Taichi Saotome

Who is Taichi Saotome?

Taichi Saotome b. 24 September 1991 is a Japanese film and stage actor best known for playing beautiful young men and women. He is known as "Nagashime Ouji" or "Sidelong Glance Prince".

His father is the head of the gekidan sujaku theatre troupe, and Saotome grew up within the troupe, performing primarily in taishū engeki, a theatrical form related to kabuki, but less formalized. Identified as having a natural talent as an onnagata, he has been trained in that field, and performs in female roles onstage.

He has acted in two films by director Takeshi Kitano. In 2003, in Zatoichi, he portrayed the child Seitaro who, when older, disguised himself as a geisha. Though in a different troupe from Tachibana, the two have frequently practiced and performed together. Saotome was also in Kitano's 2005 film, Takeshis', in which he was credited as himself, playing a young female impersonator and dancer.

Saotome also plays young male roles, particularly those with a bishōnen aesthetic, i.e. graceful, beautiful young men. In 2005, he played the role of Mori Ranmaru in a National Museum event called "Sengoku Fantasy", and on New Year's 2007, he played a young Horibe Yasubee in the NHK New Year's jidaigeki play.