Kyōko Kishida
1930 - 2006Her father was Kunio Kishida, a playwright and the founder of the Bungaku-za. She became an actress in 1950, and starred in a Yukio Mishima production of Salome (1960). Her film and television drama credits number in the hundreds. Among them are four Taiga drama series on NHK television, with roles such as Aguri (the wife of Asano Naganori and Yodo-Dono (the wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi). She appeared in various roles, including acting and narrating, in various Ōoku series on television. In the series Gokenin Zankurō, she portrayed the mother of the title character (played by Ken Watanabe), and narrated a Lone Wolf and Cub television series.
Kishida's film credits include Yasujirō Ozu's An Autumn Afternoon (1962), The Broken Commandment (based on a novel by Shimazaki Toson), Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Woman in the Dunes (1964) and The Face of Another (1966) (both from novels by Kōbō Abe), Kon Ichikawa's The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (1987), based on the classic story, Heaven and Earth (1990), and Spring Snow, the 2005 Isao Yukisada adaptation of the Mishima novel.
Anime fans know Kishida as the voice of Moomin in the original 1960s television series. She provided narration for Vampire Princess Miyu and Princess Tutu as well as the 2005 Book of the Dead. In addition, she dubbed roles for Columbo and Miss Marple, and narrated Prophecies of Nostradamus. Kishida appeared in commercials for Nestle, TDK, and Asahi Shimbun.
Kyōko Kishida died on December 17, 2006 in Tokyo from respiratory failure caused by a brain tumor.
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愛と炎と
Eizo Sugawa
Tatsuya Mihashi, Yôko Tsukasa
An employee at an oil cartel (Mihashi) is haunted by an act years before when he euthanized a fellow soldier when the two were adrift at sea during the Pacific War. Matters are complicated further when he falls in love with the soldier's younger sister (Tsukasa).
Challenge to Live
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
Masaki Kobayashi
Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama
After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
生きてはみたけれど・小津安二郎伝
Kazuo Inoue
Keiko Kishi, Yôko Tsukasa
An extremely lovely tribute to Ozu, on the 20th anniversary of his death. It uses a combination of footage from vintage films and new material (both interviews and Ozu-related locations) shot by Ozu's long-time camera-man (who came out of retirement to work on this). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), it focuses less on Ozu's accomplishments as a film-maker than on his impact on the lives of the people he worked with..
I Lived, But...
武士道残酷物語
Tadashi Imai
Kinnosuke Nakamura, Ineko Arima
After a salary-man's fiancée attempts suicide, he recounts his gruesome family history which saw generations of his ancestors suffer and sacrifice themselves for the sake of their cruel lords.
Bushido: The Cruel Code of the Samurai
Rennyo to sono haha
Kihachiro Kawamoto
Masaaki Daimon, Kimiko Ikegami
Rennyo was the key figure responsible for the restoration of Shin Buddhism in Japan, in particular the Honganji lineage that had a slump in its fortunes during the Middle Ages. According to the legend, his motivation was a pivotal childhood incident at the age of six when his mother summoned him and told him about his destiny to revive the fortunes of the Honganji school to which he was the next in line. She then mysteriously disappeared from the temple. Taking her words to heart, from a background of great poverty and hardship, at the age of 16 he set out to spread the word across the land.
Rennyo and His Mother
いばら姫またはねむり姫
Kihachiro Kawamoto
Kyōko Kishida
On her fifteenth birthday the princess finds a diary written by her mother when she was young. The diary tells of the Queen's secret, early love. The Princess goes into the forest to meet her mother's former lover. When she looks into his eyes, she realizes why her mother had fallen in love...
Briar-Rose or the Sleeping Beauty
姿三四郎
Kihachi Okamoto
Tomokazu Miura, Kumiko Akiyoshi
The story of Sanshiro Sugata, a young man who wants to learn the new art of judo. A wise teacher reveals to Sanshiro that judo is not merely a means of combat nor a demonstration of physical skill, but an art which reveals the artist to himself.
Sugata Sanshiro
