Course:ASIA321/2022/Takeshi Kaneshiro

Takeshi Kaneshiro (2011)

Takeshi Kaneshiro: Early Generation of Transnational Celebrities

Introduction:

As an early multinational actor, Takeshi Kaneshiro has left a deep impression on people's hearts through his movies. With his handsome appearance and multilingual ability, he has a maturity that exceeds that of his peers. Simultaneously, he has also received controversial opinions about his multinational persona. This article will lead the audience from Takeshi Kaneshiro’s movies to dig deeper into the side of Takeshi that the audience does not know, mainly focusing on his transnationality. For those who know or want to know more about him, you can follow this page.

Biography

Takeshi Kaneshiro started his career with his album Heartbreaking Nights (1992). Takeshi has not produced many movies recently, but he has gained popularity and fame by playing in some Hong Kong films in the late 20th century even though he did not receive any formal acting training before his debut in the film industry. One of the distinctive things from his career is that he has performed in many multinational films. He was especially popular in East Asian countries in the late 20th century, for example, he appeared in a Korean coffee advertisement in 1998. After 1998, he only appears in films less frequently than on an annual basis.

Life roles

Takeshi Kaneshiro was born in Taiwan. His father is Japanese from Okinawa and his mother is Taiwanese. When he was born, both Japan and Taiwan only gave their children their father's nationality, so he has Japanese citizenship, but he was raised in Taiwan. In addition, he speaks Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. With his language abilities, he has acted on film in different languages in different countries. He also plays in many languages in his famous film, Chungking Express (1994). In the movie, he reflected on his multilingual features. Because of his transnational image in both his films and his real-life, each country accepts him differently as an actor. For instance, in China, his Chinese name “Jincheng Wu” is more familiar, while in Japan and the West, his Japanese name “Takeshi Kaneshiro” is more often used.

Screen roles

Difference in Ethnicities

The roles Takeshi Kaneshiro has played on the screen can be categorized by ethnicity and time period. As a Japanese-Taiwanese actor who has established his career in various areas, Takeshi’s screen roles have different ethnicities. Even if we focus on his screen role in Hong Kong cinema, we can clearly see various ethnicities in films. For instance, in 1990s Hong Kong films, while he was Japanese in Mermaid Got Married (1994), he later became Chinese in The Wrath of Silence (1994). As mentioned before, he acted as a Taiwan-born policeman in Hong Kong who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English and Japanese in Chungking Express directed by Wong Kar-wai. Even outside Hong Kong, he has changed his ethnicity in each film. In Taiwanese films Turn Left, Turn Right (2003) Takeshi played a Taiwanese man named John Liu. While his appearance in Japanese movies is relatively limited, he mainly has played a Japanese man, such as Nishiyama in Space Travelers (2000). Interestingly, in Sleepless Town (1998), he played Kenichi whose father is Taiwanese and his mother is Japanese. Similar to Takeshi’s childhood, Kenichi has a hard time finding where he belongs even though he has Japanese citizenship. Additionally, in an American-Korean film, Too Tired to Die (1998), he played a young Japanese man Kenji. Solely by paying attention to his role and the area of film production, we can find his transnationality.

Difference in Time Period

The characters played by Takeshi Kaneshiro can also be categorized by time period. In a modern setting, he played Lin Jiandong in Hong Kong's musical film Perhaps Love (2005) directed by Peter Chan. In the film, Lin Jiandong first goes to Beijing to study film and then becomes an actor in Hong Kong. Eventually, he returns to Beijing to join the production of films. In short, Beijing can be interpreted as a place for his career in the film industry. Similarly, Takeshi chose to stay in Hong Kong and mainland China after he moved around Asia and the west. His screen role is not limited to the modern characters but also includes ancient Chinese. For instance, he appeared in a period film House of Flying Daggers (2004) directed by Zhang Yimou as Jin. Later, in the world-famous movie, Red Cliff (2005), he played the historical strategist Zhuge Liang.

