In a career that spanned three decades Funakoshi starred in a variety of genres and worked for directors Kōzaburō Yoshimura, Mikio Naruse, Kon Ichikawa and Yasuzo Masumura.

[1] Funakoshi was a favorite actor of internationally renowned director Kon Ichikawa.

[1] Perhaps their most notable film was the World War II drama Fires on the Plain (Nobi, 1959).

Funakoshi played the lead role of Imperial Army Private Tamura, a soldier stationed on Leyte Island in the Philippines.

For several years, Funakoshi portrayed Tanokura Magobei, a close associate of the shogun, on Abarenbō Shōgun.