Tomio Aoki (Yokohama, October 7, 1923 – Setagaya, January 24, 2004) was a Japanese actor, considered the first major child star of Japanese cinema. He rose to fame under the nickname Tokkan Kozō ("impetuous boy"), derived from Yasujirō Ozu's film *A Straightforward Boy* (1929). His most iconic and internationally recognized performance is in Ozu's masterpiece *I Was Born, But...* (1932), where he plays one of the two protagonist brothers with remarkable spontaneity and energy. After World War II, his career continued as a prolific character actor, appearing in hundreds of films until the 1990s. In this second phase, he worked with other masters of Japanese cinema, including Akira Kurosawa in films such as *Drunken Angel* (1948) and *Stray Dog* (1949). His primary historical significance lies in his pioneering status and the indelible impact he had on Japanese silent cinema, defining the role of the child actor in the country.