Kirin Kiki

Kirin Kiki
樹木 希林
Kirin Kiki at the 2015 Odesa International Film Festival
Born
Keiko Nakatani (中谷 啓子, Nakatani Keiko)

(1943-01-15)January 15, 1943
Tokyo, Japan
DiedSeptember 15, 2018(2018-09-15) (aged 75)
Tokyo, Japan
Other namesChiho Yūki (悠木千帆, Yūki Chiho) first stage name;
Keiko Uchida (内田 啓子, Uchida Keiko) current legal name
OccupationActress
Years active1961–2018
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1964; div. 1968)​
​
​
(m. 1973; died 2019)​
Children1

Kirin Kiki (Japanese: 樹木 希林, Hepburn: Kiki Kirin, 15 January 1943 – 15 September 2018) was a Japanese actress for Japanese cinema and television.

Biography

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Kiki was born on January 15, 1943, in Kanda, Tokyo. Her father was a master of the biwa lute and a former police officer.[1][2] Her mother owned a cafe in Jinbōchō, Tokyo and a restaurant in Noge, Yokohama, the latter being Kiki's maternal parents' home.[3] Her mother was seven years senior to her father and had a child from both her two previous marriages.[2]

After graduating from high school, she started her acting career in the early 1960s as a member of the Bungakuza theater troupe using the stage name Chiho Yūki (悠木千帆).[4] She eventually gained fame for performing uniquely comedic and eccentric roles on such television shows as Jikan desu yo and Terauchi Kantarō ikka and in television commercials.[4] She changed her name to "Kirin Kiki" when, after being asked on a television show to auction off something of hers, she ended up selling her first stage name, claiming she had "nothing else to sell."[1]

While battling various ailments, including a detached retina in 2003 and breast cancer in 2005,[5] Kiki continued to act and won several awards, including the best actress Japan Academy Prize for Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad in 2008,[6] the best supporting actress award from the Yokohama Film Festival for her work in Kamikaze Girls and Half a Confession in 2004,[7] and the best supporting actress Blue Ribbon Award for Still Walking in 2008.[8]

Personal life

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Kiki married fellow Bungakuza actor Shin Kishida. They separated in 1968. She married musician Yuya Uchida in 1973, and remained legally married to him though they separated in 1975.[9] Their daughter, Yayako Uchida [jp], is an essayist and musician, and portrayed the younger self of Kiki's character in the film Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad. Yayako Uchida is married to the actor Masahiro Motoki,[1] who was adopted into the Uchida family as a mukoyōshi.[10] Kirin has three grandchildren by her daughter, including actress Kyara Uchida, who has appeared with her in two films, I Wish and Sweet Bean.[11]

Kiki was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and underwent a mastectomy.[12] She died of cancer, and related illnesses, on 15 September 2018.[13]

