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Film Actor, The Boy and the Heron's Granduncle Voice Actor Shohei Hino Dies

NHK reported on Wednesday that Japanese actor Shohei Hino died in his home on November 14. He was 75. According to Hino's agency, he took a break from his 14-year-long bicycling travel show Nippon Jūdan Kokoro Tabi (A Heart's Journey Across Japan) in April, to focus on treatment after his chronic back pain worsened, but his health deteriorated since then.

Hino was born on May 30, 1949 in Tokyo. At the age of 12, he joined the Komadori theater group, and performed as a child actor. He gained attention in his role as Hideyoshi in the 1973 historical drama Kunitori Monogatari, and then played his first starring role in a feature film with My Blood is the Blood of Others the following year. Since then, Hino appeared in numerous television series and films.

Hino voiced the character Granduncle in Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's 2023 film The Boy and the Heron.

This year, Hino appeared in three episodes of the live-action television series Onihei Hankachō and the film Onihei Hankachō Kettō as Sagami no Hikojū. Hino also appeared in the film Last Mile, which opened in Japan in August 23.

Source: NHK News Web via Studio Ghibli Unofficial Fansite