Yamada Isuzu's six-part love affair

Isuzu Yamada was born on February 5, 1917 in Osaka City, formerly known as Mizu Yamada, the son of Yamada Kyushu (1879-1948) was a new-school drama actor, and his mother was originally a geisha in Osaka. By the age of six, he had already begun to learn Tokiwatsu, Nagamoto, Kiyomoto, and dance. Tokiwazu is the dance accompaniment of Kabuki, Nagaba is the shamisen music of Kabuki, and Kiyomoto is the genre of Shiori, which developed as kabuki dance music. In 1924, she and her mother studied art with Kiyomoto Tanmito player Miyoshi Megen (1889-1966). In 1925, the family moved to Tokyo, mizu enrolled in Hisamatsu Elementary School, continuing to study Kiyomoto, and when the Kyushu men went out to earn a living, the mother and daughter became the inner disciples of the master Kiyoshi, and in 1927 they received the stage names of Mei Ryū and Mei Michi respectively. The following year they went to Hosuka in Hyogo Prefecture to teach the geisha Kiyomoto to survive.

In December 1929, Kyushu took Mizu to visit his old friend Ikenaga Hiroyoshi (1877-1954), who was now the director of the Nihwa Taiqin Studio, and Hiroyoshi saw that Mizu was tall, melon-faced and looked like an adult, so he arranged for her to join the company as an actor in January of the following year, with a monthly salary of 100 yuan, the stage name was set as Yamada Isuzu, nicknamed Bell, and her debut film "Over the Sword" starred her with the most popular costume film superstar ŌkawaI Tōjiro (1898-1962). It was directed by Kunio Watanabe (1899-1981), who made a blockbuster popular film. Yamada Isuzu's second silent film, Motoroku Kuju Daitatsuzo (1930), starred Chiezo Kataoka (1903-1983) and Two superstars, Ōkawa Nobujiro.

"Langhua Sorrow song"

Isuzu Yamada lived for 5 years and made a total of 56 films. She is young, low-grade, inexperienced, and her acting skills need to be honed, so she will naturally be jealous and criticized, but fortunately her predecessor Naoe Fushimi (1908-1982) often gives comfort. In addition, Chiezo Kataoka, who was also a producer, borrowed her from Hinata many times, allowing her to star in Itami Mansaku's "Kunishi Matchless" (1932), Inagaki Hiroshi's Yataro Kasa (1932), Makino Masahiro's "Feast of the White Night" (1932), Itami Mansaku's "Budo Daikan" (1934) and Yamanaka's "Sword of the Living Man" (1934), which made her acting skills mature. The male protagonist of these five films selected for the annual top ten films of the "Movie Shunbun" is Chiezo Kataoka, so Isuzu Yamada, who has become the signature actress of Nissho, has always been grateful to Chiezo Kataoka as a great benefactor.

Another benefactor and mentor of Isuzu Yamada was Kenji Mizoguchi. She first starred in Kenji Mizoguchi's Love hate ridge (1934) directed by Nissho, and during filming, she had a full day of performances that made Mizoguchi dissatisfied, making Isuzu think that Mizoguchi would not look for her to act in the future. Unexpectedly, Kenji Mizoguchi followed Masaichi Nagata (1906-1985), the production director of the Nichiho Kyoto (Taiqin) Studio, to the "First Picture" founded with Shochiku Capital, and continued to use her as the heroine of the following four films: "Origami Achi" (1935), "Maria's A snow" (1935), "The Lament of Langhua" (1936) and "Gion Sisters" (1936).

Because her parents were separated, Yamada Isuzu had to bear the expenses of three families, so she also switched to the first film with a monthly salary of 1,000 yuan, not to mention another 250 yuan allowance for each film. The first production of the first film was Daisuke Ito's The Builder (1934), with the female lead being Isuzu Yamada and the supporting actor Ichiro Tsukida (1909-1945). Ichiro Tsukida is a beautiful actor who debuted in Ozu Yasujiro's "I Fell Behind, But..." (1930), 8 years older than the 17-year-old Isuzu, who divorced and had children with his ex-wife. Isuzu Yamada has been alone because Tsukida lost her father at a young age, so that she has developed love out of sympathy, and resolutely marries Tsukida despite the opposition of her family and friends. The duo's daughter, Michiko Yamada, was born on March 1, 1936, and later became actress Michiko Yaga, who made 138 films from 1953 to 1988 and died on August 19, 1992 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Yamada Isaju, Etsuta Ichiro

