Yorozuya Kinnosuke

Kinnosuke portrayed Yagyū Munenori multiple times, first on television as the star of the year-long 1971 NHK Taiga drama Haru no Sakamichi, then on the Big Screen in the 1978 film Shogun's Samurai. His next appearance as Munenori was in a 13 episode TV production entitled Yagyū Shinkage-ryū which aired in 1982. His final appearance as Munenori was in 4 of 5 Yagyu Bugeicho TV movies that aired between 1990 and 1992. From 1973 to 1976, he played Ogami Ittō, the Lone Wolf in the NTV series Kozure Ōkami based on the manga Lone Wolf and Cub. A late-career role was Yamana Sōzen in the Taiga drama Hana no Ran.

In addition to his kabuki activity, Kinnosuke had an extensive film career. A specialist in jidaigeki, Kinnosuke appeared in more than 140 films. These include a 1957 Mito Kōmon and a 1961 appearance as the title character in the Toei Company's Miyamoto Musashi series (a role he reprised in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965, and again in 1971). A versatile actor, he has played as many as seven characters in a single film. In various productions of Chūshingura, he also portrayed Oyamada Shōzaemon (1956), Asano Naganori (1959), Wakisaka Awaji no Kami (1961), and Ōishi Yoshio (1978). Other appearances include Minamoto no Yoshitsune (1957, 1958, 1962), Tokugawa Iemitsu (1958), Oda Nobunaga (1965), Takeda Shingen (1969), Sakamoto Ryōma (1970), Matsudaira Katamori (1980), and Oda Yūrakusai (1989).

Yorozuya Kinnosuke (萬屋錦之介) (November 20, 1932 – March 10, 1997) was a Japanese kabuki actor. Born Kin'ichi Ogawa (小川 錦一, Ogawa Kin'ichi), son of kabuki actor Nakamura Tokizō III, he entered kabuki and became the first in the kabuki tradition to take the name Nakamura Kinnosuke. He took on his guild name (yagō) Yorozuya as his surname in 1971.