It has been learned that actor Kei Taguchi, who spent his career playing corrupt officials and wicked merchants in period dramas like Mito Kōmon, has died at age 93. Despite having graduated from the University of Tokyo, he spent decades on TV playing villains, famous for lines like “You’re quite the rascal yourself” — and it’s been reported that in private life he was a man of refined taste who loved chanson (French song). On 5ch’s Entertainment/Sports News+ thread, news of his death sparked a wave of nostalgia, with posters ranking classic villain actors and reminiscing about his roles in Abarenbō Shōgun and Mito Kōmon. Meanwhile, misinformation claiming he “might be Tomorowo Taguchi’s father” also made the rounds, only for another poster to immediately correct it: “No relation — he’s actually the nephew… wait, the writer Shinobu Yoshioka is his nephew,” showing some real-time fact-checking playing out within the thread.
September 7, 2026
Kei Taguchi appearing in a 2012 commercial for the Akita Prefecture Pharmacists Association, titled “Because There’s a Prescription”
“You’re quite the rascal yourself”
Source: jprime.jp / Read the original article here
Namu (Buddhist prayer for the dead, short for 'Namu Amida Butsu')
Spoken like a true Frenchman (a nod to his love of chanson).
I sort of remember that pharmacists' association commercial, but I had no idea he was THE definitive corrupt-official actor.
That must've been rough.
He really was THE corrupt-official face lol
Rest in peace.
my area used to air reruns of old Mito Kōmon episodes in the evenings,
and I'd watch it with that 'De-dde-de♪' theme song playing lol
Kids today probably wouldn't even get it if you brought up the Old Lord or Suke-san and Kaku-san beating up the bad guys at the end.
My lord governor, please prepare yourself. (another classic drama line, said right before his comeuppance)
Todai → actor → corrupt official (on screen — that's him)
Wonder if Kyōsuke Machida is still doing okay.
but I remember them visiting Kei Taguchi's home.
I think his wife was a pharmacist?
He went to Todai too, so despite being from an older generation, they were a real power couple, education-wise.
Seiichirō Kameishi, Katsumasa Uchida, Shōhei Yamamoto, and Hiroshi Nawa are more like occasional villains.
Isao Yamagata's a bit different from the rest though.
He barely did any sword-fighting-drama corrupt-official roles, right?
What about Hirohisa Nakata?
Personally I'd rank Takashi Ebata above Seizō Fukumoto as a villain actor.
and apparently he's in them.
Might check it out.
Then again, at lunchtime KBS Kyoto runs a different period drama every day lol
Not quite on Tazurō Endō's level, but he'd play the villain in the less serious episodes.
Truly someone who could really act.
His wife apparently used to say 'Dad's chanson singing is the best.'
Sounds like they were a stylish, cultured couple.
For me his image is more the 'I could never match you, my lord governor~' type of role.
s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLp2NxbXBCo
He played the hidden mastermind Yoshiyasu Yanagisawa in Mito Kōmon for ages though.
But since he's the hidden boss, he ranks below Nobuo Kawai lol
Isn't the real deal showing up as a different villain every episode and getting cut down left and right? lol
Yamagata gets solid roles in stuff like Chūshingura too — Kenkaku Shōbai and so on.
being a villain actor,
especially for someone this intellectual.
And apparently even his voice-acting work skewed heavily toward villain roles too.
turns out he actually played more wicked merchants than corrupt officials.
Apparently he's THE guy for evil shipping-merchant roles.
Kōji Nakata, Tazurō Endō, and Taguchi all have that face and character type that fits wicked-merchant roles.
Like Taguchi as the corrupt lumber merchant while Suganuki plays the construction magistrate.
No relation.
Writer Shinobu Yoshioka is his nephew.
Forgot to add —
Nobuo Kawai > Hirohisa Nakata > Tarō Suganuki > Kei Taguchi > Tazurō Endō >> Seizō Fukumoto
Re: #61
When Mito Kōmon reruns were on, my parents told me Isao Yamagata wasn't originally a villain actor, so I'll keep him in his own category lol
On the flip side, they also mentioned that Kō Nishimura actually was a villain type…
Guess that's just how it looked to your parents' generation.
They probably watched a ton of theatrical period-film dramas.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Kei Taguchi graduated from the University of Tokyo before becoming an actor, and spent decades in period dramas like Mito Kōmon playing “corrupt officials” and “wicked merchants.” Never a leading man, he was nonetheless one of the actors who helped define the classic “villain archetype” that stuck in viewers’ memories. The thread lit up with rankings comparing him to fellow villain actors of his era like Nobuo Kawai, Isao Yamagata, and Tarō Suganuki — though it’s worth noting these rankings are purely subjective, and “what makes a great villain” varies depending on a poster’s generation and which shows they grew up watching. The news of his death also briefly spread the misinformation that he “might be Tomorowo Taguchi’s father,” but this was quickly corrected within the thread, with posters clarifying the two are not related and that writer Shinobu Yoshioka is actually his nephew — a small moment of real-time fact-checking that wouldn’t come through from the article alone.
*This article is an excerpt and summary based on the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “‘You’re Quite the Rascal Yourself’ — Mito Kōmon’s Corrupt-Official Actor Kei Taguchi Dies at 93; the Private Man Who Loved Chanson and Once Admitted ‘Life Was Often Hard’.”