Isuzu Yamada's second film in the first screening was "Origami Achi", written by Izumi Kyoka (1873-1939) and directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, which depicts a female rogue who falls in love with a young man who pursues learning, becomes his protector, and eventually sacrifices herself for his future. At the age of 18, Isuzu Yamada continued to act in five films in 1935: Six Combs (directed by Daisuke Ito and starring Ichiro Tsukida), Ayuki of Maria, Agi the Woman (directed by Tatsunosuke Takashima and Kenji Mizoguchi), Return of the Father (directed by Shizuyoshi Teriyata and starring Ichiro Tsukida), and Shin-Ingsukakuri Chiyo (Daisuke Ito) by Shin-ingō Film Society. "Shin Natsuru Chiyo" was the first sound film of costume film superstar Sakato Masaburo (1901-1953), the production cost was 200,000 yuan 40 times that of ordinary works at that time, the shooting period was up to three months, and it was very popular after its release on October 15. Takahiro Tamura (1928-2006), the eldest son of Sakato's wife Saburo, and Masakazu Tamura (1943-2021), the eldest son of Sakato, both inherited their father's business and became famous actors of the Showa era.

Although Isuzu Yamada became pregnant, in August of the same year, he accepted his father's invitation to set foot on the stage of the Tokyo Theater for the first time, performing two plays by Yamada Kyushu: "The You in My Heart" by Shimi Nakano (1901-1973) and "Guilty and Innocence" by Matsutaro Kawaguchi (1899-1985). The following year, when she was recuperating after childbirth, she was invited by Kenji Mizoguchi to star in two sound film scripts written by Yoshihide Iida (1909-1991) in Sekiyomi dialect: "The Lamentation of Langhua" and "Sister Gion". The female telephone operator in the previous film does not succumb to adversity, she rebels against this patriarchal society by doing small evils. In one scene, when she was released from the police and went home, she saw her family sitting around eating hot pot and said that I also wanted to be treated. Isuzu Yamada said the line had not been performed for two days. Kenji Mizoguchi never instructed the actor on how to act, but only shot it a few times, dozens of times, or even a hundred times until he was satisfied. Isuzu thought sleeplessly all night, and only performed in tune on the third day. Since then, she has understood that the interpretation of the role cannot be taught by others, and can only be created by her own brain. When she continued to star in Sister Gion, she did not encounter similar difficulties. The famous film theorist Iwasaki Chang (1903-1981) believed that "The Lament of Langhua" was not only the highest level of Work of Kenji Mizoguchi, but also the highest peak of Japanese cinema in this period; It is also said that "Langhua Lamentations" and "Sister Gion" have reached a realism rarely seen in Japanese cinema, "each of these two films is full of life as if spewing out a stream of blood, and it is obvious that a creator can produce such a work only in the most energetic period." (History of Japanese Cinema, by Chang Iwasaki, translated by Chung Ri, Beijing: China Film Publishing House, 1985.) page 110)

"Jiro Tsuruhachi"

Due to the success of these two films, Isuzu Yamada objected to Ichiro Tsukida's advice that she should stop filming, and decided to make acting his life's work. In fact, before the release of "Gion Sisters" on October 15, 1936, Ichiei Pictures was disbanded on September 22 due to poor management, and Yamada Isuzu and Ichiro Tsukida also followed Nagata Yaichi to work at the Emerging Film Company. After two years and acting in ten films, Yamada Isuzu transferred to Toho in June 1938 because Toho Promised to give her a generous salary of 2,500 yuan a month, and co-starred with Kazuo Hasegawa (1908-1984) in "TsuruhachiJiro" (directed by Kio Naruse), which depicted the love story of a sanmisen artist, and the film was well received. Since then, her screen match with Kazuo Hasegawa has become a guarantee for the film's box office. Isuzu Yamada was so satisfied with to The Tokyo Studio's modern equipment, reasonable production system, and new work climate that he stayed at Toho until the end of the war. However, Tsukida Ichiro was dissatisfied with being regarded as the "husband of Yamada Isuzu" due to his lack of career, and became decadent and alcoholic. Isuzu Yamada finally divorced him in 1940 after separating from him. Unfortunately, the court awarded custody of her daughter Michiko to Ichiro Tsukida, and after his death in 1945, Michiko remained in the Tsukida family to be raised by her grandmother, leaving Michiko resentful of her absent birth mother and is said to have severed ties with Isuzu Yamada. Michiko grew up to become Shochiku's popular actress, Misato Sae, who collaborated with her mother on films such as "Daizentatsuzo" (1957, Tatsuo Ōsone), Sakura Sakura (1959, Tatsuo Ōsone), and "Nude" (1962, Narita Masashige), but she has always referred to her mother as "Mr. Yamada (Teacher)" at the studio, and she is like strangers to each other.

