Famous People in Japan



Toyokawa Etsushi

Date of Birth 18 March 1962
Place of Birth Osaka

Toyokawa Etsushi is an actor who usually performs in movies or TV dramas. He is very popular especially among women because of his mysterious mood. His height is 186 centimeters which is tall for a Japanese. He is nicknamed "Toyoetsu".

In 1980, he entered Kwansei Gakuin University and began to play as an actor. He devoted himself to it, so, in the next year he dropped out of the university to learn about it more deeply.

Then, he moved from Osaka to Tokyo and started a new life. He joined a theatrical company "Gekidan Sanjyumaru" to improve his ability. But he didn't succeed soon as an actor, so he had to do a part time job to survive.

In 1989, he appeared in the movie "Kimi ha Boku o Suki ni naru (I Believe You Will Love Me )" with a famous singer Ooe Senri and famous actresses Yamada Kuniko and Saitou Yuki. In 1982, he played a man who is a homosexual in the movie "Kachou Shima Kousaku (The Chief Shima Kousaku )".

After this, he played various kinds of roles in movies and TV dramas. He played one of the brothers who had supernatural powers in the movie "Night Head". In the TV drama "Konoyo no Hate (The Edge of This World )", his role was a son whose father was a president of a company and had much money.

In 1995, he appeared in a TV drama "Aishiteiru to Itte Kure (Please Tell Me 'I love you')" and played an artist who was deaf. In this drama, he had to talk in sign language, so he went to sign language school. Owing to his effort, many people were moved by his performance and this drama made a big hit. Due to the influence of this drama, many people became interested in sign language and began to learn it.

He appeared in the TV drama, "Aoi Tori (A blue bird)". His role was a station staff. He fell in love with woman who had a husband and daughter and ran away with them. But her husband followed and caught them. The woman killed herself. After years, he met her daughter again, and they got married.

He got married in 1997, and will have a baby this year (1998).

References: Gendai Nihon Jinmeiroku 94'

Reported by: Miki Nakai
Data verified by: Chiaki Makino
Date of Report: September 1996
Updated by: Yuuko Mizutani,May 1998

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