​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Takashi Shimura (志村 喬, Shimura Takashi, March 12, 1905 – February 11, 1982) was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in Drunken Angel (1948), Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952) and Seven Samurai (1954).[3] He played Professor Kyohei Yamane in Ishirō Honda's original Godzilla (1954) and its first sequel, Godzilla Raids Again ...