Sayuri Yoshinaga

Sayuri Yoshinaga
Born (1945-03-13) March 13, 1945 (age 79)
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
OccupationActress
Years active1957–present

Sayuri Yoshinaga (吉永 小百合, Yoshinaga Sayuri, born 13 March 1945) is a Japanese actress and activist. She has won four Japan Academy Best Actress awards, more than any other actress, and has been called "one of the foremost stars in the postwar world of film."[1]

Career

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Sayuri Yoshinaga in 1962

Her first media appearance was in the radio drama "Akado Suzunosuke" in 1957, and she has been one of the most popular actresses in Japan since the 1960s, with fans called "Sayur-ists" (Sayurisuto) - for example, Akiyuki Nosaka and Tamori.[citation needed]

She made a contract with the movie corporation Nikkatsu and played the lead role in many of its films. In 1962, Yoshinaga played a junior-high school girl in her most famous film, "Foundry Town", and got the Japan Record Award for "Itsudemo Yume wo" (Always Keep the Dream) with the male singer Yukio Hashi. In the 1970s and 1980s, Yoshinaga appeared in films made by other companies, as well as in TV drama serials, commercials, and talk shows. After this period, she returned to films and she has featured in commercials for some big companies such as Sharp Aquos, Nissey and Kagome. She has been awarded the Japan Academy Prize four times. Yoshinaga has appeared in 124 films, mostly in the leading role.[2] Yoshinaga starred in Kon Ichikawa's Ohan and The Makioka Sisters.[3][4] She also starred in Yoji Yamada's Kabei: Our Mother and About Her Brother.[5][6]

In 2012, she starred in Junji Sakamoto's A Chorus of Angels.[7]

Character

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Yoshinaga graduated from Waseda University, the Schools of Letters, Arts and Sciences II in 1969. Under a tight schedule, she took the runners-up value in the school among the graduates in that year. In 1973, she married Taro Okada, a TV director worked in Fuji Television, keeping her maiden name "Yoshinaga" as her stage name. She has no children.[citation needed]

From the 1980s, after playing Yumechiyo in TV drama, a hibakusha geisha by Atomic bombings of Hiroshima, she has worked for the anti-nuclear movement. Her most well-known action is reading the poems about atomic bombs over 20 years, and she worked without guarantees for voice guidance in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. She is also famous for supporting a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club, Seibu Lions. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the former owner of this team is a fan of Yoshinaga, and she bought a pension from Tsutsumi's Seibu Railway group.[citation needed]

Selected filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1960 Kenju burai-chō Denkō Setsuka no Otoko Dan Noriko
1960 Mutekiga Ore o Yondeiru Hamazaki Yukiko
1962 Foundry Town Jun Lead role
1963 Izu no Odoriko Kaoru Lead role
1966 The Hearth of Hiroshima Lead role
1968 Monument to the Girls' Corps Lead role
1971 Men and War Part II Yoriko Godai [8]
1972 Tora-san's Dear Old Home Utako
1973 Men and War Part III Yoriko Godai [9]
1974 Tora-san's Lovesick Utako
1978 August Without the Emperor
1980 Dōran
1983 The Makioka Sisters Yukiko Makioka
1984 Station to Heaven Lead role
Ohan Ohan Lead role
1985 Yumechiyo Yumechiyo Lead role [10]
1987 Film Actress Kon Ichikawa Lead role
1988 A Chaos of Flowers Akiko Yosano Lead role
1992 Gekashitsu Lead role
1993 Yearning Lead role
1998 Diary of Early Winter Shower Lead role
2000 Nagasaki burabura bushi Lead role
2001 Sennen no Koi Story of Genji Murasaki Shikibu Lead role
2005 Year One in the North Lead role
2008 Kabei: Our Mother Lead role
2010 About Her Brother Lead role
2012 A Chorus of Angels Lead role
2014 Cape Nostalgia Lead role
2015 Nagasaki: Memories of My Son Nobuko Fukuhara Lead role [11]
2018 Sakura Guardian in the North Tetsu Ezure Lead role [12]
2019 The Bucket List Sashie Kitahara Lead role [13]
2021 A Morning of Farewell Sawako Shiraishi Lead role [14]
2023 Mom, Is That You?! Fukue Lead role [15]
2025 Teppen no Mukou ni Anata ga Iru Junko Tabe Lead role [16]

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1970 Momi no Ki wa Nokotta Uno Taiga drama [17]
1976 Kaze to Kumo to Niji to Takako Taiga drama [18]
1981–84 The Diary of Yumechiyo Yumechiyo Lead role; 3 seasons [19]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ Tatsuo, Inamasu (December 7, 2012). "Yoshinaga Sayuri: Last of the Silver Screen's National Heroines". www.nippon.com. Archived from the original on 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  2. ^ "吉永小百合、124本目のクランクイン 登山家・田部井淳子の実話を映画化【コメントあり】". Oricon. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  3. ^ Thomas, Kevin (March 16, 1985). "Movie Review : 'Ohan': When A Woman Molds A Man". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2024-07-15. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  4. ^ Gray, Scott A. (January 24, 2013). "The Makioka Sisters - Directed by Kon Ichikawa". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  5. ^ Stewart, Henry (May 17, 2009). "Kabei: Our Mother". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on August 7, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  6. ^ Webb, Charles (July 16, 2010). "Japan Cuts 2010: About Her Brother Review". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  7. ^ Shackleton, Liz (November 3, 2012). "Toei sings with A Chorus Of Angels". Screen International. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
  8. ^ "戦争と人間 第二部・愛と悲しみの山河". eiga.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "戦争と人間 完結篇". eiga.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  10. ^ "夢千代日記". eiga.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  11. ^ "母と暮せば". eiga.com. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  12. ^ "吉永小百合、120本目の映画出演作「北の桜守」封切りに感無量「昨夜は眠れませんでした」". eiga.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  13. ^ "吉永小百合121本目の映画が製作決定！天海祐希共演でハリウッド映画をリメイク". Movie Walker Plus. Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  14. ^ "吉永小百合、映画出演122本目で初の医師役 コロナ禍で"いのち"の大切さ問う". Natalie. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  15. ^ "山田洋次監督の新作、主演は吉永小百合＆大泉洋！『こんにちは、母さん』来年9月公開". Cinematoday. 2 October 2022. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  16. ^ "てっぺんの向こうにあなたがいる". eiga.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  17. ^ "大河ドラマ 樅ノ木は残った". NHK. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "風と雲と虹と". Haiyaku Jiten. Archived from the original on 21 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  19. ^ "夢千代館". Yumekousha. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  20. ^ "エランドール賞歴代受賞者一覧". All Nippon Producers Association. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  21. ^ 報知映画賞ヒストリー. Cinema Hochi (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
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