Ayako Wakao

Ayako Wakao
Ayako Wakao in 1950s
Born	(1933-11-08) November 8, 1933 Tokyo, Japan
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1952–present
Spouse	Kisho Kurokawa (deceased)

Ayako Wakao (若尾 文子, Wakao Ayako, November 8, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese actress who was one of the country's biggest stars of the 20th century.

Biography

Wakao began her career contracted to Daiei Studios in 1951 as part of the fifth "New Face" group. She has gone on to appear in over 100 feature films, plus numerous television movies and series. She was a favorite actress of director Yasuzo Masumura, starring in 25 of his films. In addition to her many collaborations with Masumura, she was a favorite of Kon Ichikawa, having starred or co-starred in seven of the director's works. She appeared in Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha and Street of Shame. She also appeared in Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds. Yuzo Kawashima made three films Women Are Born Twice, The Temple of Wild Geese and The Graceful Brute with her.

Wakao married architect Kisho Kurokawa in 1983. They did not have any children. In 2007, both ran unsuccessful campaigns for seats in the upper house of the Japanese Parliament, before Kurokawa died in October of that year.

Selected filmography

Films

In A Geisha (1953)

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes	Ref(s)
1952	Shino machi o Nogarete	Setsuko Minami	Eiichi Koishi
	Mōjū Tsukai no Shōjo	Aiko	Kozo Saeki
	Ashita wa Nichiyobi (Asu wa Nichiyobi)	Momoko Yamabuki	Kozo Saeki	Lead
1953	Judai no seiten	Eiko Takanashi	Koji Shima	Lead
	A Geisha	Eiko/Miyoei	Kenji Mizoguchi	Lead
	Jūdai no Yūwaku		Seiji Hisamatsu	Lead
1955	A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love	Yumiko Kiryu	Teinosuke Kinugasa	Lead
	The Phantom Horse	Yuki Shiraishi	Koji Shima	Lead
1956	Street of Shame	Yasumi	Kenji Mizoguchi	Lead
1957	Suzakumon	Princess Kazu	Kazuo Mori	Lead
	The Blue Sky Maiden	Yuko	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
1958	The Loyal 47 Ronin	Osuzu	Kunio Watanabe
1959	Floating Weeds	Kayo	Yasujirō Ozu
1960	Afraid to Die	Yoshie Koizumi	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
	A False Student	Mutsuko	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
	A Woman's Testament	Kimi	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
1961	A Wife Confesses	Saeko Takigawa	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
	Women Are Born Twice	Koen	Yuzo Kawashima	Lead
1962	The Temple of Wild Geese	Satoko Kirihara	Yuzo Kawashima	Lead
	The Graceful Brute	Yukie Mitani	Yuzo Kawashima	Lead
1963	An Actor's Revenge	Namiji	Kon Ichikawa
1964	Manji	Mitsuko Tokumitsu	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
1966	Irezumi	Oen	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
	Red Angel	Sakura Nishi	Yasuzo Masumura	Lead
1970	Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo	Umeno	Kihachi Okamoto
1971	Tora-san's Shattered Romance	Yūko Akashi	Yoji Yamada
1975	Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director	Herself	Kaneto Shindo	Documentary film
1987	Princess from the Moon	Tayoshime	Kon Ichikawa
2005	Spring Snow	Gesshuji monzeki	Isao Yukisada

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes	Ref(s)
1972	Shin Heike Monogatari	Tokiwa Gozen	NHK	Taiga drama
1975	Genroku Taiheiki	Someko	NHK	Taiga drama
1988	Takeda Shingen	Lady Ōi, narrator	NHK	Taiga drama
1998	Tokugawa Yoshinobu	Yoshiko	NHK	Taiga drama
2003	Musashi	Yodo-dono	NHK	Taiga drama
2011	Ohisama	Old Yōko Maruyama, narrator	NHK	Asadora

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work(s)	Result
1961	Blue Ribbon Award	Best Actress	A Wife Confesses, Women Are Born Twice, and The Age of Marriage	Won
1962	Kinema Junpo Award	Best Actress	A Wife Confesses and Women Are Born Twice	Won
1965	Blue Ribbon Award	Best Actress	Seisaku's Wife and Nami Kage	Won
1966	Kinema Junpo Award	Best Actress	Seisaku's Wife and Nami Kage	Won
1969	Kinema Junpo Award	Best Actress	One Day at Summer's End, The House of Wooden Blocks, and The Time of Reckoning	Won
2006	Mainichi Film Awards	Kinuyo Tanaka Award	Lifetime Achievement	Won

External links

• Ayako Wakao at IMDb
• Ayako Wakao at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)