Ken Watanabe (born October 21, 1959) is a Japanese stage, film, and television actor. He is known to English-speaking audiences for playing tragic heroic roles such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in "Letters from Iwo Jima" and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in "The Last Samurai," for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Among other awards, he has twice won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Actor: in 2007 for "Memories of Tomorrow" and in 2010 for "The Drowning Sun." He is also known for his roles in Christopher Nolan's Hollywood blockbusters "Batman Begins" and "Inception."