Isuzu Yamada has been poor since childhood, and often moved, and after becoming an actor at the age of 13, he has been working tirelessly and treating people with sincerity. She is 1.6 meters tall, melon face, plump and gorgeous, is a typical Japanese beauty, 19 years old has become a new mother, 23 years old divorce when the style is flourishing, naturally easy to fall in love again. She has many love affairs in her life, and some of the more well-known love objects are the following five.

In 1941, when Isuzu Yamada was filming Yoshio Seta's "Shanghai Moon" in Shanghai, it was rumored that she had a scandal with the film's producer, Kazuo Takimura (1908-1960), who had officially married but divorced a year later. Isuzu Yamada starred in The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday (1941, Masahiro Makino), Cat and Shozo and Two Women (1956, Shiro Toyota), Mother Three (1958, Shizue Kumatsu) and Warm Curtain (1958, Yuzo Kawashima), all produced by Kazumi Takimura. Takimura was a veteran producer of Toho, producing more than 100 films for Toho, Toei and other film companies from 1938 to 1960, including The Night of China (1940, Fumizu Shu) starring Lee Xianglan and Hiroshi Inagaki's Miyamoto Musashi trilogy (1954–56).

In 1943, after starring in Yoshio Naruse's Kaoru, Isuzu Yamada cohabitated with the film's male protagonist, Shotaro Hanayagi (1894-1965), who already had a wife. Shotaro Hanayagi was a new-school drama actor who was active in the Showa period, good at playing female characters, known as the national treasure of the world, Japan's Mei Lanfang. He starred in Kenji Mizoguchi's The Tale of the Dead Chrysanthemum (1939) and The Famous Knife Beauty Maru (1945). The heroine of the sequel is Isuzu Yamada.

In 1946, Isuzu Yamada cohabited with Iguro, who already had a wife, after starring in Masanosuke Ikasa's "The Lord of a Certain Night". Sadasuke Igayama (1896-1982) was a famous writer and director who went from anti-string female characters to screenwriters and directors in the silent film era, and became famous in Europe and the United States for his three masterpieces: "Crazy Page" (1926), "Cross Road" (1928) and "Hell's Gate" (1953). He directed about 118 films from 1922 to 1966.

Kato Yoshi, Yamada Isa

In 1949, when Isuzu Yamada starred in Tatsuo Ozone's "The Duel of shadow mage Kanagasaka", he met Kato Kato, who participated in the film, and the two became fond of each other. In April 1950, Isuzu Yamada and Sanosuke Igakasa officially broke up, and in May of the same year, they married Kato Kato, who had just divorced. In 1953, the two co-starred in Hideo Sekikawa's Hiroshima, but divorced by agreement in February 1954. Kato Yoshi (1913-1988) was a left-leaning actor who first acted in stage plays in 1936, premiered in films in 1948, and appeared in television dramas in 1958, and was a prolific actor who starred in Sejiro Kamiyama's Hometown (1983) and won several acting awards for the film.

In May 1956, the weekly magazine published a scandal about Isuzu Yamada and Motomitsu Shimomoto. Shimomoto Mian (1917-2000) and Kato Yoshika were members of the Troupe Literary Arts, founded in December 1950, and both participated in Sab Yamamoto's Vacuum Zone (1952). The film was Shimomoto's first film, and his second film was "Tang Ren Akichi" (1954, Mitsuo Wakasugi), starring Isuzu Yamada and starring Michiko Kaguya. Others speculate that Yamada Isuzu and Shimomoto's relationship began at that time, but Shimomoto is married. They neither affirm nor deny the relationship between the two, but it is widely believed that Shimomoto is the fourth husband of Isuzu Yamada, although she also has other scandals. Shimomoto had only 36 films from 1952 to 1997, and although he played many supporting roles, he starred in Sabo Yamamoto's Struggle Without Weapons (1960).