small part. Turning Point In 1993 he starred as a bisexual detective director in "Atami Murder Case Monte Carlo Illusion" written and directed by Kohei Tsuka. In 1994 he co-starred in "Shinoidare" (directed by Tatsuoki Hosono) with Koji Yakusho and received the Special Award at the Japanese Professional Movie Awards in combination with "Kyouju Luger P08". Starting with playing the role of the talented Rōjū Matsudaira Norisato in the 1995 NHK Taiga drama "Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune", the number of appearances in historical dramas increased over time, especially in the Taiga dramas "Genroku Ryoran" (1999), "Musashi MUSASHI" (2003), "Yoshitsune" (2005) and appeared in succession in an important role in "Heart of a Samurai" (2009). Another breakthrough In 2000, he secured a supporting role in the drama "TRICK", in which he co-starred with Yukie Nakama, he played the role thoroughly and used many photographs of his modelling era as self-deprecation material. In addition, he was in charge of the postscript of "The Summer of the Ubume" which was written by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, triggered by the movie "The Summer of the Ubume Birds" that appeared in 2005. He wrote his impressions of appearing in a movie. His performance in the TV drama The Man Who Can't Get Married won the FNS Good Work Grand Prize in 2006. Popular at the time of the bubble, he appeared in the movie Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust released in 2007. He was in charge of the voice acting for the role of Kenshiro for the animated movie Fist of the North Star: The Legends of the True Savior released on 11th March 2006. In 2009, Abe won the Best Actor award in the 63rd Mainichi Film Award for his performances in Still Walking and Aoi Tori. Abe also starred in Hideki Takeuchi's Thermae Romae. He then played a supporting role in Hirokazu Kore-eda's I Wish. Filmography Films Haikarasan ga Tōru (1988) YAWARA! (1989) Spirit Warrior (1990) Yamato Takeru (1994) Moon Over Tao (1997) Hissatsu! Shamisenya no Yuji (1999) Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) Tokyo Raiders (2000) Crazy Lips (2000) Blood Sucking Space (2001) Rush! (2001) Platonic Sex (2001) Trick (2002) Hana and Alice (2004) Hotel Venus (2004) Survive Style 5+ (2004) My Lover is a Sniper: The Movie (2004) Hasami Otoko (2004) Ubume no Natsu (2005) Legend of Raoh: Chapter of Love in Death (2006) Trick 2 (2006) The Ode to Joy (2006) Forbidden Siren (2006) Bubble