- "The one thing my honourable mother taught me long ago, was never to get into a car with a strange girl. But you, I'm afraid, will get into anything with any girl."
- ― Tiger Tanaka to James Bond
Tiger Tanaka (Japanese: 田中 大河 or たなか たいが) is the head of the Japanese Secret Service and the deuteragonist of the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Portrayed by the late Japanese actor Tetsuro Tamba and voiced by Robert Rietty, Tanaka is based on the character of the same name of Ian Fleming's 1964 novel of the same name.
When the movie got dubbed in Japanese, Tiger was voiced by Takashi Taniguchi in the DVD/Blu-Ray version.
Biography[]
Tiger Tanaka is the youthful, charismatic chief of the Japanese secret service who rarely makes public appearances. Tiger forged a strong relationship with James Bond while he was in Japan. His headquarters are inside an underground train that constantly travels around the Tokyo subway for his protection. He also operates a ninja training school in a castle in a remote area of Japan where he trains Bond in the art of Ninjitsu and teaches him about Japanese culture, as well as marries him to Kissy Suzuki (though it's only staged so he can go undercover).
Later, after being alerted of Bond's discovery of the Volcano Lair by Kissy Suzuki, Tanaka aids Bond in raiding and defeating Ernst Stavro Blofeld, head of SPECTRE, using a team of ninja agents to invade the villain's lair in the inactive volcano.
Personality[]
Efficient and a follower of the latest technologies and trends, Tanaka is the perfect man to be heading the Japanese secret service. He is typically brisk with his staff but deeply respects loyalty. When not on duty, Tiger transforms into the warm, jovial and welcoming host that Bond grows to respect. He is determined to teach the British agent the ways of the Japanese men, culminating in having him pretend to marry one of his own agents as cover. In many ways, Tanaka is more than a match for 007 in terms of womanising and drinking, but is skeptical about how much Bond smokes. Even though most of his job takes place behind a desk (or onboard his private underground train), Tanaka is still fit and fights with the best of them.
Behind the Scenes[]
UA CEO Bud Ornstein met with Toshiro Mifune in the Canary Islands to try to convince him to play Tiger Tanaka, but he was already committed to appear in Grand Prix.[1] Director Lewis Gilbert had chosen Tetsuro Tamba after working with him in The 7th Dawn.
Gallery[]
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References[]
- ↑ Field, Matthew (2015). Some kind of hero : 007 : the remarkable story of the James Bond films, Ajay Chowdhury. ISBN 978-0-7509-6421-0. OCLC 930556527.