Nobuko Otowa

Nobuko Otowa (乙羽 信子, Otowa Nobuko, 1 October 1924 – 22 December 1994) was a Japanese actress who appeared in over 100 films between 1950 and 1994.

Nobuko Otowa
乙羽 信子
Nobuko Otowa in Children of Hiroshima (1952)
Born
Nobuko Kaji[1]

(1924-10-01)1 October 1924
Yonago, Tottori, Japan
Died22 December 1994(1994-12-22) (aged 70)
NationalityJapanese
OccupationActress
Years active1950–1994
Spouse(s)

A graduate of Takarazuka Girl's Opera School, Otowa was first signed to Daiei studios, before becoming a freelance actress by the early 1950s.[2][3] After starring in Kaneto Shindo's Story of a Beloved Wife, she became the director's mistress and appeared in all of his following films until 1994. She finally married him in 1977, after his previous wife divorced him.[4] Although closely associated with Shindo's films, with Children of Hiroshima, The Naked Island and Onibaba being among the most well-known, Otowa also worked for noted directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Heinosuke Gosho, Keisuke Kinoshita and Nagisa Ōshima. Devoted to her profession, she frequently wrote and lectured on the art of film acting.[2]

In 1995, she was posthumously awarded as best actress in a supporting role at the 19th Japan Academy Prize for A Last Note, having been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer during its production.[5][6] Half of her ashes are scattered on the island of Sukune in Mihara, Hiroshima, where The Naked Island was filmed.[7]

