Kyōko Kagawa

Kyōko Kagawa (香川 京子, Kagawa Kyōko, born 5 December 1931) is a Japanese actress known for her roles in films like Tokyo Story, Sansho the Bailiff, Mothra, The Bad Sleep Well and High and Low. She has appeared in 128 films.[2] Her most recent film was Moruerani in 2021. Kagawa graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan Tenth High School for Girls in 1949.[3]

Kyōko Kagawa
香川 京子
Kyoko Kagawa in 1954
Born
Kyoko Ikebe (池辺 香子)[1]

(1931-12-05) 5 December 1931
Asō (currently Namegata), Ibaraki, Japan
Other namesKyoko Makino (牧野 香子)
OccupationActress
Years active1950–present

Biography

Kagawa was born in Ibaraki[4] in 1931 and grown in Hyōgo and Tokyo. She originally wanted to become a ballerina. She was discovered by a film studio after winning the "New Face Nomination" contest run by the Tokyo Shimbun in 1949 and began a career in acting. Her first major film role was in a movie Mado Kara Tobidase (Jump Out of the Window).[4]

She became a household name for her role in Tokyo Story in 1953. She also appeared in the famous film Sansho the Bailiff. Akira Kurosawa made her one of his regular performers. She played the love interest of Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa's favorite leading man, several times. Kurosawa used her in The Bad Sleep Well, High and Low and Red Beard.[5]

In 1965, Kagawa married and followed her husband, who was a newspaper reporter, to New York City. After returning from the US in 1968, she began to act more in television than on the big screen. She later returned to the cinema, with films like Madadayo and Ballad.

In late 2011, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, honored her long career and her contribution to Japanese cinema with an exhibition titled 'Kyoko Kagawa, Film Actress.'

Selected filmography

Films
Kyōko Kagawa in the 1950 film Tokyo Heroine
Kyōko Kagawa (left) and Kinuyo Tanaka (right) in a publicity photo of the 1952 film Mother
Setsuko Hara (left) and Kyōko Kagawa (right) in a film still of the 1953 film Tokyo Story

Television

Honours

References
  1. "100年誌を読む 第3章 翻弄される学校教育 1強まる戦時体制の中で" (in Japanese). 茨城県立下館第二高等学校. Archived from the original on 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
  2. "Kagawa Kyoko" (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  3. 別冊宝島2551『日本の女優 100人』p.38.
  4. Hamilton, Mike (2 September 2011). "Kyoko Kagawa retrospective looks back at Japan's golden age of cinema". The Japan Times. The Japan Times Ltd. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  5. Schilling, Mark (11 November 2011). "An audience with Kyoko Kagawa". Japan Times. p. 18.
  6. Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
  7. "峠 最後のサムライ". eiga.com. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  8. "田中絹代賞とは". Tanaka Kinuyo Memorial Association. Retrieved March 16, 2021.

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