Known for Acting
Akihiro Maruyama (born May 15, 1935, died June 20, 2026), better known by his stage name Akihiro Miwa, was a Japanese singer, actor, author and drag queen. As an actor he is known for voicing characters in Hayao Miyazaki films Princess Mononoke (1997) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004).
Born
May 15, 1935
Died
June 20, 2026 (age 91)
Birthplace
Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan
Filmography
30 films, 5 shows
Nagasaki: In the Shadow of the Flash
2025 · 1h 49m
country: Japan
Nagasaki, 1945. Three nursing students, Tanaka Sumi, Ohno Atsuko, and Iwanaga Misao, return home when school is closed due to air raids, and spend some peaceful time with family and friends. However, at 11:02 AM on August 9th, the atomic bomb is dropped, and their daily lives are instantly shattered. The city is reduced to ruins, and despite their inexperience, the nursing students rush to provide medical care to the injured. Faced with the cruel reality that more lives must be buried than can be saved, the women continue to question the value and meaning of life.
Miwa: A Japanese Icon
2013 · 1h 5m
country: France
A legendary entertainer and a pioneer of gay activism, Miwa was born Akihiro Maruyama. As a young singer, Miwa popularized androgyny as a fashion statement, fusing the masculine and the feminine into a signal of a new generation of aesthetics. This evolved into performing as a woman and living off-stage as a man. With glitter, wit, evening gowns, and enchanting storytelling, Miwa looks back over a 50-year career and a fascinating life in music, film, and television.
Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life
2009 · 1h 35m
country: Japan
When the creator of the world, Arceus, comes to pass judgement on humanity for the theft of the legendary Jewel of Life, Ash and his friends are sent back in time to possibly reverse the events that led to Arceus' vendetta.
Takeshis'
2005 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
Beat Takeshi lives the busy and sometimes surreal life of a showbiz celebrity. One day he meets his blond lookalike named Kitano, a shy convenience store cashier, who, still an unknown actor, is waiting for his big break. After their paths cross, Kitano seems to begin hallucinating about becoming Beat.
Howl's Moving Castle
2004 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.
Toy Reanimator
2002 · 47m
country: Japan
Set in a toy store specialized in antique toys, a boy works in the toy store and is obsessed with tin toys. There's one particular tin toy he loves more than the rest. In walks a girl wearing shades, and starts telling her own story, a weird and fascinating experience she had with a toy.
Princess Mononoke
1997 · 2h 14m
country: Japan
Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.
The Strange Case of Yukio Mishima
1985 · 55m
country: United Kingdom
A BBC television documentary on the life of Yukio Mishima that highlights the many known major aspects of his life and personality.
Harmagedon
1983 · 2h 11m
country: Japan
From the depths of space he is coming... Ancient beyond understanding, his power is immeasurable. He has destroyed half the universe and is on his way here. He is… Genma. Only two people are aware of the imminent catastrophe: Princess Luna, a modern day prophetess and Vega, a cybernetic crusader from a world long since ravaged by Genma. Determined to spare the Earth from a similar fate, Luna and Vega must try to mobilize the most potent psychics in the world. Together, this army of fledging psychic warriors must succeed where billions have tried... and failed. But will they be able to gather their champions in time? Genma’s agents are already on Earth to ensure that their master meets with no opposition!
La Marie-vison
1983 · 1h 14m
country: Japan
"La Marie-Vison" tells the perversely fascinating tale of Marie, a transvestite prostitute who lives in elegant squalor with her dedicated servant. Every day, for eighteen years, Marie releases an exotic butterfly into the open fields of the living room. Every day for eighteen years the beautiful boy, imprisoned in her den, catches and kills it. The beautiful boy is tempted with visions of the outside world, free from the wiles of wicked Marie, but maybe the boy wasn't made for the outside world. Maybe none of us were.
The Hunchback of Aomori
The Hunchback of Aomori
1983 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
This is Shuji Terayama memorial performance of The Hunchback of Aomori from 1983 (featuring Akihiro Miwa). Terayama gathered dwarfs, circus freaks, itinerant magicians, acrobats and untrained youth for his burgeoning troupe, Tenjo Sajiki. The troupe's premiere offering, written and directed by Terayama, was Aomori-ken no Semushi Otoko (The Hunchback of Aomori, 1967).
The Japanese Belly Button
1977 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
Helen and her associates stage a confession play in order to remedy stuttering, but things go amiss.
