<figure id="attachment_468485" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468485" style="width: 1909px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="94399cb9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/4b195e813557c13871da68b246012c7b-1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468485" class="wp-caption-text">In preparation for the film&#8217;s coverage, &#8220;we made a custom-made suit together&#8221; at a tailor that was recommended by Hiroshi Tachi.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> A theater graduate and a movie star</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I had this suit custom-made on the recommendation of someone I respect. He looked so nice in his ascot tie that I asked him about it, and he said, &#8216;There is a tailor I know, so let&#8217;s make clothes together.</span></p>
<p> When the FRIDAY reporter said, &#8220;That&#8217;s a nice suit,&#8221; actor Kotaro Yoshida (67), dressed in a fine dark brown slim suit, smiled innocently.</p>
<p> Who exactly is Yoshida&#8217;s &#8220;admirer&#8221; &#8230;&#8230;? It is the silver screen star who stars in the movie &#8220;Return the Driver&#8217;s License! The film was released in 1994.</p>
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<p> The film depicts about 30 years after the 1994 release of &#8220;No License! (1994), in which Tachi&#8217;s character, Hiroshi Nanjo, is once again involved in a slapstick drama over a driver&#8217;s license. Yoshida plays the president of the entertainment production company to which Nanjo belongs, and his presence is profoundly felt at key points in the story. Yoshida said with a wry smile that he was too nervous to play the role with Tate, with whom he was working together for the first time.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I was so nervous that I couldn&#8217;t concentrate on the role,&#8221; he said with a wry smile. That was all I could think about.</span></p>
<p> Yoshida made his first stage appearance while a student at Sophia University in a Shakespeare Study Group performance, and since then his career has long been centered on the stage. He has continued his studies as a regular in productions directed by Yukio Ninagawa, and although he is a late bloomer, he first came to prominence in his 50s with such high-profile productions as &#8220;Hanzawa Naoki&#8221; (TBS, 2001) and &#8220;Osan Zurabu&#8221; (TV Asahi, 2004).</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> As a theater actor myself, working with Mr. Tachi was like a different kind of martial arts. Even if it is the same play, the genres are different. This was the first time for me to work with a genuine movie star, so it was very fresh and frightening (laughs).</span></p>
<p> Yoshida was prepared to work with a &#8220;different kind&#8221; of actor, but her nervousness quickly dissipated.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I knew that the first shot was crucial, so I took it to heart. The scene in which I had to drag Mr. Tachi back from the location bus as he was about to go outside. To be honest, I was a bit hesitant and wondered if I could really do it, so I saved my energy a little. Then he said, &#8220;You can do it more seriously. We both agreed to do it without hesitation. From that point on, it became easier.</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Turning Point"></div>
<h2>Why the &#8220;Swing Out of the Box</h2>
<p> The shock of seeing Shakespeare&#8217;s &#8220;Twelfth Night&#8221; when he was in high school propelled Yoshida to become an actor. After his stage experience, Yoshida&#8217;s breakthrough came in his fifties, when he began working in film. It seems like he has been &#8220;under the radar&#8221; for too long. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t know if that&#8217;s true in the eyes of the public, but I&#8217;ve never thought of myself as an &#8220;underachiever. People who do theater don&#8217;t originally think they can make a living just doing theater, so they do part-time jobs and so on. But in my case, it was different. I thought, &#8220;I&#8217;m going to sell someday,&#8221; even though I had no basis for it (laughs). Basically, you have to be positive to do theater.</span></p>
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<p> What is important to him is &#8220;to be a presence that will remain in the audience&#8217;s memory,&#8221; he says.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I&#8217;ve only been performing on stage and made my debut in film late, so I don&#8217;t think I have much time left in my life as a filmmaker. That is why I have always been more conscious of the need to leave my mark in each of my works than those who have been involved in the industry since I was young.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It is not to stand out with eccentric performances, but to carefully scoop up the characters that emerge from the script. I want to get to the point where I think, &#8220;There is no one like this,&#8221; but there is still something realistic about the character. I want to aim for the very edge of that line. But recently, when I do ego searches, I get comments like, &#8216;Your voice is too loud,&#8217; or &#8216;Your acting is too hot and bothered,&#8217; so I feel like I need to do something about that.</span></p>
<p> (Laughs)&#8221; Even when she reads anti-comments on social networking sites, she has the mental strength to say, &#8220;I&#8217;m concerned, but I don&#8217;t get depressed. Behind this is a career that does not let criticism get the better of him.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In my career as an actor, there have been several turning points that came unexpectedly. For example, in 2006, I performed Shakespeare&#8217;s title role (&#8220;Titus Andronicus&#8221;) in England under the direction of Yukio Ninagawa, and it was very well received. This was a moment of recognition for someone who had done Shakespeare.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I entered the world of film after I turned 50 and was able to play roles in &#8220;Guilty&#8221; (&#8217;10, Fuji TV), &#8220;Hanako and Anne&#8221; (&#8217;14, NHK), and &#8220;MOZU&#8221; (&#8217;14, TBS), all of which I felt I could respond to on film. I feel that these roles gave me a great deal of confidence. I was excited and at the same time brave enough to work on these three films. I think these two were turning points for me in terms of my work.</span></p>
<p> In addition to the stage, Yoshida has become an indispensable presence in movies and TV dramas.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the end, I use what I have cultivated on the stage in the film world as well. In the drama &#8220;The Brothers Karamazov&#8221; (&#8217;13, Fuji TV), I played a villainous father who abuses his sons in a scene. During the performance, I got into my stage habits and broke plates, threw bread, and even broke glasses while yelling and screaming.</span><span class="strongInContent"> On stage, that kind of ad-libbing is appreciated.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Now that I think about it, there are so many taboos, but the cameraman was very good, and he switched from a stationary camera to a hand-held camera and followed the whole thing. That made me think, &#8216;Oh, I can do whatever I want. I regret it, but I am glad I did it.</span></p>
<figure id="attachment_468486" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468486" style="width: 1935px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2ac0c000"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/9ffed8ebfbcc7fde2202665f2441fd18.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468486" class="wp-caption-text"> Since his first stage performance while a student at Sophia University, he has long been active on the stage as a mainstay of his career. He has been in the limelight for his roles in &#8220;Hanzawa Naoki&#8221; and &#8220;Anne and Hanako,&#8221; and although he is a late bloomer, he got his big break in his 50s. which will be released on June 19, 2012.</figcaption></figure>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" He is fulfilled both publicly and privately!"></div>
<h2>He starts learning his lines at 8:30 p.m.</h2>
<p> The intense range of emotions and the bizarre immersion in the role &#8211; this &#8220;monstrous performance&#8221; can be said to be Yoshida&#8217;s quintessential performance. But for Yoshida, this is nothing special.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He says, &#8220;I had a tremendous director, Yukio Ninagawa, so I had to take a lot of risks on the stage. So for me it was a natural thing to do, but at first it felt strange to do it on film. I wondered if it was okay to do it in such an exaggerated way.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> But there are places that accept it. The drama series &#8220;Ossan Zurubu Love&#8221; (&#8217;16-) may be the one in which such a &#8220;swashbuckling&#8221; act unexpectedly gained support.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Since the story is about an &#8220;old man&#8221; who falls in love with a subordinate of the same sex, I wasn&#8217;t sure how to approach it at first. However, the interaction with Kei Tanaka (41) was very exciting. I heard that &#8220;X&#8221; ranked first in global trends when it aired. It was my first experience with that kind of response.</span></p>
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<p> In his personal life, he married a woman 22 years younger than himself in 2004. He now has two daughters, and the axis of his life has shifted dramatically.</p>
<p> I have to pick up my kids after this interview today, too. I&#8217;m going as far as I can,&#8221; he says happily, the true face of a father anywhere.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I didn&#8217;t have children and had a lot of free time, I felt like I was wasting it. I needed time to think about the play, or I had to stay alone and memorize the lines.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> But now, my main focus is on my children, so I finish everything around 8:30 pm. From there, I read the script and memorize the lines. In the morning, my duties start with walking the dog, and when I get home, I feed the kids and wash the dishes. I don&#8217;t know if I can say it myself, but I think it&#8217;s amazing (laughs). (Laughs) Especially in the morning, it&#8217;s a big battle.</span></p>
<p> Yoshida&#8217;s expression seems to reflect a sense of fulfillment that goes beyond exhaustion. In closing, he had some positive words of advice for the readers of FRIDAY.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Our generation sometimes feels weak,&#8221; he said. But it would be a waste to be swallowed up by such weakness. We have worked hard to get this far in life, and I think there are still things we haven&#8217;t done yet. So if we keep pouring gasoline into the tank without turning off the engine, I think we will be able to see a new view. That is what I want to keep believing in.</span></p>
<p> On stage, in films, and at home. Yoshida continues to run at full throttle today.</p>
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<figure id="attachment_468488" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468488" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="8dc1c248"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/119905b2b644bfdd899708a0780be347.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468488" class="wp-caption-text"> Interview with Kotaro Yoshida, never before published in this magazine: &#8220;I have always been conscious of leaving my mark.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_468487" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468487" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cf639b28"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/d80c5d2dd3812361116e3a1e141ae12c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468487" class="wp-caption-text"> Never-before-seen cut from the magazine Interview with Koutaro Yoshida &#8220;I have always been conscious of leaving my mark.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_468489" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468489" style="width: 1667px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="71e7fb12"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/05/8063ff2d2988fecbd5c9351244e65a89.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-468489" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished Cut: Interview with Koutaro Yoshida &#8220;I have always been conscious of leaving my mark.</figcaption></figure>
<p> From the May 29, 2026 issue of FRIDAY</p>


 Takehiko Kohiyama

 Koutaro Yoshida, who will appear in the movie "Return the Driver's License! which will be released in June, Yoshida Kotaro has long been a stage actor. His first collaboration with movie star Hiroshi Tachi, who also stars in the film, was a "different kind of martial arts," he says with a laugh. He says he was so nervous that he couldn't even prepare for the role.

Interview with Kotaro Yoshida, late bloomer but “I never thought I had been under the stage for too long.

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