- Brother of Shintarô Ishihara
- Uncle of Yoshizumi Ishihara
- Yûjirô Ishihara made quite a few "moodo/akushon" (Japanese pronunciation of the phrase "mood/action") picture at Nikkatsu Studios during the sixties. These were full of nourish romantic images as well as action.
- Nikkatsu Studio had a scare wen Ishihara, its main star, had a skiing accident and was sidelined for months.
- Throughout his life Yujiro used alcohol and tobacco, and ate meals that were lacking in vegetables; this unhealthy lifestyle is generally acknowledged as contributing to his early death.
- His final appearance as an actor was in the final episode of the popular detective television drama Taiyo ni Hoero!. In Taiyo ni Hoero! Ishihara kept on playing the role of Shunsuke Todo for 14 years and gained new popularity.
- Yujiro survived a 1978 oral cancer of the tongue, and a 1981 aortic aneurysm, supported by friends, family and his legion of fans. However he was later diagnosed with liver cancer and died at Keio University Hospital in 1987 on July 17 at 4:26. He was 52 years old.
- In 1956, with help from producer Takiko Mizunoe and his brother Shintaro, he received a bit-part in the film adaptation of Shintaro's Akutagawa Prize-winning Season of the Sun, making his film debut. Afterwards he withdrew from Keio University to work for Nikkatsu, playing the lead in the film adaptation of Shintaro's novel Crazed Fruit.
- During his elementary school years he participated in competitive swimming and skied on Mt. Tengu.
- In 1996 his older brother, Shintaro, published a biography, Ototo , (Younger Brother), that won the Mainichi Bungakusho Special Prize and became the basis of a drama broadcast by TV Asahi in 2004.
- He was beloved by many fans as a representative youth star in the films of postwar Japan and subsequently as a macho movie hero.
- He would go on to become one of the representative stars of the Showa Era with his twin acting and singing career, but his life was one made harder by illness and injury.
- Yujiro, together with Akira Kobayashi, was the main male star at Nikkatsu on Nikkatsu's move into the Roman Porno soft porn market.
- At the 1958 Blue Ribbon Awards Ishihara won the prize for best new actor for the 1957 films Washi to taka and Man Who Causes a Storm.
- Kurobe's Sun which he produced was a great success but some movies he produced failed and he was forced to appear in the television dramas although he was reluctant to appear.
- Yujiro Ishihara was called a Japanese Elvis Presley and his films and music are still followed by lovers of the Showa period. On the anniversary of his death, 17 July, his mourning ceremony is often rebroadcast on television.
- Wanting to become an actor, he auditioned at Toho, Daiei Film and Nikkatsu, but did not pass any of his auditions.
- His image features on a 1997 Japanese postage stamp.
- In 1960 he married actress Mie Kitahara, his co-star in a number of films beginning in 1956 with Crazed Fruit.
- Yujiro's film debut was the 1956 film Season of the Sun, based on a novel written by his brother.
- He aimed to enter Keio Senior High School, but did not pass the entrance examination. He enrolled at Keio Shiki Boys' Senior High School, but in 1951 was admitted to Keio Senior High School. Afterward he entered the political science department of the school of law at Keio University, associated with the high school, but reportedly spent all his time playing around.
- He founded the Ishihara Productions company to make films.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content