is a Japanese actor. In 2004, he became the youngest winner of the Best Actor award in the history of the Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of 12-year-old Akira in the highly acclaimed Nobody Knows.
Career
Yagira was 12 years old and not a professional actor, when filming began for Nobody Knows in 2002. He then immediately went on to television projects and other films. He co-starred with Eriko Sato in Akane Yamada's All to the Sea which was released in 2010 and co-starred with Kie Kitano in Taro Hyugaji's Under the Nagasaki Sky, released in 2013.
In 2021, Yagira played young Takeshi Kitano in the biopic Asakusa Kid.
Personal life
Yagira was hospitalized on August 29, 2008 for a drug overdose, with early reports calling it a suicide attempt. Yagira later denied that he had been trying to kill himself, noting that he was the one who called an ambulance after he began feeling ill from taking the pills. According to his blog:
On January 15, 2010, Yuya Yagira married TV personality Ellie Toyota at Tokyo's Meiji Shrine. They had registered their marriage on January 14. They have a child together.
Brand endorsements
In 2018, Yagira became the brand ambassador for Japanese men's grooming brand GATSBY. He starred in the TV Commercial "GATSBY Cop", together with popular Japanese actor Mackenyu Arata.
Filmography
Television
Kunimitsu no Matsuri (KTV, 2003), Shinsaku Sakagami
Denchi ga Kireru Made (TV Asahi, 2004), Daichi Takano
Tokyo23: Survival City (WOWOW, 2010), Noboru Arai
Lady: Saigo no Hanzai Profile, episodes 4, 5 (TBS, 2011), Satoshi Tatsumi
Galileo XX (Fuji TV, 2013), Kento Tōma
Aoi Honō (TV Tokyo, 2014), Moyuru Honoo
Nobunaga Concerto, episode 1 (Fuji TV, 2014), Oda Nobuyuki
Nurses of the Palace (TBS, 2015), Kōtarō Nakano
Mare (NHK, Asadora, 2015), Daisuke Ikehata
We're Millennials. Got a Problem? (NTV, 2016), Maribu Michigami
The Brave Yoshihiko and The Seven Driven People (TV Tokyo, 2016), Yuusha Yoshihiko Naotora: The Lady Warlord (NHK, Taiga Drama, 2017), Ryūun-maru Mom, May I Quit Being Your Daughter? (NHK, 2017), Taichi Matsushima Frankenstein's Love (NTV, 2017), Seiya Inaniwa Gintama: Mitsuba hen (dTV, 2017), Toshiro Hijikata Gintama of the Unusual (dTV, 2018), Toshiro Hijikata From Today, It's My Turn, episode 3 (NTV, 2018), Moyuru Honoo A Day-Off of Kasumi Arimura, episode 4 (Wowow, 2020), Kevin Takeda Gift of Fire (NHK, 2020), Osamu Ishimura Pay to Ace (NTV, 2021), Kurodo Kuroki Gannibal (Disney+, 2022), Daigo Agawa
Film
Nobody Knows (2004), Akira Fukushima
Shining Boy and Little Randy (2005) Sugar and Spice (2006), Shiro Yamashita The Bandage Club (2007) The Shock Labyrinth 3D (2009) All to the Sea (2010) Under the Nagasaki Sky (2013), Goro Sawada Unforgiven (2013), Yuichi Hirose Again (2013), Ryutaro Crows Explode (2014), Toru Gora Ushijima the Loan Shark 2 (2014), Ebinuma Saiga no Inochi (2014), Keito Myose Gassoh (2015), Kiwamu Akitsu Destruction Babies (2016), Taira Ashihara Hentai Kamen: Abnormal Crisis (2016), Tadashi Makoto Pink and Gray (2016), Shingo Suzuki Ninkyo Yaro (2016) Grab the Sun (2016) Gintama (2017), Toshiro Hijikata Samurai's Promise (2018), Chiri Tsubaki Hibiki (2018), Kohei Tanaka Gintama 2 (2018), Toshiro Hijikata His Lost Name (2019), Shichi The Fable (2019), Kojima Don't Cry, Mr. Ogre (2019), Tomoyuki Saito Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration (2019) From Today, It's My Turn the Movie (2020), Eiji Yanagi Hokusai (2021), Hokusai Katsushika (young) Gift of Fire (2021), Osamu Ishimura Under the Turquoise Sky (2021), Takeshi Asakusa Kid (2021), Takeshi Kitano The Fish Tale (2022), Hiyo We're Millennials. Got a Problem?: The Movie (2023), Maribu Michigami
Awards
2004: 57th Cannes Film Festival - Best Actor for Nobody Knows
2004: 90th Kinema Junpo Award - Best New Actor for Nobody Knows
2005: 26th Yokohama Film Festival - Best New Actor for Nobody Knows
2016: Drama Academy Awards - Best Supporting Actor for We're Millennials. Got a problem? 2017: 90th Kinema Junpo Award - Best Actor for Destruction Babies 2017: 38th Yokohama Film Festival - Best Actor for Destruction Babies 2022: 46th Elan d'or Awards - Newcomer of the Year