Encounter with Wong Kar-wai

Takeshi Kaneshiro is also known for working with a globally recognized auteur, Wong Kar-wai. In an interview with CommonWealth Magazine, Takeshi shared the process of gaining interest in acting through Wong’s films. He told the journalist that he shot again and again and some shots were not used as Wong did not write scripts for his works. This try-and-error eventually let Takeshi enjoy performing in various ways. In 2014, almost 20 years after the release of Chunking Express, he was eager to try out different styles of acting with other directors and other members in the film production.

Substantive analysis of the celebrity's profession

Chungking Mansion

A critical analysis of Chungking Express (1994)

We will examine Takeshi Kaneshiro based on the film Chungking Express. In this film, Takeshi plays a young police detective who has just broken up. In the movie, he is feeling very depressed because of his lost love. Even when he meets a pretty girl in a bar, he behaves quietly but also shows his childish side. This is not unlike Takeshi’s personality behind the camera. In real life, Takeshi is an introverted person. Chungking Express was filmed at Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. It is a chaotic place, full of people of all classes, colours and professions. Kowloon Walled City was formerly an abandoned military fortress, and later some homeless poor people settled here before it developed into what became known as the "Hong Kong Slums". Because of the diversity of Hong Kong, many refugees from other countries also settled here. Although Kowloon Walled City is known for its chaos and squalor, the people in it are just trying to make a living. If the people inside Kowloon Walled City are lonely, then Kowloon Walled City is like the people inside the city, lonely and vulnerable in Hong Kong. The role and the setting of the film background are very suitable for Takeshi Kaneshiro's real personality. He always makes people puzzled, people can see loneliness and life in his eyes. As a man who speaks four languages, it makes sense for Takeshi to be present in Kowloon Walled City. And as a police detective No. 223 himself, he is a multilingual professional.  The scene that struck us most was the one in the film where police 223 has just broken up with his girlfriend and is on the phone trying to ask some girls out. Takeshi uses four languages to talk to different girls, but not a single girl gave him a response. This scene not only shows how chaotic Chungking Express is but also the richness of Takeshi's childhood experiences as a Japanese Chinese. In the crowded Kowloon Walled City, when night falls, some people are still busy with their work, and some are like police officer 223 who picks up his cell phone but does not know who to call. A snack bar is still open, but many like No. 223 are still wandering the streets alone.

Contribution to their professional field (cinema, film culture, and beyond)

Takeshi Kaneshiro is known to be an uncompromisingly handsome man, but he did not let his handsome appearance stop him from acting. His acting skills have always been highly acclaimed in the film industry. After being directed by Wong Kar-wai, Takeshi can better understand the vivid image and character of the characters in the script. Despite his acting skills and good looks, he did not take on every script. Instead, he only acts in roles that he is sure he can play well. This is very different from some actors nowadays. "The fact that he has the ability but doesn't know it” has gained him a large number of fans. Because of Takeshi's Japanese Chinese identity, many Japanese audiences were able to use Hong Kong as an entry point to Chinese culture. And to a certain extent, many Chinese viewers have been drawn to Japanese films and dramas. Takeshi's fame made it possible for both Chinese and Japanese people to share film and television resources in that era.

Key societal, economic, political, moral, and historical forces that influenced the celebrity’s career

Although he has Japanese citizenship, many of his most famous works have been produced in Hong Kong, Japan, and China, and he became popular in many East Asian countries. He played a role in movies with capital invested in Hong Kong and Japan, Sleepless Town (1998). The pan-Asian approach to media and film, which began in the mid to late 20th century, boosted cultural exchanges between East Asian countries, and as a result, films began to produce more pan-Asian characters. In the midst of such exchanges and cooperation between East Asian films, he used his transnational image and multilingual ability to play an active role in the film industry in Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. The many languages he uses in films make him gain popularity as a “legitimate foreigner”.

