Images of Hiroyuki Sanada During His ‘Remarkable Ladies’ Man’ Days as He Receives U.S. Emmy Nomination

The Emmy Awards ceremony, known as the Academy Awards in the U.S. TV industry, will be held on September 16.

The drama “Shogun Shogun” (Disney Plus), starring Hiroyuki Sanada, 63, is attracting the most attention.

The drama, which also has a producer attached, has been nominated for 25 awards in 22 categories, including Best Actor.” It is based on the novel “Shogun” by James Clavell.’ In 1980, “Shogun Shogun,” a drama based on the same novel and Yoko Shimada’s Hollywood debut, was a big hit in the United States. This is a re-imaging of that film, and Sanada has received high acclaim for his portrayal of Shogun Toranaga Yoshii (who in historical fact is Ieyasu Tokugawa), played by Toshiro Mifune in previous films.

Sanada’s Emmy nomination for Best Actor is definitely an accomplishment for a Japanese actor, but to be honest, I have the impression that it took him a long time to get here. Looking at his success in Hollywood, it would not have been surprising if he had won some kind of award earlier,” said a writer for a movie magazine.

Sanada attracted attention when “The Twilight Samurai” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and he made his Hollywood debut with the film “The Last Samurai,” released the following year. In 2007, he co-starred with Jackie Chan in “Rush Hour 3. Since then, he has continued to appear in high-profile films such as “Wolverine: Samurai” (’13), “Avengers: Endgame” (’19), and “John Wick: Conscience” (’23).

Since 2003, he has been based in Los Angeles, returning to Japan only for filming and promotions. However, he was once known as a “rare and popular man” who was involved in many affairs.

He is known to have had a number of flirtatious relationships in the past as a “rare and popular man. Sanada, who was already a popular actor, was reported to be dating Tomonori Okazaki, who was seven years older than him and whom he had appeared with in the play “Little Shop of Horrors” the previous year. He later married Rimi Tezuka in 1990 and had two children, but they divorced in 1997. The reason for the divorce was his affair with Riona Hazuki, who was 20 years old at the time, and with whom he co-starred in the movie “Sharaku” in 1995.

In the midst of the affair reports, Hazuki appeared in a conversation with Mariko Hayashi in the September 22, 1995 issue of Shukan Asahi (Asahi Weekly).

Even though he has a wife, he is still very open about it. It doesn’t matter. Then, would it have been better if he had met her after his divorce?　Would it be wrong if I met him now?

If a couple is getting along well, no matter if it’s a man or a woman, they won’t have feelings for anyone else.

These comments added fuel to the fire, and the two were bashed for it. Sanada, who had not revealed her attitude until then, was interviewed by the press at the 8th Tokyo International Film Festival on September 28 of the same year,

I will be faithful to my intentions and move forward so that I can take responsibility for my actions.

The two broke up shortly afterwards.

Thereafter, rumors of his remarriage to Kyoka Suzuki, with whom he co-starred in the drama “Nonmarried Family” (Fuji TV) in 2001, and to Yuki Amami, with whom he co-starred in the Japanese dubbed version of the movie “Minions” in 2003, both of which remained rumors. Sanada is now 63 years old.

He is still single, but he tells people around him that after 20 years in the U.S. with the intention of building a bridge between Japan and the U.S. through movies, he is finally able to convey the correct culture of Japan to the world. He is very determined to do what he really wants to do from now on, and all he talks about is his work. I don’t hear much about his private life,” said a writer who is familiar with Hollywood.

Someday in the future, we may hear about a Hollywood celebrity like Al Pacino, who married a woman 53 years younger than him at the age of 81.