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Isuzu Yamada

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Isuzu Yamada
Junior Third Rank
山田 五十鈴
Isuzu Yamada in 1937
Born
Mitsu Yamada

(1917-02-05)5 February 1917
Osaka, Japan
Died9 July 2012(2012-07-09) (aged 95)
Tokyo, Japan
OccupationActress
Years active1930–2002

Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, Yamada Isuzu, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades.[1][2]

Biography

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Yamada was born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, the daughter of Kusudu Yamada,[1] a shinpa actor specialising in onnagata roles,[3] and Ritsu, a geisha.[2][4] Under her mother's influence, she began learning nagauta and Japanese traditional dance from the age of six.[2][4]

Yamada debuted as a film actress in 1930 at age twelve, appearing in the Nikkatsu film Tsurugi wo koete opposite Denjirō Ōkōchi.[3] She soon became one of Nikkatsu's top actresses,[2] but it was her portrayals of strong-willed modern girls in Kenji Mizoguchi's Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion in 1936 at the new Daiichi Eiga studio that earned her popularity and critical acclaim.[3][5] Moving to Shinkō Kinema and then to Toho, she became a star with Mikio Naruse's Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro (1938), appearing at the side of Kazuo Hasegawa.[1] During World War II, she established the theatre group Shin Engi-za together with Hasegawa, and appeared in films such as Naruse's The Song Lantern (1943) and The Way of Drama (Shibaido, 1944).[5]

In 1946, in opposition to the union strike at Toho, Yamada sided with the anti-unionist group "Jū hito no hata no kai" ("Society of the Flag of Ten"), which consisted of Hasegawa, Setsuko Hara, Hideko Takamine and others. She moved from Toho to the Shintoho studios, but later left Shintoho as well to become a freelancer.[6] She married leftist actor Yoshi Katō, her third husband,[2] and in the wake returned to the union,[6] joined the Mingei Theatre Company and co-founded the Gendai Haiyu Kyokai theatre group.[5]

During the second half of the 1950s, Yamada's main attention shifted towards the stage,[3] but she still appeared in a number of distinguished films like Naruse's Flowing (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths (1957) and Throne of Blood (1957).[5] Other directors she worked with during this decade include Keisuke Kinoshita, Kaneto Shindō and Shirō Toyoda. In addition to her theatre engagements, she appeared on television, including the long-running Hissatsu series.[3][5][7] Her last TV appearance was in 2002.[2]

Yamada died from multiple organ failure in Tokyo on 9 July 2012 at the age of 95.[8][9] She was married four times, to actor Ichirō Tsukita, to producer Kazuo Takimura, to actor Yoshi Katō, and to actor Tsutomu Shimomoto. Her daughter with Tsukita, Michiko, became known as the actress Michiko Saga (1935–1992).[1][2][4]

Awards (selected)

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Yamada earned the Blue Ribbon Award and the Mainichi Film Award For Best Actress simultaneously two times: in 1952 for Gendai-jin and Hakone fūunroku,[10][11] and in 1956 for Boshizō, A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women, and Flowing.[12][13] She also received the Blue Ribbon Award For Best Supporting Actress in 1955 for Takekurabe and Ishigassen.[14] In 1995, she received a Special Award from the Chairman of the Japan Academy in honour of her lifetime achievements in cinema.[15]

For her work on stage, she has been awarded at the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Arts Festival three times for the plays Tanuki (1974),[16] Aizome Takao (1977),[citation needed] and Daiyu-san (1983).[17]

She was named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1993 and became the first actress to receive the Order of Culture in 2000.[1][2][4]

Filmography (selected)

