War roles bring real-world tension for Japanese actor in China

On a sprawling Sino-Japanese war film set in a Shanghai studio, Japanese actor Tenma Shibuya leaned into this reporter and quietly warned, “Don’t speak Japanese.”

Chinese parents and their son, sightseeing, passed by, reacting with disgust while recalling a scene from the production. “This is the place where Japanese soldiers beheaded Chinese people.”

For Shibuya, 56, the moment captures the tension he has lived with for more than 15 years in China, where simply being Japanese has drawn him into international, political and historical issues. “Japanese people bear the burden of the cross,” he says.

China has touted 2025 as the 80th anniversary of its victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

Shibuya appeared as a Japanese military officer in “Evil Unbound,” a film released in September about the Imperial Japanese Army’s notorious Unit 731 that conducted biological and chemical warfare research in China during World War II, according to historians.

The role drew criticism on Japanese social media for “participating in anti-Japanese propaganda,” but Shibuya said he continued acting because of his pride in the craft.

“I will advocate for peace and oppose war through culture and the arts. I will do it in any way I can,” he said.

Shibuya has appeared in more than 100 films, television dramas, and stage plays. He acted in a number of productions in Japan but decided to embark on a new chapter and moved to Beijing in 2006 to study Chinese.

His early years in China were marked by a series of struggles, however. With barely any command of the language, he worked fewer than 20 days during his first two years.

Shibuya had initially been told his first drama was a “historical” piece. Upon completion, it was promoted as a “major anti-Japanese production.”

He was unaware at the time that numerous films and TV dramas portraying China’s battles with the Imperial Japanese Army from 1931 to 1945 were being produced. “Honestly, I had mixed feelings,” he said.

Shibuya’s career breakthrough came in 2008 when he appeared in “Ip Man,” a kung fu film about the martial artist who would later teach Bruce Lee.

Its success brought him a steady stream of offers. Most of his subsequent roles cast him as an Imperial Japanese Army soldier, often depicted as a villain. “If I don’t play this role someone else will. And if that’s the case, then I’ll do it,” he decided.

Shibuya consulted with directors and revised countless scripts, but some projects crossed a line.

One script featured Japanese soldiers eating human flesh on the battlefield — a scene with no historical basis.

Having received an initial offer, he repeatedly asked to discuss the cannibalism scene with the director. But those meetings never took place, and the offer eventually fell through — costing him what would have been his biggest role to date.

Japan-China relations have continued to deteriorate in recent years.

In a 2024 survey conducted by Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO and the China International Communications Group, nearly 90 percent of respondents in both countries said they had an “unfavorable” impression of the other.

On Sept. 18 last year, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was stabbed by a Chinese man he did not know while walking to school in Shenzhen in southern China’s Guangdong Province. He died the following day.

China designates this date as a “Day of National Humiliation,” as Japanese troops bombed a railroad track near Shenyang on Sept. 18, 1931, marking the start of the Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, which preceded Japan’s invasion of northeastern China.

The attacker in Shenzhen said his motive was to “attract attention online.” The killing shocked Japanese residents in China, raising concerns that hostility toward Japanese people had reached a dangerous level.

Numerous events in 2025 commemorated the 80th anniversary of war victory over Japan, including a large-scale military parade held in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Harassment of Japanese people became a daily occurrence in China.

The Japanese Embassy repeatedly called for vigilance, advising citizens to “be particularly vigilant about rising anti-Japanese sentiment,” to avoid speaking Japanese in public, and to refrain from wearing clothing that could identify them as Japanese. Many felt compelled to hide their nationality.

The film “Evil Unbound” was released on the first anniversary of the Shenzhen incident. In the film, Shibuya delivers a convincing performance as a scientist in the Imperial Japanese Army who conducts human experiments and inflicts violence on Chinese prisoners of war.

To portray the character’s mindset, he focused on the scientist’s excitement over achieving results, channeling ambition and the desire for recognition within the military. He wanted to show a human element that resonates with modern audiences. “That’s what being an actor is about,” he said.

At a screening, director Zhao Linshan said, “Japanese people have a clear dual nature, which makes it difficult for foreigners to play them.” He explained that he had offered roles to Japanese actors and that more than 80 participated in the film.

Do such films simply fuel hatred toward Japanese people? Shibuya is firm in his response: “Understanding the darkest parts of history is how we prevent them from happening again and move toward a peaceful future.”

Rising anti-Japanese sentiment in China and anti-Chinese sentiment in Japan deeply trouble him. Without peace, he says, he cannot perform the work he loves. “That is why we sincerely hope for peace.”

On the night the Japanese boy was killed in Shenzhen, hundreds of local residents came to his school to lay flowers and grieve in the dark in front of the gates.

One office worker with an 11-year-old son said, “Japan and China’s past is history now, and we cannot allow that resentment to be inherited by the next generation.”

© KYODO