Fujiko Yamamoto

Fujiko Yamamoto (山本富士子, Yamamoto Fujiko) (born 11 December 1931) is a Japanese stage, film and television actress. She was the winner of the first Miss Nippon Grand Prix in 1950, and appeared in over 100 films between 1953 and 1963, including works by directors Yasujirō Ozu, Kon Ichikawa, Shirō Toyoda and Kōzaburō Yoshimura. Yamamoto was born on 11 December 1931 in Nishi ward, Osaka. In 1953, she made her film debut at Daiei Film, and became one of the studio's top actresses. Yamamoto was considered one of Japan's most beautiful women, with, in the words of film historian Catherine Russell, "noble" features that represented the classic ideal of Japanese beauty. As such, she was well-suited for costumed parts in the era's popular period dramas, with her less-frequent modern roles (in films like Ozu's Equinox Flower and Ichikawa's Being Two Isn't Easy) often shot in "movie star" closeups that placed her apart from the films' contemporary storytelling. In 1963, when her contract came up...