The Three Ginza Rascals
1976 · 1h 31m
country: Japan
Three men, all named Masa, join forces to capitalize on each of their unique yet questionable talents against a hyper-competitive Tokyo underworld.
Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets
1971 · 2h 17m
country: Japan
An experimental, psychedelic odyssey through Japanese subculture experienced via the eyes of a disillusioned young man, who must contend with intense familial dysfunction, psychosexual alienation, and existentialist malaise.
Woman Gambling Expert: Stakes of a Game of Chance
1970 · 1h 21m
country: Japan
16th in the 17 film Daiei "Woman Gambler" series
Black Rose Mansion
1969 · 1h 31m
country: Japan
When wealthy Kyohei hires singer "Black Rose" to perform in his exclusive club, he gets more than he bargains for when she attracts scores of homicidal past lovers. The film takes a bizarre twist when Kyohei's son falls victim to the femme fatale's unique charm.
Black Lizard
1968 · 1h 26m
country: Japan
A detective tries to outwit an art loving thief who has kidnapped the daughter of a jeweler to get to an exquisite diamond.
The Hunter's Diary
1964 · 2h 3m
country: Japan
Leaving his wife in Osaka, Honda leads a double life in Tokyo – after spending the day as an elite businessman, he flirts around in the evenings. He even rents a secret apartment where he keeps record of his girl hunts in his diary, the ‘Hunter’s Diary’. One day, he finds an article in the newspaper – a murder of a young woman in his diary. A few days later, another woman from his diary is murdered. He soon finds himself in a labyrinth of fear, as women named in his diary are killed one after another...
Invitation to the Enchanted Town
1961 · 1h 22m
country: Japan
Live-action adaptation of Ko Kojima's manga "Sennin buraku".
Ginza Tomboy
1960 · 1h 22m
country: Japan
A rebellious heiress clashes with gangsters, dodges an arranged marriage, and unexpectedly falls for a principled lawyer as her father confronts past corruption and starts anew.
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
The Prickly Mouthed Geisha Part 2
1960 · 1h 22m
country: Japan
Young geisha Kohana scrambles to realize her dream of bringing back her grandmother’s restaurant business.
Brutal Battle
1959 · 1h
country: Japan
The president of the Hong Kong Almond Cola company, Liu's grandfather, signed a purchase and sale agreement with Showa Nakajima from Japan, and shortly before leaving for Japan, someone attacked him. Before he died, before he lost consciousness, he transferred all the rights to the company to his close confidant Murota and told him to transfer them to his daughter, whom he left in Japan 20 years ago. Murota, who inherited Liu's will, went to Japan. However, the gang of James Howe, the head of the Hong Kong trading world, was waiting for him, seeking to obtain the rights to Almond Cola…
Unmarried
1959 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
A comedy set in Ginza that explores the lives of teenagers.
Ai no Noutan
1959 · 1h 31m
country: Japan
Maria of the Ant Village
1958 · 1h 50m
country: Japan
Alongside Tokyo's Sumida River is a ragpickers' settlement known as Ant Village. One night, a young Catholic girl, Satoko Kitahara, who has been baptized under the name of Maria, comes to offer her services. However, Ant Village is not just an ordinary vagrants' community but a fine autonomous organization, and as the municipal authorities have long been demanding that the people of Ant Village leave the site, Satoko is utilized to publicize the Village and win public sympathy. While being utilized in this manner, Satoko is nevertheless glad to be able to help the people of Ant Village, especially the children, and when the summer vacation comes she decides to take the children on an excursion to Hakone. To raise funds for this purpose she becomes a rag-picker herself.
The Capital of Love
1958 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
Aiko, a bar hostess, falls for the son of a company president who also keeps a mistress, and whose family disapproves of his relationship with the bar hostess.
City Boys, City Girls
1958 · 1h 17m
country: Japan
Woman Unveiled
1958 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
A childless lawyer and his wife take in the quiet daughter of an imprisoned client, whose presence eventually creates romantic tension with the husband. The household dynamic is further disrupted by the arrival of a bold friend from Osaka and the wife's chance encounter with a former flame.
Warm Current
1957 · 1h 34m
country: Japan
The story revolves around a young man appointed to rescue a troubled hospital who must choose between two women, a dedicated nurse or a spoiled rich girl.
The Betrothed
1957 · 1h 38m
country: Japan
Adaptation of the Yukio Mishima novel.