Ryo Yoshizawa

Ryo Yoshizawa is a Japanese actor born on February 1, 1994, in Tokyo. He gained widespread recognition through notable screen performances, including his roles in the live-action Gintama film adaptations, the Kingdom feature series, and the tokusatsu television program Kamen Rider Fourze. Later in his career, he achieved significant acclaim for leading the record-breaking domestic Japanese feature film Kokuho, which earned him the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Growing up in Akishima as the second of four brothers in a divorced household, Yoshizawa resided with his mother and siblings until moving into his own home in 2016. In addition to practicing kendo for over nine years and attaining a second-dan rank, he was an introverted child who preferred spending time indoors. Encouraged by his mother, he entered the Amuse National Audition 2009 The Push! Man, placing above tens of thousands of contenders to earn a special distinction that led to his management contract with Amuse.

Yoshizawa launched his television career in 2011 with the drama Sign, followed by appearances in Kingyo Club and Kamen Rider Fourze, where he played Ryusei Sakuta. Although he landed his initial lead opportunity in 2013 with the drama and stage adaptation Bussen, the project suffered low television viewership and sparse theater turnout. This commercial setback served as a crucial turning point, reshaping his mindset and inspiring him to commit to acting as a serious profession rather than a temporary job.

His career gained momentum in 2017 with his portrayal of Okita Sougo in the live-action Gintama series. By 2018, Yoshizawa appeared across numerous feature films, television projects, and theatrical productions. His work in the drama film River's Edge brought him to the Berlin International Film Festival and secured him multiple new actor accolades. He subsequently earned further public and critical acclaim for his performance in the morning drama Natsuzora and his prominent role as Ei Sei in the blockbuster movie Kingdom.

In late 2019, Yoshizawa was selected to star as Shibusawa Eiichi in Reach Beyond the Blue Sky, becoming the first actor born in the Heisei period to lead an NHK taiga drama. During this period, he also expanded into voice acting, lending his voice to animated features such as Her Blue Sky and the third My Hero Academia movie. He later headlined the medical television series PICU: Pediatric Intensive Care Unit starting in 2022 and co-starred in the Netflix feature film In Love and Deep Water.

In 2025, Yoshizawa starred as Kikuo Tachibana in Kokuho, a kabuki-centered film selected for the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight that became Japan's top-grossing domestic live-action title. Following an incident in late 2024 involving an accidental entry into a neighbor's apartment while intoxicated, which was resolved out of court, he continued his acting career with upcoming projects including the television morning drama The Ghost Writer's Wife.