Kinuyo Tanaka
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1909-11-28
Day of Death
1977-03-21 (67 years old)
Place of Birth
Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi, Japan
Kinuyo Tanaka
Biography
Kinuyo Tanaka (田中 絹代 Tanaka Kinuyo, 29 November 1909 – 21 March 1977) was a Japanese actress and director.
Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. She became a leading actress at an early age, appearing in Yasujirō Ozu's I Graduated, But... in 1929. The following year she played the lead in Aiyoku no ki, and in 1931 she appeared in Japan's first talkie, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine, directed by Heinosuke Gosho.
She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953) and Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the Directors Guild of Japan for the Nikkatsu studio to hire her as a director. Despite this, the production of her second film as director went ahead, but Tanaka never forgave Mizoguchi, and the reasons for his behaviour are unclear. She also played Noboru Yasumoto's mother in Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (1965). For her portrayal in Kei Kumai's Sandakan N° 8 she won the Best Actress Award at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival in 1975. Her last screen appearance was in 1976 in Kei Kumai's Kita No Misaki.
Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after Sakane Tazuko (1904‐1975). Her first directing job was on the film Love Letter in 1953, and she made five further films in that role.
Acting
(2022)
Kinuyo Tanaka, a Woman We Talk About
as self (archive footage)
(2009)
The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka
as Self (archive footage)
(1976)
(1976)
Cape of the North
as Old Nun
(1975)
(1975)
Let's Go, Grandma!
as Kiku Sasaki
(1974)
Sandakan No. 8
as Old Osaki
(1974)
(1972)
Tora-san's Dream-Come-True
as the old family mistress
(1965)
Red Beard
as Madame Yasumoto
(1964)
The Scent of Incense
as Tsuna
(1964)
(1963)
Alone Across the Pacific
as Youth's Mother
(1963)
A Legend, or Was It?
as Shizuko Sonobe
(1963)
Bright Sea
as Nobuko Yazaki
(1963)
(1962)
A Wanderer's Notebook
as Kishi, Fumiko's mother
(1962)
The Fencing Master
as Oharu
(1962)
(1961)
Wakarete ikiru toki mo
as Michi's Mother
(1960)
Her Brother
as Mother
(1959)
The Three Treasures
as Princess Yamato
(1959)
Chikamatsu's Love in Osaka
as Myokan
(1959)
Hahakogusa
as Shige Ozawa
(1958)
Equinox Flower
as Kiyoko Hirayama
(1958)
The Ballad of Narayama
as Orin
(1958)
(1958)
The Eternal Rainbow
as Fumi
(1957)
On This Earth
as Omitsu, Heiichiro's mother
(1957)
Yellow Crow
as Yukiko Matsumoto
(1957)
Geisha in the Old City
as Oei
(1957)
Stepbrothers
as Rie
(1956)
Flowing
as Rika Yamanaka / Oharu
(1956)
Women in Prison
as Prison Warden
(1956)
(1956)
(1956)
(1955)
Forever a Woman
as Neighbor's Wife
(1955)
The Moon Has Risen
as Yoneya
(1955)
(1955)
(1955)
(1954)
Sansho the Bailiff
as Tamaki
(1954)
The Woman in the Rumor
as Hatsuko Mabuchi
(1954)
(1953)
Ugetsu
as Miyagi
(1953)
Where Chimneys Are Seen
as Hiroko Ogata
(1953)
Love Letter
as Landlady
(1953)
Sincere Heart
as Kuniko
(1953)
An Heir's Place
as Hisa Hosho
(1952)
The Life of Oharu
as Oharu
(1952)
Mother
as Masako Fukuhara
(1952)
The Ataka Family
as Kuniko Ataka
(1952)
(1951)
Miss Oyu
as Oyû Kayukawa
(1951)
The Lady of Musashino
as Michiko Akiyama
(1951)
Ginza Cosmetics
as Yukiko Tsuji
(1951)
(1951)
The Inner Palace Conspiracy
as Onaka
(1950)
The Munekata Sisters
as Setsuko Munekata
(1950)
Wedding Ring
as Noriko Kuki
(1949)
Flame of My Love
as Eiko Hirayama
(1949)
Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 1
as Oiwa / Osode
(1949)
Yotsuya Ghost Story Part 2
as Oiwa / Osode
(1948)
A Hen in the Wind
as Tokiko Amamiya
(1948)
Women of the Night
as Fusako Owada
(1947)
The Love of the Actress Sumako
as Sumako Matsui
(1947)
Marriage
as Fumie Matsukawa
(1947)
Phoenix
as Sayoko Aihara
(1946)
Utamaro and His Five Women
as Okita
(1946)
Victory of Women
as Hiroko Hosokawa
(1945)
(1945)
Victory Song
as Woman who sings lullaby
(1944)
Army
as Waka
(1944)
(1944)
Miyamoto Musashi
as Shinobu Nonomiya
(1943)
Air Raid of the Enemy Plane
as Kiyo
(1943)
(1942)
(1941)
Ornamental Hairpin
as Emi
(1941)
(1941)
(1941)
(1940)
(1940)
(1940)
(1940)
(1939)
(1939)
(1939)
(1939)
Okayo's Preparedness
as Okayo
(1938)
The Tree of Love
as Katsue Takaishi
(1938)
Mother and Child
as Chieko
(1937)
Lady Doctor Kinuyo
as Kinuyo Yamaoka
(1937)
(1937)
(1937)
Song of the Flower Basket
as Yoko
(1937)
(1936)
(1936)
(1936)
(1935)
Burden of Life
as Itsuko Kuriyama
(1935)
Okoto and Sasuke
as Okoto
(1935)
An Innocent Maid
as Oshige
(1934)
My Elder Brother
as Sumako
(1934)
Osayo koisugata
as Osayo
(1934)
(1934)
The Genealogy of Women
as Otsuta
(1933)
Dragnet Girl
as Tokiko
(1933)
The Dancing Girl of Izu
as Kaoru, a dancer
(1933)
Woman of Tokyo
as Harue
(1933)
(1933)
The Bride Talks in Her Sleep
as Haruko, bride
(1932)
Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth?
as Oshige
(1932)
The Loyal 47 Ronin
as Yae
(1931)
The Neighbour's Wife and Mine
as Wife of the playwright
(1931)
(1931)
(1930)
I Flunked, But...
as Cafe's waitress
(1930)
Young Lady
as Kinuko
(1930)
(1930)
(1929)
I Graduated, But...
as Machiko Nomoto
(1929)
The Blacksmith of the Forest
as Omitsu
(1929)
(1928)
(1928)
(1928)
(1926)
Crew
(1962)
Love Under the Crucifix
Director
(1961)
Girls of the Night
Director
(1960)
The Wandering Princess
Director
(1955)
Forever a Woman
Director
(1955)
The Moon Has Risen
Director
(1953)
Love Letter
Director
(1953)
Brother and Sister
Assistant Director