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Film

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Isuzu with Chiezō Kataoka in 1932
Year Title Role Director
1930 Ken o koete Okayo Kunio Watanabe
1934 Aizō Tōge Utakichi Bando Kenji Mizoguchi
1935 Orizuru Osen Osen Kenji Mizoguchi
1936 Osaka Elegy Ayako Murai Kenji Mizoguchi
Sisters of the Gion Younger sister Omocha Kenji Mizoguchi
1938 Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro Tsuruhachi Mikio Naruse
1941 Kinō kieta otoko Kotomi Masahiro Makino
1943 The Song Lantern Osode Mikio Naruse
1946 Aru yo no Tonosama Omitsu Teinosuke Kinugasa
1950 A Mother's Love Mitsuko Hiroshi Shimizu
1951 Home Sweet Home Namiko Uemura Noboru Nakamura
Fireworks over the Sea Kaoru Uozumi Keisuke Kinoshita
1952 Gendai-jin Mrs. Shinako Minoru Shibuya
Hakone fūunroku Ritsu Satsuo Yamamoto
1953 Epitome Tamiko Kaneto Shindo
Hiroshima Mine Oba Hideo Sekigawa
1954 Tōjin Okichi Tōjin Okichi Mitsuo Wakasugi
1955 Takekurabe Okichi Heinosuke Gosho
Christ in Bronze Kimika Minoru Shibuya
1956 Boshizō Yukiko Izumi Kiyoshi Saeki
A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women Shinako Shirō Toyoda
Flowing Tsutaya Mikio Naruse
1957 Throne of Blood Lady Asaji Washizu Akira Kurosawa
Black River Mikiko Masaki Kobayashi
Tokyo Twilight Kikuko Yasujirō Ozu
The Lower Depths Osugi Akira Kurosawa
1961 The Littlest Warrior Yashio Taiji Yabushita/Yūgo Serikawa
Yojimbo Orin Akira Kurosawa
The Story of Osaka Castle Yodogimi Hiroshi Inagaki
1975 Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director Herself Kaneto Shindo
1978 Shogun's Samurai Oeyo Kinji Fukasaku
1982 Suspicion Tokie Horiuchi Yoshitarō Nomura
1984 Hissatsu: Sure Death Oriku Masahisa Sadanaga

Television

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Year Title Role Network Notes
1964 Akō Rōshi Riku NHK Taiga drama
1966 Minamoto no Yoshitsune Tokiwa Gozen NHK Taiga drama
1977–78 Shin Hissatsu Karakurinin Oen ABC Hissatsu series
1978 Hissatsu Karakurinin Fugakuhiyakkei Koroshitabi Oen ABC Hissatsu series
1979–81 Hissatsu Shigotonin Otowa ABC Hissatsu series
1981–82 Shin Hissatsu Shigotonin Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
1982–83 Hissatsu Shigotonin III Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
1983 Ōoku Yuri (Jōen-in) CX
1984 Hissatsu Shigotonin IV Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
1985 Hissatsu Shigotonin V Oriku ABC Hissatsu series
2000 Aoi Tokugawa Sandai Odai no Kata NHK Taiga drama

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "山田五十鈴" [Yamada Isuzu]. Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "山田五十鈴" [Yamada Isuzu]. Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e "山田五十鈴さんに文化勲章授与 (Order of Culture awarded to Isuzu Yamada)". Theater Guide Online (in Japanese). 27 October 2000. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d Macy, Roger (17 August 2012). "Isuzu Yamada: Iconic Japanese screen actress who brought a memorable intensity to her roles". The Independent. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Bergan, Ronald (11 July 2012). "Isuzu Yamada obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b Hirano, Kyoko (1992). Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945–1952. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-157-1.
  7. ^ Schilling, Mark (9 July 2012). "Japanese silent movie star dies". Variety. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  8. ^ "山田五十鈴さんが死去…女優で初の文化勲章受章" [Yamada Isuzu dies, first actress to receive the Order of Culture]. Yomiuri (in Japanese). 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  9. ^ Lim, Dennis (16 July 2012). "Isuzu Yamada, Actress Who Worked With Kurosawa, Dies at 95". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  10. ^ "第3回の受賞者・受賞作 (3rd Award winners and Award-winning works)". Cinema Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  11. ^ "毎日映画コンクール 第7回（1952年） (7th Mainichi Film Concours 1952)". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  12. ^ "第7回の受賞者・受賞作 (7th Award winners and Award-winning works)". Cinema Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  13. ^ "毎日映画コンクール 第11回（1956年） (11th Mainichi Film Concours 1952)". Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  14. ^ "第6回の受賞者・受賞作 (6th Award winners and Award-winning works)". Cinema Hōchi (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  15. ^ "第18回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品 (18th Japan Academy Prize)". Japan Academy Film Prize (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  16. ^ "List of Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Festival Awards Winners: 1966 (21st) to 1975 (30th)" (PDF). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  17. ^ "List of Agency for Cultural Affairs Art Festival Awards Winners: 1976 ( 31st) - 1985 (40th)" (PDF). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
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