is a Japanese actress and activist. She has won four Japan Academy Best Actress awards, more than any other actress, and has been called "one of the foremost stars in the postwar world of film."
Career
Her first media appearance was in the radio drama "Akado Suzunosuke" in 1957, and she has been one of the most popular actresses in Japan since the 1960s, with fans called "Sayur-ists" (Sayurisuto) - for example, Akiyuki Nosaka and Tamori.
She made a contract with the movie corporation Nikkatsu and played the lead role in many of its films. In 1962, Yoshinaga played a junior-high school girl in her most famous film, Foundry Town, and got the Japan Record Award for "Itsudemo Yume wo" (Always Keep the Dream) with the male singer Yukio Hashi. In the 1970s and 1980s, Yoshinaga appeared in films made by other companies, as well as in TV drama serials, commercials, and talk shows. After this period, she returned to films and she has featured in commercials for some big companies such as Sharp Aquos, Nissey and Kagome. She has been awarded the Japan Academy Prize four times. Yoshinaga has appeared in 125 films, mostly in the leading role. Yoshinaga starred in Kon Ichikawa's Ohan and The Makioka Sisters. She also starred in Yoji Yamada's Kabei: Our Mother and About Her Brother.
In 2012, she starred in Junji Sakamoto's A Chorus of Angels.
Character Yoshinaga graduated from Waseda University, the Schools of Letters, Arts and Sciences II in 1969. Under a tight schedule, she took the runners-up value in the school among the graduates in that year. In 1973, she married Taro Okada, a TV director worked in Fuji Television, keeping her maiden name "Yoshinaga" as her stage name. She has no children.
From the 1980s, after playing Yumechiyo in TV drama, a hibakusha geisha by Atomic bombings of Hiroshima, she has worked for the anti-nuclear movement. Her most well-known action is reading the poems about atomic bombs over 20 years, and she worked without guarantees for voice guidance in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. She is also famous for supporting a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club, Seibu Lions. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the former owner of this team is a fan of Yoshinaga, and she bought a pension from Tsutsumi's Seibu Railway group.
Selected filmography Film Year Title RoleNotes1960Kenju burai-chō Denkō Setsuka no OtokoDan Noriko1960Mutekiga Ore o YondeiruHamazaki Yukiko1962Foundry TownJunLead role1963Izu no OdorikoKaoruLead role1966The Hearth of HiroshimaLead role1968Monument to the Girls' CorpsLead role1971Men and War Part IIYoriko Godai1972Tora-san's Dear Old HomeUtako1973Men and War Part IIIYoriko Godai1974Tora-san's LovesickUtako1975The Gate of YouthTae Ibuki1978August Without the Emperor 1980Dōran 1983The Makioka SistersYukiko Makioka1984Station to Heaven Lead roleOhanOhanLead role1985Yumechiyo YumechiyoLead role1987Film ActressKon IchikawaLead role1988A Chaos of FlowersAkiko YosanoLead role1992GekashitsuLead role1993Yearning Lead role1998Diary of Early Winter Shower Lead role2000Nagasaki burabura bushi Lead role2001Sennen no Koi Story of GenjiMurasaki ShikibuLead role2005Year One in the North Lead role2008Kabei: Our Mother Lead role2010About Her Brother Lead role2012A Chorus of Angels Lead role2014Cape Nostalgia Lead role2015Nagasaki: Memories of My SonNobuko FukuharaLead role2018Sakura Guardian in the NorthTetsu EzureLead role2019The Bucket ListSashie KitaharaLead role2021A Morning of FarewellSawako ShiraishiLead role2023Mom, Is That You?!FukueLead role2025Climbing for LifeJunko TabeLead role2027Haha no Matsu SatoChiyo KogaLead role
Television Year Title Role Notes 1970Momi no Ki wa Nokotta UnoTaiga drama1976Kaze to Kumo to Niji to TakakoTaiga drama1981–84The Diary of Yumechiyo YumechiyoLead role; 3 seasons
Awards 1961: Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year 1962: Japan Record Award 1984: 9th Hochi Film Award - Best Actress for Ohan and Station to Heaven 1985: Japan Academy Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1986: Kinuyo Tanaka Award 1989: Japan Academy Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1997: Japan Record Award for Concept 2001: Japan Academy Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 2006: Japan Academy Prize - Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 2006: Medals of Honour with Purple Ribbon 2010: Person of Cultural Merit 2015: Kikuchi Kan Prize 2025: Lifetime Achievement Award at 38th Tokyo International Film Festival
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