Kitano Takeshi was born January 18, 1947, in Umeshima, Adachiku, Tokyo, the youngest of four, having two elder brothers, Shigekazi and Masaru, and an elder sister, Yasuko. Masaru, already a young adult, was working as a translator, while the rest still attended school.
His father, Kikujiro, originally a lacquer, worked as a housepainter and decorator after a short and failed attempt as fletcher. This was post-war Japan and were the lucky had a regular job, getting a monthly pay check, Kikujiro had to support his family by taking any job he could get. Takeshi and his brothers had to help him with his work, which he hated, as his classmates would make fun of and look down on him. But the appearance as a man who worked hard to support his family was only superficial.
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