Reception of the celebrity

The reputation of Takeshi Kaneshiro is mainly based on his appearance and language skills. Because of his handsome appearance with his mysterious atmosphere, he has been frequently compared with Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, and Tony Leung Chiu-wai by fans. The Hollywood film stars, Depp and Reeves, have played roles that are racially ambiguous. For instance, Depp acted as a mysterious owner of the Chocolate factory in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).  Keanu Reeves’ racial ambiguity comes from his father who is an American mixed of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, English, Irish and Portuguese roots. While Takeshi’s racial lineage is not as varied as Reeves, Wang Ying-Shun says that his face “with its apparent mixture of both Eastern and Western facial features, easily confuses the public about his ethnic origins” . Being compared with the western Hollywood actors can also indicate the sense of “foreigner” for the fans. Another juxtaposition made by fans is between Takeshi and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. The similarities of these two actors are the good-looking appearance and collaboration works with global Chinese auteurs including Wong Kar-wai and Zhang Yimou. On the other hand, some fans criticize Takeshi’s acting skills by contrasting Leung’s superior acting skills. In other words, unlike Leung, Takeshi was still considered as “the stereotype of ‘good looks, bad acting'” .

He was also criticized for his language skills including Japanese and English by netizens. For instance, an Internet user criticized as "His english and japanese sucks. he has that thick mandarin accent.hes english is worser" . This shows how he was not considered a Japanese by netizens including the Japanese even though he has Japanese citizenship.

Critical literature review

"Discussing Takeshi Kaneshiro: The Pan-Asian Star Phenomenon on Internet Fan Forums"

In this paper, Dorothy Wai Sim Lau argues that the Internet fans’ discussion about Takeshi Kaneshiro has eventually further liquidated his ambiguous multinational persona. To support this statement, Lau first examines how fans react to his ethnically mysterious appearance. Specifically, how the internet fans compare Takeshi with other good-looking actors including Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Then, Lau shows how his international fans can facilitate his transnationality by analyzing a post on the Internet by a presumably Russian fan of Takeshi. While this analysis shows Takeshi’s potential in attracting more fans because of his transnationality, Lau also displays the criticism from Chinese and Japanese fans on the Internet. Quoting not only a comment on the Internet but also the article from a film magazine, Lau effectively illustrates the cases where Takeshi’s audiences regard him neither as Chinese nor as Japanese. This leads Lau to provide further analysis of the factors which made Takeshi excluded from certain nationalities including the various ways people call his name, the netizens' reaction to languages he speaks, the films he has appeared in, and the corresponding areas where he has established his acting career. Finally, Lau also reveals the cases where Internet fans depict Takeshi as a symbol of Japan. Lau provides an example of one of his fan art which asks for help for Japanese nuclear incidents in 2011. Overall, Lau demonstrates the fluid dynamic of Takeshi’s identities defined by various Internet fans by classifying various Internet fans’ various perspectives toward Takeshi. Because of this inclusion of different opinions toward Takeshi, we found this article to be useful to examine the relationship between his identity and his reputation from fans.

“Kaneshiro Takeshi: Transnational Stardom and the Media and Culture Industries in Asia’s Global/Postcolonial Age”

While Lau focuses on the Internet fans' reactions to Takeshi Kaneshiro’s transnationality, Eva Tsai pays attention to the relationship between “global stars” and the cultural industries in her article. In this paper, Tsai claims that the structure of Asian media industries has limited Takeshi’s stardom through the changing postcolonial situations, the double consciousness of Asia and the whole world, and the dominant media culture relations. To convince this statement to the readers, Tsai examines the different images of Takeshi and his works in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. First, Tsai analyzes the process of shaping Takeshi as a celebrity in Taiwan. Here, she illustrates how Taiwanese media promoted his “Japaneseness” in the post-colonial period, which also caused debates about his identity. Next, Tsai introduces Takeshi as a transnational actor who can reflect the instability of Hong Kong around the transition from a British colony to under the PRC. Also, Tsai suggests that Takeshi is a rare example of multinational figures which later will be an essential element for Hong Kong films to succeed. After the appearance in Hong Kong cinemas, Japanese mass media regarded Takeshi as an actor “imported” from Hong Kong. By displaying how media industries in three areas have treated Takeshi, Tsai let us compares how the cultural and political background of each country can define his global stardom. Therefore, we found this paper useful to analyze the complication of Takeshi’s identity.

