Nomura Mansai II, born April 5, 1966 under the name Nomura Takeshi, is a well known Kyogen stage actor, and film actor. Takeshi is the eldest son of Nomura Mansaku II, a Kyogen master. His debut was at the age of three in the drama, Quiver of The Monkey. Since then he has also been cast in the dramas: in Aguri in 1997, for which he played Dadaist poet Eisuke Yoshiyuki and had won many awards, and in Hana no Ran in 1994. He also had a supporting role in Akira Kurosawa's last epic motion picture Ran, as the blind flute playing hermit boy, Tsurumaru. He portrayed Godzilla through motion capture in Shin Godzilla. Mansai played Abe no Seimei in Onmyoji and Onmyoji 2, an original work by Yumemakura Baku, and received the Best Actor prize at the Blue Ribbon Awards for his work in Onmyoji. He was nominated by the Japanese Academy for best actor for his performance in The Floating Castle. In March 2013, he appeared at the Japan Society and the Guggenheim Museum Rotunda in two productions: Shakespeare's Macbeth adapted to the noh and kyogen traditions with five actors, performed in Japanese with English subtitles and Sanbaso, Divine Dance. On July 30th, 2018, Mansai was appointed chief executive creative director of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. He will oversee the opening and closing ceremonies of both Games.

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