"Showa" is the era name used by the reign of Hirohito, the 124th Emperor of Japan, from December 25, 1926 to January 7, 1989, making it the longest used era name in Japan. In this era, there are many sweet and lovely girl idols and actresses who are shy of the moon, and when it comes to Showa beauties, who will first think of them?
Recently, the Japanese media launched the "popular Showa beauty actress" vote, with nearly 20% of the vote in the first place is Natsume Masako, but this beauty has passed away in 1985, at the age of 27. Let's learn about the short life of this Showa beauty with Xiaohe.
Natsume Masako, whose real name is Masako Ogata, was born in 1957 to a merchant family. In the third grade of elementary school, he was influenced by the popular drama and aspired to become an actor, but at that time he was strongly opposed by his mother. But after watching Sophia Roland's movie "Meet and Hate Late", the 17-year-old has strengthened her determination to become an actor.
In 1976, the 19-year-old Natsume Masako debuted as a full actress under the real name Ofako Koda, starring in the Japanese drama "Can You See Love (愛が見えますか)", which became a hit.
Since Tokyo Girls Gakukan University, where she was studying at the time, was not allowed to engage in acting activities during her school days, Masako Natsume decided to drop out of school for the sake of her beloved acting career.
In 1977, Natsume Masako became the ambassador of the well-known beauty brand Kanabo, officially changing her stage name to Natsume Masako. She quickly became the darling of advertisers, shooting many commercials and film and television works.
In the 1987 version of "Journey to the West" filmed in Japan, the production team boldly used Natsume Masako as an actress to play the role of Master Sanzang, but did not expect that the response after the broadcast was extremely enthusiastic, not only in Japan, but also in many loyal audiences overseas. This success also allowed the Subsequent Japanese remakes of Journey to the West to maintain the tradition of using actresses to play the Three Tibetan Masters.
In the play, Natsume Masako's gentle and delicate acting skills pushed her acting career to a peak, and also made the Sanzang Master of the 1987 version of "Journey to the West" one of the most memorable mythological drama characters for Japanese audiences.
In 1982, Natsume Masako starred in "The Life of Hanako Oni Ryuin", playing the adopted daughter of the male protagonist, Matsue.
She gave her first kiss on the screen for the role, and even challenged the large-scale nude shot, and had to praise her professionalism.
Masako Natsume also showed her boundless potential as an actress in the film, for which she won the 1982 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress, the 1983 Annual Film Award for Best Actress, and the Yokohama Film Festival for Best Supporting Actress.
Movie "The Life of Hanako Oni Ryuin"
Since then, she has starred in "The Fish Shadow Group", "The Women's Room of the Time House", "Antarctic Story", "Setouchi Junior Baseball Team", NHK Okawa Drama "Tokugawa Ieyasu" and other works, her acting skills have been recognized, and she also married in 1984, which can be described as a double harvest of career love.
Movie "The Women's Room of the Times House"
However, fate likes to tease people, and bad news always catches people off guard.
In 1985, just as Natsume Masako was at the peak of her life, she suddenly fell ill during a performance and was immediately diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
On September 11, 1985, after seven months of fighting cancer, she died of complications at the age of 27.
After Natsume Masako's death, her mother and other family members built on her legacy to establish the "Natsume Masako Sunflower Foundation" to support cancer patients. In 2002, Masako Natsume was elected as the ambassador of the Japan Bone Marrow Donation Promotion Program, which called on more people to pay attention to cancer and participate in public welfare undertakings.
Natsume Masako and her mother
The short-lived acting career and firework-like but fleeting beauty are so overwhelming that Japanese movie fans still miss Masako Natsume to this day.
In 1995, the tenth anniversary of Natsume's death, Canon Photocopier Advertising planned a limited edition of photo albums, and as many as 230,000 people across Japan participated in the collection. In the list of "Japan's Most Beautiful and Most Attractive Actresses in a Hundred Years" launched by "Literature and Art Spring and Autumn" in 2009, Natsume Masako ranked 4th, which is enough to see the Japanese audience's thoughts about her.