugawa was so awed by the director while watching him at work as a young child that he asked if he could use Makino as his last name should he ever be a director, because of the similarities of the first names. Tsugawa comes from an illustrious film family. His older brother Hiroyuki Nagato was an actor. His wife Yukiji Asaoka was an actress. His grandfather is the director Shōzō Makino, his father, Kunitarō Sawamura, and his mother, Tomoko Makino, were both actors. His aunt and uncle through his father are the actors Sadako Sawamura and Daisuke Katō. Tsugawa died on August 4, 2018, due to heart failure. He was 78.

Filmography

Director

Film

Television

Dubbing

Awards and honors

Honor

Awards