Takeshi Kitano

Born in Tokyo, he started a carreer of actor; with his partner Kiyoshi Kaneko, he performed in TV shows and made himself popular. He played in movies and directed his first film, Violent Cop, in 1989, which won many awards. Sonatine was very successful; it was shown in Cannes. He still appears in films and on TV. He wrote around 50 best sellers.