was a Japanese actress. She is best known for her performances in Yasujirō Ozu's films Late Spring (1949), Tokyo Story (1953) and Tokyo Twilight (1957), amongst many others, and for working extensively with director Mikio Naruse. She is widely considered to be one of the greatest Japanese film actresses of all time.
Early life and work Setsuko Hara was born in what is now Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama in a family with three sons and five daughters. Her elder sister was married to film director Hisatora Kumagai, which gave her an entry into the world of the cinema: he encouraged her to drop out of school, which she did, and then she worked for Nikkatsu Studios in Tamagawa, outside Tokyo, in 1935. She debuted at the age of 15 with a stage name that the studio gave her in .
She came to prominence as an actress in the 1937 German-Japanese co-production Die Tochter des Samurai (The Daughter of the Samurai), known in Japan as Atarashiki Tsuchi (The New Earth), directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami. In the film, Hara plays a woman who unsuccessfully attempts to immolate herself in a volcano. She continued to portray tragic heroines in many of her films until the end of World War II, like The Suicide Troops of the Watchtower (1942) and The Green Mountains (1949), directed by Tadashi Imai, and Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky, directed by Kunio Watanabe.
Postwar career Hara remained in Japan after 1945 and continued making films. She starred in Akira Kurosawa’s first postwar film No Regrets for Our Youth (1946). She also worked with director Kimisaburo Yoshimura in The Ball at the Anjo House (1947) and Keisuke Kinoshita in Here’s to the Girls (1949). In all of these films, she was portrayed as the “new” Japanese woman, looking forward to a bright future. However, in most of her movies, especially those directed by Yasujirō Ozu and Mikio Naruse she plays the typical Japanese woman, as either daughter, wife, or mother.
Hara’s first film of six with Yasujirō Ozu was Late Spring (1949), and their collaboration lasted for twelve years. In Late Spring, she plays Noriko, a devoted daughter who prefers to stay at home and take care of her father than to marry, despite the urgings of her family members. In Early Summer (1951), she played an unrelated character also called Noriko, who wanted to get married, and finds the courage to do so without her family’s approval. This film was followed by Tokyo Story (1953), perhaps her and Ozu's best-known film, in which she played a widow, also called Noriko whose husband was killed in the war. Her devotion to her deceased husband worries her in-laws, who insist that she should move on and remarry.
Hara's last major role was Riku, the wife of Ōishi Yoshio, in the film Chushingura (1962).
Later years Hara, who never married, is nicknamed "the Eternal Virgin" in Japan and is a symbol of the golden era of Japanese cinema of the 1950s. She quit acting in 1963 (the year Ozu died), and subsequently led a secluded life in Kamakura, where many of her films with Ozu were made, refusing to be interviewed or photographed. For years, people speculated about her reasons for leaving the public eye. Hara herself confessed during her final press conference that she never really enjoyed acting and was only using it as a means to support her family; however, many people continued to speculate over her possible romantic involvement with Ozu, or the possibility of failing eyesight. Hara was an avid smoker and drinker.原節子さん「実はさばさばしていて男っぽい方」共演女優語る, 2015, AERA.dot
After seeing a Setsuko Hara film, the novelist Shūsaku Endō wrote: "We would sigh or let out a great breath from the depths of our hearts, for what we felt was precisely this: Can it be possible that there is such a woman in this world?"
Death After half a century of seclusion, Hara died of pneumonia at a hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture on 5 September 2015, at the age of 95. Her death was not reported by the media until 25 November of that year due to her family only approaching them later, presumably for privacy.原節子さん死去、日本映画黄金期を代表する女優 日刊スポーツ 2015年11月25日 The anime film Millennium Actress (2001), directed by Satoshi Kon, is partly based on her life.
