Kaoru Kobayashi

Kaoru Kobayashi is a Japanese actor born on September 4, 1951, in Kyoto. With 127 credits to his name, his screen work ranges from The Funeral (1984), in which he played Inose, to dramas such as The Great Passage (2013), as Kohei Araki, and The Miracles of the Namiya General Store (2017), as Takeo Matsuoka. Many viewers know him as the Master in Midnight Diner, a role he played in the 2009 series, the 2014 film and the 2016 series Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories.

Kobayashi has also lent his voice to animated features, including Princess Mononoke (1997) as Jikobo and Tales from Earthsea (2006) as The King. His other credits include Kamui (2009) as Hanbei and We Made a Beautiful Bouquet (2021) as Hirotaro Yamane. His most recent listed work dates from 2023, when he voiced the Noble Pelican in The Boy and the Heron and appeared as Furuya in the series THE DAYS.

TV series

• THE DAYS (2023) · as Furuya

Where to watch their movies

• Amazon Video: Princess Mononoke
• Apple TV Store: Princess Mononoke
• Fandango At Home: Princess Mononoke
• Google Play Movies: Princess Mononoke
• HBO Max: Princess Mononoke
• HBO Max Amazon Channel: Princess Mononoke
• YouTube: Princess Mononoke

Platforms listed for our film pages in your country (source: JustWatch via TMDB).

Frequent co-stars

• Yuko Tanaka · 3 films together: Princess Mononoke, Tales from Earthsea, Midnight Diner
• Ko Shibasaki · 3 films together: The Boy and the Heron, Dr. Coto's Clinic, Sham
• Yuriko Ishida · 3 films together: Princess Mononoke, Love and Action in Osaka, Secret
• Hidetaka Yoshioka · 2 films together: Dr. Coto's Clinic, Fueled: The Man They Called "Pirate"
• Kyoko Fukada · 2 films together: Ten Dark Women, Like Asura
• Masaki Suda · 2 films together: The Boy and the Heron, We Made a Beautiful Bouquet

Career at a glance

First credit: The Sea of Genkai (1976) · Credits: 127

Roles played

Titles reviewed on Drama4U

• THE DAYS2023 · FuruyaReviewed

Other work

• 深夜食堂 62026 · Master
• 1972 Fireflies on the Shore2025 · Taiei Tamashiro
• The Last Blossom2025 · Akutsu (1986) (voice)
• 憶えのない殺人2025 · 佐治英雄
• Sham2025
• Oboe no Nai Satsujin2025
• Shrink: Psychiatrist Yowai2024 · Tsuruichi Senkawa
• Promised Land2024
• The Yin Yang Master Zero2024 · Fujiwara Yosuke
• The Tiger and Her Wings2024 · Hodaka Shigechika
• Kubi2023 · Tokugawa Ieyasu
• Tsugaru Lacquer Girl2023
• Worry Not, She's the Boss2023 · Yamagami Tatsuo
• The Boy and the Heron2023 · Noble Pelican (voice)
• Fixer2023 · Ichiro Suzaki
• Baian the Assassin, M.D.: Part 22023
• Trapped Balloon2023 · Shigezo Kojima
• Dr. Coto's Clinic2022 · Shoichi Hoshino
• Yes, I Can't Swim2022 · Professor Kamoshita

and 47 more

Images: TMDB · Posters belong to their respective copyright holders and are shown only to identify the work and for review purposes

Profile based on TMDB and Wikidata facts and checked against public sources. Career information only.