Nakadai’s death was announced by Mumeijuku, the acting school he founded, though no further details were provided.
Nakadai first gained international fame through his collaboration with director Masaki Kobayashi in the epic anti-war trilogy The Human Condition in the late 1950s and early 1960s. While his role in Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai (1954) was a small walk-on part, Nakadai later became a central figure in Kurosawa’s films, stepping in as the director's lead actor after the departure of Toshiro Mifune.
One of Nakadai's most memorable performances came in Kagemusha (1980), where he portrayed the central character in a story that won the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The actor also played the doomed warlord who divides his kingdom between his sons in "Ran", Kurosawa's 1985 film based on the Shakespeare play "King Lear".
Nakadai also starred in Kurosawa's 1961 samurai film "Yojimbo" -- with Mifune -- and worked with other directors, including Hiroshi Teshigahara and Kon Ichikawa.
He set up Mumeijuku, a private acting school and troupe, in 1975 together with his late wife, the actor Yasuko Miyazaki, educating younger actors.
One former pupil is Koji Yakusho, who won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 for his role in Wim Wenders' "Perfect Days".
Nakadai continued acting until recently, performing this year at a theatre in the Noto region that was still reeling from a deadly earthquake on New Year's Day last year.
