From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Chishu Ryu May 13 1904 in Kumamoto Japan March 16 1993 in Yokohama Japan was a famous Japanese film actor a favourite of the director Yasujiro Ozu From 1928 to 1992 he appeared in at least 155 films including Ozus Tokyo Story 1953 and Yoshitaro Nomuras Castle of Sand 1974 From 1969 until his death Ryu became familiar to a new generation as the curmudgeonly but benevolent Buddhist priest in Yoji Yamadas Torasan movie series a role he parodied to great effect in a cameo in Juzo Itamis 1984 comedy The Funeral Description above from the Wikipedia article Chishû Ryû licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia