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1-50 of 125
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Setsuko Hara became one of Japan's best-loved stars over her 30-year film career. Her signature character type, variations on a daughter devoted to her parents and home, inspired the nickname that stayed with her until retirement: the Eternal Virgin. To some extent, reality mirrored her roles in these films. In a society that considers marriage and parenting almost obligatory, she remained single and childless, something of a controversy in Japan in the 1950s. Fortunately she was popular enough to avoid criticism, but the 1950s were still a hard decade. She was plagued by ill health, missing out on several top roles as a result, and she witnessed the death of her camera-man brother in a freak train accident on set.
In 1963, shortly after the death of her mentor, director Yasujirô Ozu, she suddenly walked away from the film industry. At age 43, and at the height of her popularity, she bluntly refused to perform again, angering her fans, the industry, and the press. She implied acting had never been a pleasure and that she had only pursued a career in order to provide for her large family; this explanation is seen as the cause of her popularity backlash. She moved to a small house in picturesque Kamakura where she remained, living alone (though apparently sociable with friends), and refusing all roles offered.
She is undoubtedly known mostly for her work with Yasujiro Ozu, making six films with the great director, including the so-called Noriko trilogy, of which Tokyo Story (1953) is probably the best-known. She also worked with Akira Kurosawa, Mikio Naruse, Hiroshi Inagaki, and many others.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Hiroyuki Watanabe was born on 9 December 1955 in Mito, Japan. He was an actor and producer, known for Everly (2014) and In Full Bloom (2019). He was married to Hideko Hara. He died on 3 May 2022 in Kanagawa, Japan.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Shinji Sômai was born on 13 January 1948 in Morioka, Iwate, Japan. He was a director and assistant director, known for Typhoon Club (1985), Ah haru (1998) and Moving (1993). He died on 9 September 2001 in Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Akemi Negishi might never have become an actress but for Josef von Sternberg. The legendary director was in Japan looking for a woman to play the seductress who leads a bunch of soldiers astray in his upcoming (and as it turned out, last) movie _Anatahan (1954)_. But Sternberg spotted Negishi one night, dancing on the cabaret stage, and chose her at once. This was the first in a long string of exotic roles, most unusual for the average Japanese actress, but which became her trademark, in films as various as _Kingukongu tai Gojira (1962)_ and Dodes'ka-den (1970). She was a favorite actress of both Akira Kurosawa and Ishirô Honda, both directors seeing beyond the kind of role in which she was usually typecast, and thereby encouraging her to some of the best work any Japanese actress did in the 1950s and 1960s. Her most memorable roles are probably for Kurosawa, in The Lower Depths (1957) and Dodes'ka-den (1970); but she is probably best known outside Japan for playing the woman who leads the dance of tribute to Kong in _Kingukongu tai Gojira (1962)_. Negishi was an unusual presence in Japanese film at that time, since her presence was so aggressively, obviously sensual. This militated against her becoming a major star in the conservative Japanese atmosphere of the time, but she was fortunate to be able to do excellent character work throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Following her arresting cameo as the beautiful lone housewife in Dodes'ka-den (1970), it appears that Negishi retired.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Transportation Department
Ken Ogata was born on 20 July 1937 in Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for Vengeance Is Mine (1979), Edo Porn (1981) and The Ballad of Narayama (1983). He died on 5 October 2008 in Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.- Kunie Tanaka was born on 23 November 1932 in Gifu, Japan. He was an actor, known for Sanjuro (1962), Live Your Own Way (1968) and Nogare no machi (1983). He died on 24 March 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Hideo Takamatsu was born on 24 October 1929 in Nagaoka-gun, Kochi, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Last Emperor (1987), Kyojin Ôkuma Shigenobu (1963) and Shogun (1980). He died on 26 February 2007 in Kanagawa, Japan.
- Actress
Miki Odagiri is known primarily for her important and timeless role as the upbeat office girl in Akira Kurosawa's classic Ikiru opposite Takashi Shimura, whose character is dying of cancer, and Miki, as Toyo Odagiri, inspires him to live... just by being herself: bubbly, spontaneous, and optimistic. Her character is also filled with blunt sarcasm that was extremely rare in movies of the early-1950's. Perhaps Miki and Takashi's most memorable scene is when she's telling him the nicknames she created for their fellow workmates... including his! Sadly, beyond Ikiru, finding the handful of other Japanese movies she appeared in, especially on DVD or Blu Ray, is extremely difficult. But she left an impression in what's considered not only one of the legendary Kurosawa's greatest achievements, but one of the best movies ever made, worldwide.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kôzaburô Yoshimura was born on 9 September 1911 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Anjô-ke no butôkai (1947), A Night to Remember (1962) and Clothes of Deception (1951). He died on 7 November 2000 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.- Director
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Yasuharu Hasebe was born on 4 April 1932 in Japan. He was a director and writer, known for The Naked Seven (1972), Sukeban Deka: Dirty Mary (1974) and A Gangster's Morals (1970). He was married to Takako Hasebe. He died on 14 June 2009 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.- Isao Natsuyagi was born on 25 December 1939 in Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan. He was an actor, known for I Want To (1979), Emperor (2012) and The Land of Hope (2012). He died on 11 May 2013 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Kôji Mitsui was born on 6 March 1910 in Yokohama, Japan. He was an actor, known for The Lower Depths (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958) and High and Low (1963). He was married to Fusako Maki. He died on 20 July 1979 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Yasunari Kawabata was born on 11 June 1899 in Osaka, Japan. He was a writer and actor, known for A Page of Madness (1926), Izu no odoriko (1967) and Izu no odoriko (1974). He was married to Hideko Keizo. He died on 16 April 1972 in Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Actor
- Music Department
- Writer
Atsushi Sakurai was born on 7 March 1966 in Gunma, Japan. He was an actor and writer, known for The Last Supper (2005), Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) and Trinity Blood (2005). He died on 19 October 2023 in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Tetsuji Takechi was born on 10 December 1912 in Osaka, Japan. He was a director and writer. He was married to Hideko Kawaguchi. He died on 26 July 1988 in Kanagawa, Japan.- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
- Director
Yoshimitsu Banno studied at Toho under such directors as Hiromichi Horikawa, Mikio Naruse, Kengo Furusawa and Seiji Maruyama. By 1970 Toho was ready to promote him to full director, and the resulting project, Birth of the Japanese Islands (1970) played at Osaka's Expo 70, attracting record-breaking crowds. Gojira series producer Tomoyuki Tanaka signed him up to help revitalize the series. The result was the famous (or infamous) Gojira vs. Hedora (1971), a passionately avant-garde film which so horrified producer Tanaka that Banno's directorial privileges at Toho were temporarily suspended. He managed to restore his reputation by rewriting and directing second unit for Nosutodoramusu no Daiyogen (1974). He was approached to write and/or direct Gojira movies twice more in the 1970s, but his ideas continued to be too radical for the studio. Eventually he resigned as a director and became an executive in charge of project development, which in recent years has included the highly ambitious JAPAX Project, a 70mm. process meant to compete with the Imax process.- Kôjirô Hongô was born on 15 February 1938 in Okayama, Japan. He was an actor, known for Buddha (1961), Satan's Sword (1960) and Nippon meishôbu monogatari (1964). He died on 14 February 2013 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Isamu Nagato was born on 1 January 1932 in Kurashiki, Japan. He was an actor, known for Three Outlaw Samurai (1964), Crimson Bat, the Blind Swordswoman (1969) and The Great Turnabout (1967). He died on 4 June 2013 in Kanagawa, Japan.
- Tamio Kawaji was born on 21 July 1938 in Zushi, Kanagawa, Japan. He was an actor, known for Chi-n-pi-ra (1984), Gappa the Triphibian Monster (1967) and The Warped Ones (1960). He died on 10 February 2018 in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Director
- Art Department
- Animation Department
Noboru Ishiguro was born on 24 August 1938 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director, known for Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984), Hoshi Neko Fullhouse (1989) and Heavy (1990). He died on 20 March 2012 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Hiroyuki Okita was born on 7 January 1963 in Kanagawa, Japan. He was an actor, known for Lily C.A.T. (1987), Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1995) and Ultraman: Tiga (1996). He died on 27 March 1999 in Kanagawa, Japan.- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Takao Saitô was born on 5 March 1929 in Kyoto, Japan. He was a cinematographer and actor, known for Ran (1985), Dreams (1990) and Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior (1980). He died on 6 December 2014 in Zama, Kanagawa, Japan.- Nijiko Kiyokawa was born on 24 November 1912 in Matsudo, Chiba, Japan. She was an actress, known for Pom Poko (1994), Shiosai (1964) and The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956). She died on 24 May 2002 in Takatsu, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Shion Nakamaru was born on 22 July 1983 in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. She was an actress, known for Ultraman Nexus (2004), Kamen Rider W (2009) and Ultraseven X (2007). She died on 11 July 2022 in Kanagawa, Japan.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Susumu Takaku was born on 11 January 1933 in Fukushima, Japan. Susumu was a writer, known for The Golden Bat (1966), Chouriki Sentai Ohranger (1995) and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (1994). Susumu was married to Kumiko. Susumu died on 22 July 2009 in Miyamae, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan.