Eight thousand herbs lavender
According to Japanese media reports, Kaoru Yachikusa (real name Hitomi Taniguchi), a famous actor from the Showa era, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 88 in a hospital in Tokyo on October 24.
Although for Chinese audiences, most of them know this old drama bone who is always quiet and gentle through the role of grandma in Japanese dramas such as "White Night", "The Most Perfect Divorce", and "Little Omnivorous Shop", Yachikusa Kaoru actually became famous in Japan very early, and can be said to be one of the representative actresses of the Showa era.
Stills from Snow Country
Born in Osaka in 1931, Kaoru Yachikusa, who was dependent on her mother since childhood, experienced a war-torn teenage girlhood, and did not usher in a turning point in her life until she entered the Takarazuka Opera Company at the age of 16. In 1952, Kaoru Yachikusa played the role of the heroine Wakami in the Takarazuka stage play "The Tale of Genji", and her acting skills were well received by the outside world, coupled with her beautiful and pure appearance, she soon became popular, and was also selected as the first place in the magazine's "Most Wanted Actress".
Stills from Miyamoto Musashi
Since Takarazuka established the Film Division in 1952, the focus of Yakusa Kaoru's work under the department also shifted from the stage to the screen. She starred in Miyamoto Musashi, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as Ato, who fell in love with Musashi; and in the 1955 Japanese-Italian co-production of Madame Butterfly, she starred; both of these works have received good reputations both in Japan and abroad, and Yachikusa Kaoru is also considered a promising actress.
In 1957, Kaoru Yachikusa quit the Takarazuka Opera Troupe. Just when her popularity was at its peak and the outside world thought that she would devote herself to the film business, the news of her marriage to director Chiyoshi Taniguchi caused an uproar. Because Taniguchi had been divorced twice and was 19 years older than 8,000 Kusanagi, this marriage was opposed by relatives and friends around him, and the outside world was not optimistic. However, they used the rest of their lives to prove that each other was the best choice. Although Yachikusa kaoru and Taniguchi had no children, they were known in Japanese showbiz as inseparable model couples until Taniguchi died on the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage.
After marrying Chiyoshi Taniguchi, Yachikusa Kaoru did not choose to return to the hermit family like most actresses of that era, but continued to be active on the screen and screen, starring in the Okawa drama "One-Eyed Dragon Masamune", "The New Couple Zenya", "Injiro's Story 10: Injiro's Dream Come True", "Barren Zone", "Like Asura" and so on. Although in these works, she mostly plays the role of a good wife and mother, but the most acclaimed for her is the role of a cheating housewife in the classic Japanese drama "Shore Album" broadcast in 1977.
Stills from "Don't Be Discouraged in Life"
As she grew older, Kaoru Yachikura gradually changed from a protagonist who picked up a beam to a golden supporting role, and the identity of the role she played changed from a housewife and mother to a kind and assertive grandmother. For example, in the Japanese drama "The Most Perfect Divorce", the grandmother of the male protagonist Guangsheng, who she plays, is not only the head of the family, but also runs a coffee shop, although she usually does not talk much, but from time to time she will come up with wise words that make the youngsters enlightened. In 2013, the 82-year-old Yachikusa Kaoru once again challenged the protagonist and starred as the 100-year-old poet's mother-in-law Shibata in the biographical film "Life Don't Be Discouraged".
Ychikura Kaoru has received more than 20 various awards, including the Purple Ribbon Medal for Outstanding Contributors to Academia, Art, and Sports in Japan, and the Tanaka Silk Award, the Mainichi Picture Award. In addition to acting, she has published the prose collection Gentle Time (優しい時間) and Your Unique Way of Blooming (あなただけの、咲き方で). When it comes to the secret to staying healthy, she once revealed that it is "taking the dog for a walk".
"Your Unique Way of Blooming" "Gentle Time" book cover
In nearly 70 years of acting career, 8,000 Kaoru has starred in no less than 100 works, which can be said to have been performed until the end of his life. Even after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of 2017 and completing surgery in 2018, she still did not suspend her acting activities. It was not until February this year, because of the spread of cancer cells, that he had to announce his resignation from the spin-off drama "Tranquility Moment ~ Dao" of the noon drama "The Land of Tranquility". At that time, she also said: "In order to appear in more exciting works in the future, I will now go back to recuperate." It can be seen that at the age of 88, she is still in love with her acting career and the world.