"Takeshi Kaneshiro’s Bi-ethnic, Multilingual Screen Persona"

This article focuses on Takeshi Kaneshiro’s acting and popularity in terms of his use of languages and discusses how Takeshi Kaneshiro's ethnic and linguistic diversity appeals to the media industry in East Asia. As mentioned earlier, Takeshi Kaneshiro speaks Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, and this is related to his childhood environment and experience. As a multi-lingual, he has presented his works in many languages from various countries, which has become a characteristic of him as an actor. Throughout this article, Lau argues that Takeshi Kaneshiro’s linguistic features extend his spectrum as an actor. For example, He has Japanese nationality and speaks Japanese, so he is good at promoting his films in Hong Kong and China to Japan. Lau argues that Takeshi Kaneshiro’s popularity in Japan and Japanese people's impression of him are relatively more positive than other Chinese and Taiwanese actors because he can appeal his cultural and linguistic intimacy with Japanese, and that this is a new way of communicating with the public. In addition, Lau believes Takeshi Kaneshiro understands the power of language. In Wu Xia (2011), Takeshi Kaneshiro’s uses Sichuanese to make his role more mysterious and pure. Although his Sichuan accent is not perfect in the movie, the combination of his Mandarin accent and Sichuan accent increases the probability of the play. Lau's article explains how Takeshi Kaneshiro has built up his unique characteristics by using various languages. From this article, we can understand how he has built his image as a first-generation actor with a pan-Asian image and compare how his characteristics differ from those of his later generations.

"There Is No Such Thing as Asia: Racial Particularities in the "Asian" Films of Hong Kong and Japan"

This article discusses the characteristics of transnational culture in Asia and its impact on the film industry. Lo explains that the ethnic identity in Asia differs from that of the West, which is related to cooperation in the film industry between Asia. Collaborative films between Asian countries utilize cultural differences between each other. For example, in Sleepless Town (1998), which is played by Takeshi Kaneshiro, the main character has mixed Taiwanese and Japanese descent. Lo argues that by giving the main character a variety of identities, the film emphasizes that he is a person who does not belong anywhere and gives him a mysterious image. At the same time, the main character commits crimes in the movie, and it is expressed as if this had something to do with his ethnicity. By analyzing the film, Lo discusses how Japanese and Hong Kong films use ethnic and social characteristics in movies. He argues that the reference and use of other ethnic groups in Asian films reflects some prejudice and certain images. We analyzed this article since we found that the inter-Asian film industry is actually another production of prejudice rather than being interpreted as a transnational approach. The movie reflects Takeshi Kaneshiro's transnational image, so he was able to play the role well, but on the other hand, it makes us think about why he does not have many full Japanese or Taiwanese roles in his filmography. This is the limitation of both Asia films and Takeshi Kaneshiro, and the limited perception that Asian audiences have about transnational figures.

"Takeshi Kaneshiro: A Silence Men"

In this article, the author discusses how quiet a person Takeshi Kaneshiro is mainly from his past and other people's impressions of him. In the article, the author mentions that the reason why Takeshi is not as restless as other stars is that he has been a Buddhist since he was a child with his family. His belief in Buddhism is so devout that he can even fly back to Taipei from the filming location to attend a Buddhist lecture in the middle of his busy schedule. Chen Kexin, a director who has worked with him a lot, once said, "I have never seen such a young man, who became a star in his teens, but still has no desire today. "And unlike others, he has a very low regard for money and status. Takeshi can even do only one movie in two years, just for the sake of interest. Takeshi Kaneshiro's quietness is different from not being good at socializing, but rather his light-heartedness towards life and his love for his private life. This article was selected because we wanted to dig deeper into Takeshi's character. In the strong arguments presented by the author, we can find plenty of evidence to verify this fact. The understanding of Takeshi's character can give us a deeper understanding of him as a person. In turn, we can analyze the movies he has appeared in and how he would act when faced with the celebrity effect.

"Takeshi Kaneshiro: I don’t Know How to Do"

This article is an interview in which the author discusses the world as seen by Takeshi Kaneshiro at the age of 42 from his first point of view. The author's interview is divided into four main parts, "whether good looks become an obsession", "carrying a sense of distance from work", "living in a small town as a recluse" and "Time proves ability". In the first part Takeshi's answer is no. He affirms that good appearance conditions give him opportunities, but he does not regret his aging face. Because in his eyes he would prefer to get the audience's affirmation of his acting skills rather than just caring about his appearance. For the second question, Takeshi is really just treating acting as his job. He has not studied acting professionally, and he works hard and keeps a certain amount of self-examination during filming. Unlike some other popular actors, he does not become arrogant because of his fame, but always treats it as a job. Takeshi really does seem to be an ordinary man living in the mountains and forests. In the popular ice bucket challenge at that time, we can easily find the loneliness in his eyes. He under the hot video also didn't care how hot the video was, but was worried that people with acromegaly didn't get enough attention. Time has proven Takeshi's ability to interpret, but as far as he himself is concerned he is very reluctant to be a star. Maybe he was originally a quiet person, like ordinary life. The purpose of this article is to give a personal interview with Takeshi. We can get a first-hand view of 42-year-old Takeshi's insights into his own life. This is a good article for us to summarize Takeshi's character and review of his career.

Critical debates

As a Japanese Chinese person, Takeshi Kaneshiro's identity issues have been evident since he was a child. He was born in Taiwan but lived in Japan for a long time during his early childhood because of his father's work and attended a Japanese expatriate school. But his weak Japanese language skills caused him to receive bullying from his Japanese classmates, and his Japanese heritage made him despised by the Chinese kids in his neighbourhood. This made his already quiet life even more introverted and confusing. Although no one continued to taunt him after he later transferred to an American school in Taiwan, this sense of confusion from his identity and fans' questions about his identity has stayed with him until now.  In a CNN program named Talk Asia, Takeshi shared his perspective toward the actor’s nationality and the language he or she uses when he was asked his opinion about the Hollywood movie Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). To briefly introduce, Memoirs of a Geisha received various criticism mainly because Chinese actresses, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh, played the three main characters who are Japanese geisha. While Takeshi appreciated that more people could know the Japanese culture of geisha, he also said that “as a Japanese, … (he) would like to watch in Japanese, for, you know, in Japanese, talk in Japanese about geisha”. This shows that even though he has an identity as a Japanese, even though he has grown up with identity issues.

In the early years of his acting career, he focused his career on Taiwan and Hong Kong. Wong Kar-wai's film Chungking Express (1994) was the opportunity to make Takeshi Kaneshiro a hit. His career was on the rise and he attracted a large number of fans in China and brought him many film and television resources. Because he has multiple nationalities, he has more choices of markets. In 1998, Takeshi shifted his acting centre to Japan and achieved a lot of success. After a few years in Japan, due to corporate reasons, Takeshi only accepted film shoots and focused his career on Hong Kong and Taiwan again. Takeshi Kaneshiro not only has a good physical appearance, and his acting skills are also first-class. This has caused a conflict between Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan and the Chinese inland audience on where Takeshi really belongs. The irony is that although netizens everywhere have more or fewer questions about Takeshi's identity, when it comes to discussing where he belongs, some netizens will say they belong to their own side. In contrast to his childhood ostracism, the audience never cared about where he was from, but rather about his proud achievements.

Takeshi Kaneshiro himself has not directly responded to the audience on this multinational issue. We believe that the envelope Buddhist may not care about the audience's controversy about his identity, but just want to live quietly and quietly to bring more quality films to the audience. Indeed, in the interview with CommonWealth magazine, Takeshi said that he is“ in favor of letting nature, destiny run its course” . We can interpret this statement as letting the audience react in their ways rather than forcefully change their opinions. At the same time, he also argued in the interview that people were “too curious” about him rather than him being mysterious. Based on this statement of his shy personality, we can see that he is not eager to gain attention.