Selected filmography

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Film

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  • Zoku Yoidore hakase (1966) - Fumiko
  • Lake of Tears (1966) - Kayo Sugumo
  • Tonogata goyôjin (1966)
  • Tabiji (1967) - Chie
  • Aniki no koibito (1968) - Sanae
  • Kamisama no koibito (1968) - Aiko Yamagami
  • Dai bakuhatsu (1969)
  • Tora-san, His Tender Love (1970) - Maid in Shinshû
  • Aka chôchin (1974)
  • Akumyo: shima arashi (1974) - Oshige
  • Jack and the Beanstalk (1974) - Madam Noir (voice)
  • Honô no shôzô (1974)
  • Abayo dachikô (1974)
  • Mamushi to aodaishô (1975) - Kiku Matsukawa
  • Za.Dorifutazu no kamo da!! Goyo da!! (1975) - tomiko
  • Eden no umi (1976) - Orittsan
  • Sachiko no sachi (1976) - Momoe
  • Onna kyôshi (1977) - Yuriko Yokoyama
  • Ballad of Orin (1977) - Tama Ichise
  • Wani to oum to ottosei (1977) - Mary
  • Taro the Dragon Boy (1979) - Yamanba (voice)
  • Sochô no kubi (1979) - Okonomiyaki Manager
  • Kindaichi Kosuke no boken (1979) - Tane
  • Kamisamaga kureta akanbô (1979) - Woman who brought a boy
  • Zigeunerweisen (1980) - Kimi
  • Otake shinobu no a! Kono ai nakuba ganbasseyo Kuni-chan (1980)
  • Tosa No Ipponzuri (1980) - Fuki
  • Nogiku no haka (1981) - Omasu
  • Tenkōsei (1982) - Naoko Saitoh
  • Keiji monogatari (1982) - Sumi Yashiro
  • Santô kôkôsei (1982)
  • Amagi goe (1983) - Ryosaku's Wife
  • Hometown (1983) - Yoshi
  • Capone Cries a Lot (1985) - Sene Tachikawa
  • Lonely Heart (1985) - Terue Amano
  • Yumechiyo nikki (1985) - Kikuyakko
  • Kyôshû (1988) - Mine Kamioka
  • Tsuru (1988) - Yura
  • Daidokoro No Seijo (1988) - Hisajo Sugita
  • Kaze no Matasaburô - Garasu no manto (1989) - Otane
  • Donmai (1990) - Hanako
  • Rainbow Kids (1991) - Kura Nakamura[14]
  • Sensou to seishun (1991) - Etsuko Onoki
  • Za Chugaku kyoshi (1992)
  • The Triple Cross (1992)
  • Yearning (1993) - Omatsu
  • Rex: A Dinosaur's Story (1993)[15]
  • Rampo (1994) - House wife / Head of maid
  • Toki no kagayaki (1995) - Nagashima
  • Rintaro (輝け！隣太郎, Kagayake! Rintaro) (1995, she also sang the title song (with Toshiaki Karasawa))
  • Oishinbo (1996)
  • Koi to hanabi to kanransha (1997) - Sanae Mita
  • Hissatsu shimatsunin (1997) - Otora
  • Ashita heno kakehashi (1997)
  • 39 keihô dai sanjûkyû jô (1997) - Defence Counsel Shigure Nagamura
  • Zawa-zawa Shimo-Kitazawa (2000) - Fan of Kyushiro
  • Drug (2001) - Yoshie Hirakawa
  • Tôkyô Marîgôrudo (2001) - Ritsuko Sakai
  • Pistol Opera (2001) - Rin
  • Danbôru hausu gâru (2001)
  • Inochi (2002) - Mother
  • Returner (2002) - Xie
  • Yoru o kakete (2002)
  • Hotaru no hoshi (2003) - Headmistress
  • Half a Confession (2004) - Yasuko Shimamura
  • Kamikaze Girls (2004) - Momoko's Grandmother
  • Izo (2004)
  • Chekeraccho!! (2006) - Chisa Haebaru
  • Brave Story (2006) - Onba (voice)
  • Akai kujira to shiroi hebi (2006) - Midori Ohara
  • Tôkyô tawâ: Okan to boku to, tokidoki, oton (2007) - Eiko Nakagawa
  • Saido kâ ni inu (2007) - Granny Tome
  • Still Walking (2008) - Toshiko Yokoyama
  • Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (2008)
  • Miyagino (2008) - Madam
  • The Borrower Arrietty (2010) - Haru (voice)
  • Villain (2010) - Fusae Shimizu
  • Ghost: In Your Arms Again (2010)
  • Ôki-ke no tanoshii ryokô: Shinkon jigoku-hen (2011)
  • Hanezu (2011) - Takumi's Mother
  • I Wish (2011) - Hideko (Grandmother)
  • Chronicle of My Mother (2011) - Yae
  • Tsunagu (2012) - Aiko
  • Yakusoku: Nabari dokubudôshu jiken shikeishû no shôgai (2013) - Iatsuno okunishi
  • Like Father, Like Son (2013) - Riko Ishizeki
  • Sweet Bean (2015; Best Performance by an Actress, Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2015) - Tokue
  • Our Little Sister (2015) - Fumiyo Kikuchi
  • Kakekomi onna to kakedashi otoko (2015) - Genbee
  • After the Storm (2016) – Yoshiko
  • Mori, The Artist's Habitat (2018) - Hideko Kumagai
  • Shoplifters (2018) - Hatsue Shibata
  • Every Day A Good Day (2018) - Ms. Takeda
  • Cherry Blossoms and Demons [de] (2019) - Yu's Grandmother
  • Erica 38 (2019) - Erica's mother (final film role)

Television

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Honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Kiki Kirin". Tarento meikan (in Japanese). Sponichi Annex. Retrieved 21 July 2010.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b 斎藤明美. "これがはじまり 最終回 樹木希林 『行きがかり上、役者になって、自分にはずっと合っていないなと思いつつ.....。』". キネマ旬報 (2008年12月下旬号). キネマ旬報社: 152–155.
  3. ^ 松井清人『オカン、おふくろ、お母さん』 文藝春秋、2006年、71-73頁
  4. ^ a b "Kiki Kirin". Nihon jinmei daijiten (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  5. ^ "Asahi shinbun shinpojiumu: Gan ni makenai, akiramenai kotsu". Asahi shinbun (in Japanese). 25 March 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Dai 31-kai Nihon Academī Shō yūshū sakuhin" (in Japanese). Nihon Academī Shō kōshiki saito. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Dai 25-kai Yokohama Eigasai: Nihon eiga kojin shō" (in Japanese). Yokohama Eigasai. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  8. ^ "Burū Ribon Shō hisutorī 2008" (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  9. ^ "Japan's grandmother Kirin Kiki has defied conventions throughout her long film career". Japan Times.
  10. ^ "Motoki Masahiro". Nihon jinmei daijiten (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  11. ^ tokyoguy. "26 | March | 2010 | Japan Zone" [Sekine, Amami are the Ideal Bosses]. Archived from the original on 2024-05-11. Retrieved 2024-05-11.
  12. ^ Yoshikawa, Mai (June 28, 2018). "Actress Kirin Kiki wants an ending with no twists". The Japan Times.
  13. ^ "Veteran TV, movie actress Kirin Kiki dies in Tokyo at age 75". The Japan Times. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018.
  14. ^ Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
  15. ^ "REX 恐竜物語". eiga.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
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