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Takeshi Kaneshiro 金城武
Born	October 11, 1973 (1973-10-11) (age 34) Taipei, Taiwan
Spouse(s)	Single
Official site	http://www.fulong.jp/kaneshiro/takeshi.html

Takeshi Kaneshiro (Japanese and Chinese: 金城武, Hepburn: Kaneshiro Takeshi, Pinyin: Jīnchéng Wǔ), (born October 11, 1973) is a male actor. Takeshi Kaneshiro's Chinese name, written with the same characters, is pronounced as Jīnchéng Wǔ.

With a Taiwanese (Hoklo) mother and a Japanese father from Okinawa, Kaneshiro was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. Kaneshiro confirms this in his interview with An An Magazine, July 1998. He is, however, often mistakenly referred to as half Taiwanese, half Japanese most likely because of his Japanese name. He has two brothers (one 7 years older and one 1 year older). After being bullied at a regular Taiwanese high school, the Gaoxong Preparatory School, over his mixed heritage, he enrolled at English-based Taipei American School, which enabled him to converse in English, making him effectively multi-lingual considering his fluency in Mandarin, Taiwanese (Min Nan) (his first-spoken language) and Japanese. As a result of his varied background, Kaneshiro can speak with varying degrees of fluency in English, Taiwanese (Min Nan), Mandarin, 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.

In 1992, Kaneshiro made his singing debut, entering the business with the nickname Aniki, meaning 'older brother' in Japanese. His debut album was Heartbreaking Night (1992). Contracted to EMI, he wrote many of his own Mandarin and Cantonese songs. The following year, his popularity propelled him into acting and he now no longer produces any commercial music. He later stated that acting comes to him more naturally, while his singing capabilities are not up to scratch and best left to the "professionals", including his favorite singer Jackie Cheung. Kaneshiro maintains that singing is only his hobby.

His first movie was Executioners (1993) and this was followed by the critically acclaimed Wong Kar-Wai film Chungking Express (1994) and a string of other Hong Kong movies. Later, Kaneshiro starred in the highly successful Japanese TV mini-series God, Please Give Me More Time (1998), allowing him to branch into Japanese movies such as Returner (2002). Kaneshiro's work, however is more heavily concentrated in China, HK and Taiwan. He also became well known in the video game industry portraying the samurai warrior, Samanosuke, in the Capcom hit, Onimusha. In a June 2007 Article by the movie site Ain't It Cool News, it was revealed that Takeshi Kaneshiro will be in the Onimusha movie, reprising his role as Samanosuke. [1]. This, however, has not been confirmed by Kaneshiro nor his agency. Kaneshiro is often praised for having "chameleon-like" acting skills due to his ability to adapt to a wide variety of roles. He became a superstar playing oddball and forlorn characters and has proven impossible to typecast. Director Peter Chan, of the Chinese musical Perhaps Love, which Kaneshiro starred in, has been quoted as saying "I am willing to exchange my 11 nominations for the nomination of Takeshi for Best Actor award. My greatest regret is Takeshi Kaneshiro wasn't nominated". Despite this, he continued to receive rave reviews for a spectacular performance of a vulnerable yet angry and ultimately maturing character.

Outside of the entertainment business, Kaneshiro has acted as a spokesperson and model for Prada in Asia as well as Lifecard Creditcard Company, Honda, Sundiro Motorcycles, Lipice lips moisturizer, SonyEricsson, Pocari Sweat Soft drink, Morinaga Chocolate, Volvic, GEOS Language school, Petronas Oil company, Mitsubishi, Rice Burger, and Kiwi cold drink.

His reluctance for publicity is legendary, so much to the extent that no one knows of his marital status or any other relationships. Until 2006 where in a PR interview with cast of Confession of Pain where he stated that he wasn't married. This is a responds to a gossip story started in 2005 about him stating that he was married and his Chinese wife was with child. In 2005 his manager at Fulong tried in vain to put it to rest after their phones were flooded with calls by frantic crying fans after the "story" broke.

