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Ever wonder if the stars line up to make a Hollywood breakthrough happen? Well, on a night when Tokyo was all locked down tighter than a drum thanks to Donald Trump’s visit, Takehiro Hira was busy blazing his own cosmic trail high above the city lights on the 51st floor of the Roppongi Hills Club. This Japanese actor, who took the scenic route from Japanese dramas to Hollywood blockbusters, snagged The Hollywood Reporter’s Trailblazer Award—an honor reserved for those shaking up the scene and telling stories that Hollywood usually sidelines. With Moon in Sagittarius urging bold moves and Mars firing up ambitions, Hira’s leap of faith from Japan to Hollywood wasn’t just gutsy; it was written in the stars. Can you imagine the resistance he faced—COVID, industry strikes, and skeptical onlookers? Yet here he is, glowing under Tokyo’s night sky, proving that sometimes you’ve gotta quit the script and write your own. Curious about how this journey unfolded and who else rubbed elbows at this star-studded bash? LEARN MORE.
Takehiro Hira‘s late career success streak continued on Tuesday night in Tokyo, as the in-demand Japanese actor was awarded The Hollywood Reporter‘s Trailblazer Award at a swanky gala event held at the sky-high Roppongi Hills Club.
The American Film Night event, a collaboration between THR and the Motion Picture Association, took place during the Tokyo International Film Festival on a night the city was dealing with the traffic and security crunch of Donald Trump’s state visit to Japan. Away from the closed roads and police checkpoints of central Tokyo, guests, including Hollywood talent and executives, as well as local power brokers, found respite on the 51st floor of the Roppongi Hills Club with stunning nighttime views of the city.
Receiving his award from THR‘s Asia bureau chief Patrick Brzeski and MPA APAC president and managing director Urmila Venugopalan, Hira follows Shogun co-star Tadanobu Asano as a recipient of the coveted THR Trailblazer Award, and becomes the second Japanese honoree. THR‘s Trailblazer Award is given to artists whose work and careers illuminate stories and characters who have been traditionally marginalized in Hollywood.
Takehiro Hira and MPA APAC president and managing director Urmila Venugopalan.
MPA
A well-deserved honoree, Hira was recognized for a career that took an unorthodox and circuitous route to success. Born in Japan, but raised in the U.S. from his teenage years onwards, Hira followed his father Mikijirō Hira into acting. After minor parts in Japanese dramas, Hira came to prominence in recent years with roles in prestige Hollywood projects including Giri/Haji, The Swarm, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Captain America: Brave New World, and of course FX’s critical smash hit Shogun. Among the deluge of Emmy nominations that Shogun received in 2024, Hira was nominated in the best supporting actor in a drama series category. Most recently, Hira stars in Hikari’s feature Rental Family, a buzzy dramedy starring Oscar-winner Brendan Fraser that is attracting awards talk.
Speaking to THR at the event, Hira discussed what it meant to him to receive the Trailblazer Award, and how his career reflected his commitment to taking a different path. “Well, I made a decision to sort of quit Japan [a few years ago], and make a full commitment to working in Hollywood. Back then, people weren’t very supportive, but I believed in my choices. So it really means a lot to me to get this recognition, as it wasn’t always easy,” Hira said.
He added, “When I made that transition to Hollywood, we had COVID and the strikes, so just getting a job or an audition in Hollywood was not easy. I never really imagined how this would snowball into something like this. I feel very lucky.”
From left: Paul Schrader, Alan Poul and THR’s Asia bureau chief Patrick Brzeski.
Abid Rahman
Also among the attendees at Tuesday night’s event were Elvis producer and longtime Baz Luhrmann collaborator Schuyler Weiss, Shogun producer Eriko Miyagawa, Alien Earth producer Apinat Obb Siricharoenjit, legendary filmmaker Paul Schrader, veteran producer Alan Poul and up-and-coming filmmaker and model Hailey Gates, whose film Atropia is showing in Tokyo festival’s main competition. Japanese stars Hideaki Itō (Last Samurai Standing, Tokyo Vice) and Sho Kasamatsu (Gannibal, Tokyo Vice) were also there.
Among the many entertainment industry executives in attendance were Yoshishige Shimatani, MPA Japan chairperson and former president of Toho; Tamotsu Hiiro, Disney’s managing director of Japan; Gaku Narita, Disney’s executive director of original content in Japan; and Andrew Ure, Netflix’s vp of global affairs in APAC.
Japan’s minister for internal affairs and communications Yoshimasa Hayashi and the country’s former justice minister Takashi Yamashita were among the prominent local political representation. In his remarks, Hayashi said, “I’ve only been internal affairs and communications minister for about a week but have been chair of the parliamentary group for promoting film and content for two decades. The Japanese content business has been growing robustly and has now overtaken the [domestic] semiconductor industry.”
From left: ‘Elvis’ producer Schuyler Weiss; Takehiro Hira; MPA APAC president and managing director Urmila Venugopalan; Japan’s minister for internal affairs and communications Yoshimasa Hayashi; chairperson of the cabinet committee Takashi Yamashita; secretary general of the digital content strategy subcommittee, Liberal Democratic Party, Taro Yamada; and chairperson MPA Japan Yoshishige Shimatani.
MPA
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