In Memoriam ’24 】”Is Nakao-chan gone now?” said actress Shima Iwashita, “The true face of Akira Nakao…”

Akira Nakao
Passed away on May 16th at the age of 81.

Always made me laugh on the set.
Shima Iwashita (Actress)

My interaction with Ms. Nakao began in 1971 when we co-starred in Shochiku’s “The Circle of the Inner Sea (Naikai)” and became close friends. Since then, we have been friends for more than 50 years, and it has been an asset for me to have spent wonderful times together.

He played the role of a yakuza in “Gokudo no Onna-tachi” (’86-’98), in which I played the lead role. When we started filming, he changed his mood to that of a “real job,” but as soon as the cut was made, he immediately returned to his normal self, cracking jokes and making the audience feel at ease.

In the fourth film, “The Last Battle,” there is a scene where he puts a gun to Mr. Nakao’s temple as he is being carried to the ambulance on a stretcher and shoots him. As I was standing by with the muzzle of the gun on my temple, Shima-chan, who was lying on the stretcher, whispered to me, “Shima-chan, take the muzzle off the gun a little bit. It was so cute that she mumbled, “I’m a little scared.” – I still remember it.

After hearing the news of his death, I was watching TV when a commercial featuring Mr. and Mrs. Nakao and Fuku Suzuki (20) came on. I remember feeling sad and thinking, “Nakao-chan is no longer with us.

From the January 3, 10, and 17, 2025 issue of FRIDAY