Kaneshiro Takeshi

With a mother from Taiwan and a father from Okinawa, Kaneshiro was born and raised in Taipei, and is a Japanese citizen (nationality).

He has two elder brothers who are 7 years and 1 year his senior. After graduating from Taipei Japanese Junior High School, he enrolled at English-based Taipei American School, which enabled him to converse in English, making him effectively multi-lingual considering his fluency in Chinese (Mandarin & Taiwanese) and Japanese. As a result of his varied background, Kaneshiro can speak with varying degrees of fluency in English, Cantonese, and Japanese. It was while he was studying there that he began doing TV commercials, and he decided to quit school in order to pursue a singing and acting career.

Kaneshiro started his career in the early 1990s, appearing in a series of Taiwanese comedies and releasing several albums (six between 1992 and 1993). He rose to stardom in 1994 and 1995 playing leading roles in Wong Kar-wai’s international hits: “Chungking Express” and “Fallen Angels”. He subsequently starred in several Hong Kong box-office hits including “Downtown Torpedoes”, “Anna Magdalena” and “Lavender”. In 1998, the popularity of “Sleepless Town” and the TV drama “God! Please Give Me More Time” established Kaneshiro as one of the most sought-after actors in Japan. Takeshi Kaneshiro speaks Japanese fluently – and has appeared in other Japanese films (like Space Travelers), television series and TV commercials. In 2002, Kaneshiro plays the lead in the Japanese sci-fi actioner “Returner”. In 2003, after the ’99 hit “Tempting Heart”, Kaneshiro is reunited with Gigi Leung in “Turn Left Turn Right”. The following year, Kaneshiro made a genre-debut in Zhang Yimou’s epic swordsplay blockbuster “House of Flying Daggers”. Kaneshiro joined forces with director Peter Chan in the musical blockbuster “Perhaps Love” which garnered many awards throughout Asia. In 2006, Kaneshiro starred opposite Tony Leung in the thriller “Confession of Pain”.

• Spokesmodel of Ericsson handsets.
• Spokesmodel of Onimusha: Warlords (video game). The character Samanosuke is modeled after him.
• Spokesmodel of PRADA.
• Is 1/2 Chinese and 1/2 Japanese. Father is Japanese, mother is Chinese (of Taiwanese nationality).
• Capable of speaking Mandarin, Japanese, Cantonese, English, Taiwanese.
• Attended Taipei American School during grades 10-12, but did not graduate.
• Spokesmodel for Mitsubishi Galant model (car).
• Resides in Tokyo
• Has 2 brothers
• Considered by Time Magazine to be the "Asian film industry's Johnny Depp."
• Enrolled in a film class at New York University but never completed it.
• Chinese name is Jincheng Wu. His surname means Gold City in both Chinese and Japanese.
• Is Chinese of Japanese descent.
• Nominated the 8th Changchun Film Festival Best Actor for his performance in "Perhaps Love".
• His Japanese family name Kaneshiro is read as Jincheng in Mandarin (Chin-cheng in Taiwan, Gam-sing in Cantonese). His Japanese first name Takeshi is read as Wu in Mandarin (Mo in Cantonese).
• He is referred to as Jincheng Wu in Mandarin, Chin-cheng Wu in Taiwan and Gam-sing Mo in Cantonese.