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Chieko Naniwa

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Chieko Naniwa
浪花千栄子
Gion bayashi
Born(1907-11-09)November 9, 1907
Osaka, Japan
DiedDecember 11, 1973(1973-12-11) (aged 66)
Tokyo, Japan
NationalityJapanese
OccupationActress

Chieko Naniwa (浪花 千栄子) (November 19, 1907 – December 22, 1973) was a Japanese actress who was active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She is best known for playing geisha in several films, such as Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha, and the Forest Spirit in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. Her birth name was Kikuno Nanko.

Early life

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Naniwa was born to poultry farmers in what is now Tondabayashi, Osaka, Japan on November 19, 1907. When she was 8 years old she began working at a bento shop in Dotonbori. After that she worked as a waitress in Kyoto until she was 18, when she entered a theater troupe.

Career

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She made her film debut in Itaro Yamagami [ja]'s first film "Kaettekita eiyu". She obtained roles easily after that, working with famous film actors like Utaemon Ichikawa and Ichikawa Momonosuke. However, she cut ties with the film industry after troubles with unpaid wages.[citation needed]

In 1930 she joined Shibuya Tengai II [ja] and Soganoya Jugo [ja]'s Shochiku theater. She married Shibuya that year. In 1948, Shibuya started his own theater called the Shochiku Shinkigeki, where Naniwa was the lead actress. Naniwa left the theater in 1951 after Shibuya had a child with another actress in the company.

Naniwa began performing in radio dramas.[1] She also began appearing in films again, such as in Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha (1953),[2] which won her a Blue Ribbon Award. She also performed with Hisaya Morishige in Meoto Zenzai (1955), in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (1957)[3] and Yasujiro Ozu's Equinox Flower (1958).

She opened an inn in the Tenryu-ji, a temple in Kyoto's Arashiyama district.[4] Shortly after opening the inn, she let Mizoguchi borrow it to film The Crucified Lovers (1954), and taught the star of the film, Kyoko Kagawa, how to act in a kimono.[5]

Naniwa died of gastrointestinal bleeding on December 22, 1973. After her death she was posthumously awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

Filmography

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Film performances

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Year Title Role Director(s)
1953 A Geisha Okimi Kenji Mizoguchi
1954 Sansho the Bailiff Ubatake Kenji Mizoguchi
Twenty-Four Eyes Restaurant owner Keisuke Kinoshita
The Crucified Lovers Oko Kenji Mizoguchi
1955 Meoto zenzai Okin Shirō Toyoda
So Young, So Bright Onobu Toshio Sugie
1956 A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women Orin Shirō Toyoda
1957 On Wings of Love Umeko Yoshioka Toshio Sugie
Throne of Blood Forest Spirit Akira Kurosawa
An Osaka Story Ofude Kōzaburō Yoshimura
Snow Country Otatsu Shirō Toyoda
1958 Sazae-san 4 Chie Nishino Nobuo Aoyagi
Equinox Flower Hatsu Sasaki Yasujirō Ozu
1959 Sazae-san 5 Chie Nishino Nobuo Aoyagi
Sazae-san 6 Chie Nishino Nobuo Aoyagi
1960 Sazae-san 7 Chie Nishino Nobuo Aoyagi
1961 The End of Summer Tsune Sasaki Yasujirō Ozu
Akumyō Ito Asō Tokuzō Tanaka
Zoku Akumyō Ito Asō Tokuzō Tanaka
Girls of the Night Kameju Kinuyo Tanaka
1963 Twin Sisters of Kyoto Teahouse owner Noboru Nakamura
1967 The Doctor's Wife Tami Yasuzo Masumura

TV performances

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Year Title Role Notes
1965 Taikōki Ōmandokoro Taiga drama
1966 Zenigata Heiji Omine
1970 Osaka-jō no Onna Ōmandokoro
1973 Zenigata Heiji Omasa

Selected bibliography

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  • Naniwa, Chieko (1965). 水のように [Like water]. 六芸書房.

References

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  1. ^ 読売新聞大阪本社文化部（編）『上方放送お笑い史』 読売新聞社、1999年 p.120-132
  2. ^ Canby, Vincent (1978-06-01). "Film: Mizoguchi's 'A Geisha': A Rediscovery". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
  3. ^ Jorgens, Jack J. (1983). "Kurosawa's Throne of Blood: Washizu and Miki Meet the Forest Spirit". Literature/Film Quarterly. 11: 167–173 – via Proquest.
  4. ^ 自伝『水のように』
  5. ^ ドキュメンタリー映画『ある映画監督の生涯 溝口健二の記録』新藤兼人、1975年
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