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Fujiko Yamamoto

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 for renewal, she insisted on changes. The head of Daiei, Masaichi Nagata, refused, dismissed her, and prevented her from finding work at other film studios via the Five-Company Agreement. After the Daiei dismissal, Yamamoto acted in the TV series Toshiba Sunday Theatre and on Fuji TV. Even though she has appeared frequently on stage and on television, she has not appeared in a film since then.

Seijuu Sentai Gingaman

1998

as Kyouhei's Mother

Picnic

1996

as Nurse

Ghost Soup

1992

An Actor's Revenge

1963

as Ohatsu

Being Two Isn't Easy

1962

as Chiyo

The Great Wall

1962

as Princess Chu

The Venus' Tear

1962

Nakayoshi ondo: Nippon ichi dayo

1962

Ika naru hoshi no moto ni

1962

Yume de aritai

1962

The Actress and the Three Rascals

1962

Buddha

1961

as Usha

Okoto and Sasuke

1961

as Okoto

Refresher Course for Wives

1961

Ten Dark Women

1961

as Futaba Kaze

Blind Devotion

1961

as Natsuko

Nocturne of a Woman

1961

Hunting Rifle

1961

as Saiko Tagi

Satan's Sword: The Dragon God

1960

as Omatsu

Satan's Sword

1960

as Omatsu

What Price Love?

1960

as Komako Shirokoya

The Twilight Story

1960

Patterns of Love

1960

The Song Lantern

1960

The Demon of Mount Oe

1960

Princess Sen in Edo

1960

as Princess Sen

A Woman's Testament

1960

Utamaro, Painter of the Woman

1959

Stop the Old Fox

1959

as Tomi / Toyoharu

Pilgrimage at Night

1959

Beauty the Enemy

1959

as Kikue Yoshino

Jirocho Fuji

1959

as Oshin

The Path I Remember

1959

as Saya Ikeda

The Makioka Sisters

1959

Peony on the Skin

1959

The Snowy Heron

1958

Musume no boken

1958

Equinox Flower

1958

as Yukiko Sasaki

The Swishing Sword

1958

Inochi wo Kakeru Otoko

1958

The Loyal 47 Ronin

1958

as Yôsen'in

The Precipice

1958

Secret of Naruto

1957

Floating Vessel

1957

as Ukifune

Night Butterflies

1957

as O-Kiku

Love of the Princess

1957

as Yuhide

Daiei Studio is Bustling

1957

Zenigata Heiji torimono hikae: madara hebi

1957

Flowery Hood 2

1956

Tsukigata Hanpeita

1956

as Umematsu

Bridge of Japan

1956

as Kiyoha Takinoya

Night River

1956

as Kiwa Funaki

Notebooks of Heiji Zenigata: Spider on the Skin

1956

Flowery Hood

1956

Three Women Around Yoshinaka

1956

Miai Ryokou

1955

The Romance of Yushima

1955

The Dancer and Two Warriors

1955

A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love

1955

as Michiyo Sawada

The Messenger from the Moon

1954

as Michiko Nonomiya

The Golden Demon

1954

as Miya

Jūdai no yūwaku

1953

Made in Japan

1953

as Yoshiko Sunohara

Tange Sazen

1952