Early life He was born in Kyoto son of jidaigeki film star Ichikawa Utaemon and graduated from Waseda University School of Letters Arts and Sciences Ⅱ in Tokyo Acting career Kinya made his debut with his father in the 1956 Toei film Oyakodaka in the role of Katsu Kaishū He is a contemporary of and was taken to be a rival of Hiroki Matsukata who was also the son of a famous actor Jūshirō Konoe In 1964 Kinya made his first appearance on stage in Cyrano de Bergerac The 1960s and 1970s saw him in many contemporary roles He appeared in Battles Without Honor and Humanity Deadly Fight in Hiroshima and Battles Without Honor and Humanity Final Episode as well as Karei naru Ichizoku The title role in the 1975 film Takehisa Yumeji was his On television Kitaōji portrayed Miyamoto Musashi in the Nippon Television show of the same name A major historical role was Sakamoto Ryōma in the yearlong primetime NHK Taiga drama Ryōma ga Yuku 1968 He landed the title role in the longrunning cop show Zenigata Heiji set in the Edo period In the 1985 twelvehour New Year special Fūun Yagyū Bugeichō he played Yagyū Jūbei and in the following years special he portrayed both Tokugawa Yoshimune and Yagyū Shinrokurō The role of another shogun fell to him in the following new year as TV Tokyo tapped him to play Tokugawa Iemitsu Kinya returned to NHK for the 1987 Taiga drama Dokuganryū Masamune as Date Terumune father of title character Date Masamune Another role he took had been created by his father Saotome Mondonosuke was the title character in the series Gozonji Hatamoto Taikutsu Otoko It ran from 1988 to 1994 on TV Asahi His father Ichikawa Utaemon had appeared in numerous films as Mondonosuke Kinya reprised the part of Miyamoto Musashi in the 1990 New Years special Toshirō Mifune had portrayed Musashi in the earlier film also based on the Eiji Yoshikawa story that had won an Academy Award He returned to the New Years special in 1996 again as the famous swordsman in Tokugawa Kengōden Sore kara no Musashi His first portrayal of Ōishi Kuranosuke was in the 1996 Chūshingura He took up the role again in 2004 for the NHK Saigo no Chūshingura and in 2007 in the New Year special Chūshingura Yōzeiin no Inbō Other historical roles from the Sengoku period include Azai Nagamasa Saitō Dōsan and Yamamoto Kansuke In addition to historical parts he appeared in fictional series His portrayal of Ogami Ittō in the Lone Wolf and Cub Kozure 2 Which was a series for Asahi TV in Japan is representative of these appearances In 2008 Kitaōji revisited the role of Katsu Kaishū in the Taiga drama Atsuhime He had portrayed Katsu in his 1956 debut He won the award for best actor at the 10th Hochi Film Award for Fire Festival and Haru no kane Kitaōji played one of the lead roles in Hideo Nakatas psychological thriller film The Incite Mill In recent times Kitaōji voices the Hokkaidoinu character of Father in SoftBank Mobiles White Family advertising campaign
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