香川照之

Born in 1965, his parents are the kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III and the cinema actress Yuko Hama. His grandmother is the film actress Sanae Takasugi.

In the Kabuki world, it is usual for the son of an actor to follow the father's footsteps since very early ages, but his parents divorced in 1968 and his mother was given the custody of him. After that event, he never saw his father again, and his mother refused to give him any training on the Kabuki art and he grew believing that it was "something that must not be watched". However he tried several times to meet his biological father. When he was 20, he went to one of his performances and asked if he could see him, stating that he was Ennosuke's son, but when his father's assistants reported to him the situation he refused, stating that he didn't have any son.

He graduated in social psychology at the University of Tokyo and decided to start a career in cinema.

He has twice been nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award at the Japanese Academy Awards, once for Warau Iemon and once for Kita no zeronen. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize for Mt. Tsurugidake.