He made his television acting debut in 1987, after much work in theatre, in NHK's year-long Japanese period drama series Takeda Shingen.
[1] Also that year, he made his motion picture debut in Soul Music Lovers Only.
In 1989, he was named Best Newcomer at the Japanese Academy Awards for his role in the film Buddies.
In 1991 he portrayed the deaf-mute surfer Shigeru in Takeshi Kitano's third film A Scene at the Sea.
He starred in Junji Sakamoto's Falling Angels in 1997, followed by four films in 1998 including Golden Wolf, Resurrection, and Beat.