Junichi Kajioka

Junichi Kajioka (pronounced "June-itchy") is an award-winning Japanese filmmaker and actor based in London. He was born in Japan and graduated from Tokyo Keizai University, with a Business Administration degree. He appeared in TV series such as the long-running soap opera Wataru seken wa oni bakari (1990) in the early 90s in Tokyo while he was learning under his then mentor _Teruyuki Kagawa_, the award-winning film actor turned Kabuki-actor. His first stage appearance was in the Fukuko Ishii production of "Kekkon suru Tetsuduki" in Japan. Junichi's first professional film appearance came in Wen Jiang's Devils on the Doorstep (2000) in China where he was studying acting at the Central Academy of Drama. He has also played various Japanese historical figures in Central Chinese Television (CCTV) drama series, such as Monk Fusho in Jianzhen Dongdu (2007) and Aritomo Yamagata in Taiwan 1895 (2008) in leading roles. He was one of the pioneer Japanese actors who went to China to study drama and to work in the Chinese Film and TV industry. In 2012, he was nominated for his roles in King of Life (2012) and Phone Box (2013) at film festivals in the UK and India. Further successes followed and in 2014 he won awards for Imphal 1944 (2014), winning Best Producer and Best Screenplay for Short Drama at the Monaco International Film Festival. Now he works as a writer, director, producer as well as an actor in the film industry. He speaks fluent English, Japanese, and Chinese; and basic Hindi and French. His work spans the UK, Japan, China and India. Junichi has worked actively in television and film. Notable projects include Universal Pictures' 47 Ronin (2013), _Yimou Zhang_'s The Flowers of War (2011) and _Chuan Lu (I)_'s City of Life and Death (2009).