Actor Hitoshi Ozawa, Known as the “Face of Fury,” Speaks on His Tumultuous Life and Resilience

Overcoming a Harrowing Past and Bitter Failures

“In today’s world, there’s a growing lack of tolerance, and you can really feel the stifling atmosphere. One misstep with compliance and you’re done. Well, I guess FRIDAY has played a part in creating that kind of climate too! Gahaha.”

So says actor Hitoshi Ozawa (63), who laughs heartily as he boldly critiques the current state of society.

He made his acting debut in the 1983 drama Taiyō ni Hoero! (Nippon TV), and shot to fame the following year with School☆Wars (TBS). Since then, he has secured an unshakable status as a charismatic figure in yakuza films and V-cinema. With his piercing glare and overwhelming presence, he earned the nickname “Facial Weapon,” and in recent years has continued portraying gritty, tough characters in films such as Specials and the Nihon Tōitsu series.

Even past the age of sixty, Ozawa shows no signs of slowing down. On July 30, he is set to publish a candid autobiography titled Loving the Turmoil (KADOKAWA), in which he bares his soul about his life journey.

“From the outside, my life might seem full of ups and downs. Sure, there were plenty of turmoil’s, big and small, but to me, they were just milestones along the way.”

Though it may now seem like he’s enjoyed a smooth acting career, Ozawa has overcome a harrowing past and bitter failures.

He recalls the greatest setback in his life: the poor box-office performance of SCORE (released in 1995), a gun-action film he poured his heart into as a first-time producer in his mid-thirties.

“Everyone—actors and crew alike—came together to make that film, so the failure hit me hard. It was the first time I truly felt that no matter how much heart you put into something, it might not be rewarded. More than 20 years later, just before turning 60, I finally shot BAD CITY (released in 2023).

When Kazuyoshi Okuyama (70), the producer I made SCORE with, saw it, he sent me an email that said, ‘Ozawa, thank you for avenging the frustration from back then.’ That was the first time I cried. If SCORE had been a success, BAD CITY might never have been made. Looking back, I realized even what felt like a negative turned into something positive. It might seem like I took a detour, but the road never really ended—it just kept going.”

He also faced a crisis when the video production company he founded went bankrupt.

“I started that company in my mid-thirties because I wanted to improve the film industry, but those were days of constantly being chased by money. I lent 80 million yen to a colleague who was struggling financially, only for him to disappear—leaving the company bankrupt and me saddled with massive debt. But I was the one who decided to lend him the money, so I can’t make excuses.

I told myself, ‘The money existed once, so I can earn it again,’ and refused to declare bankruptcy. I just worked like a horse. I’m not the kind of guy who tests a bridge before crossing—I don’t care if the bridge breaks and I fall in the river, as long as I can swim to the other side. Some people might call that fall turmoil, but once you fall, all you can do is climb back up, right?”

His incredible positivity and unbreakable mental strength may well make his way of life one of a kind.

In the July 17 release of FRIDAY August 1 Issue and the premium edition FRIDAY GOLD, Ozawa speaks candidly about behind-the-scenes stories from the entertainment world back then, and his passion as a YouTuber.

For more details and multiple photos, click here↓

From the August 1, 2025, issue of “FRIDAY”