Selected filmography

Film
  • Konyaku yubiwa (1950)
  • Shojoho (1950)
  • Arabiya monogatari (1951)
  • Tsuki no wataridori (1951) - Oichi
  • Dare ga watashi o sabaku no ka (1951)
  • Miss Oyu (1951) - Shizu
  • Meigetsu somato (1951)
  • Story of a Beloved Wife (1951) - Takako Ishikawa
  • The Tale of Genji (1951) - Murasaki no ue
  • Asakusa kurenaidan (1952) - Maki Ayukawa
  • Avalanche (1952) - Atsuko Fujikawa
  • Atakake no hitobito (1952)
  • Children of Hiroshima (1952) - Takako Ishikawa
  • Kantarou tsukiyo-uta (1952) - Okyo
  • Senba zuru (1953) - Ayako Ohta
  • Onna to iu shiro - Mari no maki (1953)
  • Onna to iu shiro - Yuko no maki (1953)
  • Mura hatibu (1953)
  • Epitome (1953) - Ginko
  • Yokubo (1953) - Shizue Kitami
  • Yoake mae (1953) - Hanzo's Daughter
  • Life of a Woman (1953) - Fujiko Shirakawa
  • Koina no Ginpei (1954) - Oichi
  • An Inn at Osaka (1954) - Uwabami
  • Dobu (1954) - Tsuru
  • Dorodarake no seishun (1954) - Nanako
  • Ai to shi no tanima (1954)
  • Wakai hitotachi (1954)
  • Aisureba koso (1955) - Michie (segment 1)
  • Ginza no onna (1955)
  • Wolf (1955) - Akiko Yano
  • Kabuki juhachiban: Narukami - Bijo to kairyu (1955)
  • Shirogane Shinjū (1956) - Sakie / Umeko
  • Ruri no kishi (1956) - Hagiyo, Chiho's mother
  • Shin ono ga tsumi (1956)
  • An Actress (1956) - Kakuko Mori
  • Aru yo futatabi (1956)
  • Kottaisan yori: Nyotai wa kanashiku (1957) - Tamasode
  • Hadairo no tsuki (1957) - Kumiko Uno
  • Ukifune (1957) - Naka-no-kimi
  • Yagyû bugeichô: Sôryû hiken (1958) - The Princess
  • Makeraremasen katsumadewa (1958) - Odama
  • Kanashimi wa onna dakeni (1958) - Taka
  • A Holiday in Tokyo (1958) - Nobuko
  • Yajikata dôchû sugoroku (1958) - Ofutsu / maid
  • Tsuzurikata kyodai (1958) - Aunt
  • Mimizuku (1958)
  • Nora neko (1958)
  • Yajikita dôchû sugoroku (1958) - Ofutsu
  • Noren (1958)
  • Hana noren (1959)
  • Lucky Dragon No. 5 (1959) - Shizu Kuboyama
  • Aisaiki (1959)
  • The Three Treasures (1959) - Goddess of Anenouzume
  • Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi (1959)
  • Waga ai (1959) - Hideya
  • Kashima ari (1959)
  • Shiranami gonin otoko: tenka no ô-dorobô (1960)
  • Chinpindô shujin (1960)
  • Onna no saka (1960)
  • Shin jôdaigaku (1960)
  • Bokutô kitan (1960) - Kyôko Yamai
  • The Approach of Autumn (1960) - Shigeko Fukatani - Hideo's Mother
  • The Naked Island (1960) - Toyo, the mother
  • Tôkyô yawa (1961) - Yukari
  • Netsuai sha (1961) - Tamiko
  • Immortal Love (1961) - Tomoko, Takashi's wife
  • Gen to fudômyô-ô (1961)
  • The Last War (1961) - Oyoshi Tamura
  • Hunting Rifle (1961) - Choko's mother
  • Mozu (1961)
  • Kojin kojitsu (1961)
  • Ashita aru kagiri (1962)
  • Long Way to Okinawa (1962)
  • Ika naru hoshi no moto ni (1962) - Mitoji
  • Ao beka monogatari (1962) - Kimino
  • Ningen (1962) - Gorosuke
  • Kawa no hotori de (1962) - Tamako Sekiguchi
  • Kigeki ekimae hanten (1962)
  • Kanojo ni mukatte tosshinsayo (1963)
  • Uso (1963) - (segment "San jyotai")
  • Shiro to kuro (1963) - Ochiai's Wife
  • Daidokoro taiheiki (1963)
  • Wakai nakamatachi: uchira Gion no maikohan (1963)
  • Wanpaku tenshi (1963)
  • Miren (1963) - Hatsu Kakinuma
  • Mother (1963) - Tamiko
  • Kigeki ekimae okami (1964) - Kyôko Yamamoto
  • Kigeki: Yôki-na mibôjin (1964) - Kume Tanabe
  • The Scent of Incense (Kôge - Nibu: Mitsumata no shô/Ichibu: Waremokô no shô) (1964) - Ikuyo
  • Onibaba (1964) - Kichi's Mother
  • Nami kage (1965) - Masa, Kichitaro's wife
  • Daikon to ninjin (1965) - Nobuyo Yamaki
  • Daiku taiheki (1965)
  • Akuto (1965) - Jiju
  • Abare Gôemon (1966) - Osasa
  • Lost Sex (1966) - The Housemaid
  • Akogare (1966)
  • Danshun (1966)
  • Kigeki ekimae mangan (1967)
  • Izu no odoriko (1967)
  • Kigeki ekimae gakuen (1967)
  • Zoku namonaku mazushiku utsukushiku: Haha to ko (1967)
  • Chichi to ko: Zoku Na mo naku mazushiku utsukushiku (1967) - Taeko Sakai
  • Sei no kigen (1967) - Wife
  • Kigeki ekimae hyakku-nen (1967)
  • Kuroneko (1968) - Yone (Mother)
  • Tsuyomushi onna to yowamushi otoko (1968) - Fumiko
  • Âh himeyuri no tô (1968) - Hatsu Yonamine
  • Machi ni izumi ga atta (1968) - Toki Yano
  • Red Lion (1969) - Oharu
  • Kagerô (1969) - Otoyo
  • Shokkaku (1970) - Tamiko / Prostitute Yuki
  • Live Today, Die Tomorrow! (1970) - Take Yamada
  • The Ceremony (1971) - Sakurada Shizu
  • Kanawa (1972) - Middle aged woman
  • Sanka (1972) - Teru Kamozawa
  • Kokoro (1973) - Mrs. M
  • Kôkotsu no hito (1973) - Kyôko
  • Shiawase (1974)
  • Waga michi (1974) - Mino Kawamura
  • Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975) - Herself
  • Jiken (1978)
  • The Strangling (1979) - Ryoko / Mother
  • Haitatsu sarenai santsu no tegami (1979) - Sumie - Mitsumasa's wife
  • Omoeba tôkue kitamonda (1980)
  • Asshii-tachi no machi (1981) - Haru Hayasaka
  • Edo Porn (1981) - Omomo, Sashichi's Wife
  • Ekisutora (1982) - Kinuyo Adachi
  • Mikan no taikyoku (1982)
  • The Go Masters (1983)
  • Chihei-sen (1984) - Hideyo, after age 40
  • Location (1984) - Katsue
  • Tengoku ni ichiban chikai shima (1984) - Tei Ishikawa
  • Shiroi machi hiroshima (1985)
  • Yasha (1985) - Ume
  • Lost in the Wilderness (1986) - Yasuko Muto
  • Burakkubôdo (1986) - Namie Yasui
  • Tree Without Leaves (1986) - Mother
  • Nijushi no hitomi (1987) - Okami
  • Yumemi-dôri no hitobito (1989)
  • Donmai (1990) - Toyo Murakami
  • Pachinko monogatari (1990)
  • Bokuto kidan (1992) - Masa
  • Tsuribaka nisshi 5 (1992) - Densuke's mother
  • A Last Note (1995) - Toyoko Yanagawa
  • By Player (2000) - herself

Television

Awards and honors

Japan Academy Prize

Blue Ribbon Awards

Kinema Junpo Awards

Mainichi Film Awards

36th Venice International Film Festival

  • 1979: Pasinetti Award (Best Actress), The Strangling

References
  1. "乙羽 信子 (Nobuko Otowa)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. p. 407.
  3. "乙羽信子 (Nobuko Otowa)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  4. Shindo, Kaneto (2008). Ikite iru kagiri Watashi no Rirekisho [While I live: my resume] (in Japanese). Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha. ISBN 978-4-532-16661-8.
  5. "第 19 回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品 (19th Japan Academy Film Prize)". Japan Academy Film Prize (in Japanese). Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  6. "Japan: Cinema Japan: A Wreath for Madame Kawakita". Seniors World Chronicle. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  7. "新藤兼人監督「裸の島」に散骨へ (Director Kaneto Shindo's ashes scattered on "Naked Island")". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). 1 June 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2021..
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