In order to analyze his multinationality, we juxtapose Takeshi with a Japanese actor, Ken Watanabe. In the 2005 film, Red Cliff, Ken was originally elected to play Cao Cao. According to a report, however, Chinese fans protested that it was not appropriate for a Japanese actor to play the Chinese historical figure. This leads to the change in casting from Ken Watanabe to Zhang Fengyi. At the same time, however, a Japanese-Taiwanese actor, Takeshi Kaneshiro played another main role in the film, Zhuge Liang. This brings up the question that whether it means Ken Watanabe cannot act as a Chinese classical figure but Takeshi can and what is the difference between them. Given that he grew up in Taiwan, it is likely that fans expected him to know enough history about the three kingdoms. Indeed, in an interview for the Red Cliff, Takeshi said he has grown up seeing the statue or architecture built based on the history of the three kingdoms and heard how significant the historical figures are. Simultaneously, he admits that he has not learned history deeply since he went to a Japanese school in Taiwan.  Even though the amount of  historical knowledge they learned in school could be indifferent between Takeshi and Ken, it is reasonable for fans to expect Takeshi to be more familiar with the three kingdoms than Ken. Furthermore, considering Takeshi’s acting career established in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China, it is possible that Chinese fans recognize him as a “Chinese actor” rather than as a Japanese-Taiwanese actor. Especially, his previous appearance in the period films, such as House of Flying Daggers, could provide the impression that he “deserves' ' to play a historical role. On the other hand, Ken’s bases of acting were limited to Japan and Hollywood at the time and he had no acting experience as a Chinese figure neither in Japanese films nor in Hollywood films. Thus, Ken’s lack of experience can result in the Chinese fans’ opposition to Ken playing Cao Cao. On the other hand, Takeshi was “acceptable” to play the role of Zhuge Liang because Chinese fans did not consider him as a Japanese actor.

Although Chungking Express implies political issues, since the movie is popular, Takeshi Kaneshiro has become famous in many East Asian countries, including China, after he filmed Chungking Express. Since then, he has established various careers by playing in Japanese, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Chinese films. With many films in different East Asian countries, he has gained popularity in East Asia, but at the same time, he has been evaluated as being heterogeneous in terms of language. He speaks many languages in different movies, and people find his pronunciation and intonation different from theirs and feel awkward. This is a common feature in many East Asian countries, where East Asians feel awkward in terms of identity when someone is different in appearance or language. In other words, this is because East Asian countries tend to identify their origin and nationality, and this appears as a kind of nationalism. Due to these cultural issues and nationalism, Takeshi Kaneshiro cannot avoid some criticism from his fans in each country no matter what language he performs. In the interview during the promotion of The Crossing (2014), Takeshi told the interviewer that there are advantages and disadvantages to acting in multiple languages because he did not want the audiences to focus on the pronunciation rather than the content of the film. In other words, he does not want his use of multiple languages to be the objection for the audience to appreciate the film itself.

To sum up, in many East Asian countries, he is not limited to any particular nationality but has an exotic and free image. This is also an element of his popularity because many people have the impression that he is a mysterious actor. This is not an image that Takeshi Kaneshiro or his agency intentionally created, but rather a perception that society has given him. Therefore, the transnational image he has broadens his chances as an actor, but at the same time, it traps him in a particular gaze.

Conclusion

In this wiki page, we have examined Takeshi Kaneshiro’s career life and his personal life with a focus on his transnationality. Takeshi Kaneshiro has been discussed by people from various countries about his identity and languages. These controversies limit his performance in his films because he could not belong to one certain country. Meanwhile, we also found that the controversies help him create his own image and act in many countries. We have also found that Takeshi Kaneshiro's movies are generally of good quality and have a very large fan base. This leads us to find that a famous person or thing can make people nationalistic. People gradually ignore the quality of the film itself and focus on whether the person or thing belongs to the country since transnational celebrities can remove the boundaries between the nations and make new identities, which we even have not realized or seen before. In future research, scholars may try to investigate how to downplay the issue of attribution and focus on the quality of the thing itself. We can also discuss recent celebrity culture trends, which are relatively more multinational than Takeshi’s generation, therefore, how the perspectives and ideas of East Asian people have changed by celebrity cultures.

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