Yūko Mochizuki

Yūko Mochizuki
Yūko Mochizuki (right) in Carmen Comes Home
Born
Mieko Satomi

(1917-01-28)28 January 1917
Tokyo or Yokohama, Japan[a]
Died1 December 1977(1977-12-01) (aged 60)
NationalityJapanese
Other namesMieko Mochizuki
OccupationActress
SpouseShigeo Suzuki

Yūko Mochizuki (望月優子, Mochizuki Yūko, 28 January 1917 – 1 December 1977), also billed as Mieko Mochizuki,[3] was a Japanese stage and film actress who appeared in films of directors such as Keisuke Kinoshita, Mikio Naruse and Tadashi Imai.[1][2]

Biography

Mochizuki left the Tokyo Municipal Oshioka Girls' High School prematurely in 1930 and gave her stage debut the same year with Ken'ichi Enomoto's Casino Folies in Asakusa.[2] She continued with engagements such as the Shinjuku Moulin Rouge and the Shinsei Shinpa, first with light comedies, later with dramatic roles, before signing with the Shochiku film studio in 1950.[1][2] Her first major role was in Kinoshita's 1953 A Japanese Tragedy.[2] Other notable appearances include Naruse's Late Chrysanthemums, Imai's The Rice People and Satsuo Yamamoto's Ballad of the Cart.[1][2] She also had small roles in two films by Yasujirō Ozu, The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice and The End of Summer – the latter came into being because she wanted another role in an Ozu film.[4] In 1960, Mochizuki directed the children's short film 海を渡る友情 (Umiwowataru yūjō, lit. "Friendship across the sea") for the Toei Educational Film Department.[2][5] In addition to her stage and film work, she also appeared on television.[1]

In 1971 and 1977, Mochizuki ran for the House of Councilors election for the Japan Socialist Party.[2][6] She died of breast cancer in 1977.[6]

Selected filmography

Awards

Notes

  1. ^ Donald Richie and Joseph L. Anderson give Tokyo as her place of birth,[1] while the Kotobank website lists both Tokyo and Yokohama.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "望月優子 (Yūko Mochizuki)". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  3. ^ "望月美恵子". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  4. ^ Richie, Donald (1977). Ozu: His Life and Films. University of California Press. p. 63.
  5. ^ "発掘された映画たち2018 (Excavated films 2018)". National Film Archive of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "1957 Blue Ribbon Awards" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  7. ^ "1953 Mainichi Film Awards" (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  8. ^ "1954 Blue Ribbon Awards" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2020.

Bibliography

  • Mochizuki, Yūko (1969). 生きて生きて生きて (Alive, alive, alive). Tokyo: 集団形星 (Shūdan Katachi Hoshi).
  • Mochizuki, Yūko (1957). 生きて愛して演技して (Live, love and act). Tokyo: 平凡社 (Heibonsha).