Kaneshiro has been quoted as saying “If one day I get married and have kids, I will probably be one of those men who really care for the family. I will cook, and help with the chores and take care of the children.” in TOUCH magazine (Hong Kong) Issue 46 Nov, 05

Contents 1 Filmography 2 Drama 2.1 Japan 2.2 Hong Kong 2.3 Taiwan 3 Discography[1][2] 3.1 Albums 3.2 Movie Soundtracks 4 Videogames 5 Misc 6 External links 7 References

• Waiting (2009) as Kong Lin
• The Battle of Red Cliff (2008) as Zhuge Liang
• Sweet Rain (2008) as Jing Yip - The Death God
• The Warlords (2007) as Jiang Wuyang
• Confession of Pain (2006) as Bong
• Perhaps Love (2005) (Titled Winter Song for the Japanese release)
• House of Flying Daggers (2004) (Titled Lovers for the Japanese release)
• Turn Left, Turn Right (2003)
• Returner (2002)
• Lavender (2000)
• Space Travelers (2000)
• Tarzan (1999) as Tarzan (Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese version)
• Tempting Heart (1999)
• Misty (1998)
• Sleepless Town (1998)
• Anna Magdalena (1998)
• Too Tired to Die (1998)
• First Love: The Litter on the Breeze (1997)
• The Odd One Dies (1997)
• Downtown Torpedoes (1997)
• Hero - The Legend (1997)
• Dr. Wai and the Scripture Without Words (1996)
• Lost and Found (1996)
• The Jail In Burning Island (1996)
• The Feeling of Love (1996)
• Trouble Maker (1995)
• School Days (1995)
• China Dragon (1995)
• Forever Friends (1995)
• Fallen Angels (1995) - as He Zhiwu
• Young Policemen in Love (1995)
• No Sir (1994)
• The Worth of Silence (1994)
• Don't Give a Damn (1994)
• Mermaid Got Married (1994)
• Chungking Express (1994) - as He Zhiwu, Cop 223
• Heroic Trio 2: Executioners (1993)

• The Golden Bowl (2002) (Japanese: ゴールデンボウル)
• Love 2000 (2000) (Japanese: 二千年の恋)
• God, Please Give Me More Time (1998) (Japanese: 神様、もう少しだけ)
• The Miracle on a Christmas Night (1995) (Japanese: 聖夜の奇跡)

• Colour Of Armour (1995)

• Grass Scholar (1992)

Year	Title	Label	Notes
1992	Heartbreaking Night (分手的夜裡)	Philips, Polygram	Mandarin album (Release date: September 1992)
1993	Just You and Me (只要你和我)	Philips, Polygram	Mandarin album (Release date: June 1993)
1993	Reliable Best Friend (可依靠的好朋友)	Unknown	Mandarin album (Best of 1992-1993) (Release date: 1993)
1994	Tender Superman (溫柔超人)	Philips, Polygram	Mandarin album (Release date: February 1994)
1994	Ideal Lover (標準情人)	EMI	Mandarin album (Release date: December 1994)
1994	Missed Date (失約)	EMI	Cantonese album (Release date: December 1994)
1995	For My Beloved (給我心愛的人)	EMI	Cantonese album (Release date: June 1995)
1995	Secretly Drunk (偷偷的醉)	EMI	Mandarin album (Release date: October 1995)
1996	No Matter How Hard (多苦都願意)	EMI	Mandarin album (Release date: October 1996)
1996	Memories (精選集 Memories)	Unknown	Mandarin album (Release date: 1996)
1998	Best Collection (金城武的精選歌集)	Unknown	Mandarin album (Release date: 1998)

Year	Title	Track Featuring Takeshi	Notes
2005	Perhaps Love (如果愛)	No.4 Forgot Who I am (忘了我是誰) (duet with Zhou Xun 周迅), No.6 Beautiful Story (美麗故事) (duet with Ji Jin Hee 池珍熙), No.10 Crossroad (十字街頭) (duet with Zhou Xun 周迅), No.11 What If (假如) (Solo)	Mandarin album (Release date: 2005)

• Onimusha (2001) (VG)
• Onimusha 3 (2004) (VG)

• Smap X Smap September (2002) TV Episode
• Smap X Smap October (2002) TV Episode

• Takeshi Kaneshiro at the Internet Movie Database
• Takeshi Kaneshiro at LoveHKFilm.com
• Takeshi Kaneshiro Forum
• Takeshi Kaneshiro Chinese Fan Forum
• Takeshi Kaneshiro Unofficial Fan Site (Chinese)
• Takeshi fan site Takeshi Fan Site