Legacy Hara is considered by many critics and filmmakers to be one of the greatest Japanese film actresses of all time. Yasujirō Ozu, with whom she worked six times, said of her in 1951: "It is rare for an actress to perform as well as Setsuko Hara. She's a radish, without rather than revealing his own ignorance of the director not noticing the radish. In fact, without flattery, I think she's the best Japanese film actress."Asahi Entertainment Newspaper, 9 September 1951 In his 1991 autobiography, Chishu Ryu described Hara as "not just beautiful, but also a skilled actress. She didn't make mistakes. Ozu rarely praised actors, ever. But he did say, 'She's good', which meant she was truly something."Ofuna Diary: Memories of Yasujiro Ozu, 1991, Chishu Ryu Actors and crew members who worked with Hara described her as shy but also friendly to work with.Uncovering the fresh appeal of Setsuko Hara, famous for her work with director Yasujiro Ozu; JFF, September 16, 2022
In 2000, Hara was selected by celebrities as the greatest Japanese actress in Kinema Junpo'''s list of the great 20th-century movie actors and actresses.Kinema Junpo, "20th Century Movie Stars, June 2000"
Selected filmographyTamerau nakare wakodo yo (1935) – OsetsuShīnya no taiyō (1935) – Kimie OdaMidori no chiheisen zenpen (1935)Midori no chiheisen kohen (1935)Hakui no kajin (1936) – YukikoKōchiyama Sōshun (1936) – OnamiYomeiri mae no musume tachi (1936)Seimei no kanmuri (1936) – Ayako ArimuraTange sazen: Nikko no maki (1936)Kenji to sono imōto (1937)The Daughter of the Samurai (1937) – Misuko YamatoTōkai Bijoden (1937)Haha no kyoku I (1937) – KeikoHaha no kyoku II (1937) – KeikoThe Giant (1938) – ChiyoDen'en kōkyōgaku (1938) – YukikoShogun no magō (1938) – Kireii Nae SasanoFuyu no yado (1938)Uruwashiki shuppatsu (1939) – Tomiko HōjōChūshingura (1939, part 1, 2) – OteruThe Naval Brigade at Shanghai (1939) – young Chinese womanMachi (1939) – Sonomi KiharaOnna no kyōshitsu (1939, part 1, 2) – Chen Feng-yingTokyo no josei (1939) – Setsuko KimizukaHikari to kage (1940, part 1, 2) – Sahoko KatsuraToyuki (1940) – Showa Kinema actressTotsugu hi made (1940) – YoshikoHebihimesama (1940) – Koto HimeOnna no machi (1940) – IneFutari no sekai (1940)Shimai no Yakusoku (1940) – SachikoAnî no hânayomê (1941) – AkikoÔinaru kanō (1941)Kēkkon no seitaî (1941) – Haruko SannoA Story of Leadership (1941) – eldest daughterKibō no aozora (1942) – ChizukoSeishun no kiryū (1942) – Makiko, his sisterWakai sensei (1942) – Tomiko HirayamaMidori no daichi (1942) – Wife HatsueHaha no chizu (1942) – KirieHawai Mare Oki Kaisen (The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malay) (1942) – KikukoHawai • Maree oki kaisen (1942) – KikukoAhen senso (a.k.a. The Opium War) (1943) – Airan [Ai Lan]Bōrō no kesshitai (1943) – YoshikoToward the Decisive Battle in the Sky (1943) – older sisterSearing Wind (1943) – KumikoSuicide Troops of the Watchtower (1943) – Commander Takazu's wifeIkari no umi (1944) – Mitsuko HiragaYoung Eagles (1944)Shōri no hi made (1945)Kita no san-nin (1945) – Sumiko UenoKoi no fūunjī (1945) – Yukiko HasebeMidori no kokkyō (1946) – Maki KuriyamaReijin (1946) – KeikoNo Regrets for Our Youth (1946) – Yukie YagiharaKakedashi jidai (1947) – Miyako TomodaThe Ball at the Anjo House (1947) – Atsuko AnjōOnnadake no yoru (1947)Sanbon yubi no otoko (1947) – ShizukoYuwaku (1948) – TakakoToki no teizo: zengohen (1948)Fujisancho (1948)Taifuken no onna (1948) – Kuriko SatoKofuku no genkai (1948)President and a female clerk (1948) – Shop girlTonosama Hotel (1949) – Aki NagaokaOjōsan kanpai (Here's to the Young Lady) (1949) – Yasuko IkedaAoi sanmyaku (1949) – Yukiko ShimazakiZoku aoi sanmyaku (1949) – Yukiko ShimazakiLate Spring (1949, directed by Ozu) – Noriko SomiyaShirayuki-sensei to kodomo-tachi (1950) – Kayoko AmamiyaArupisu monogatari: Yasei (1950)Nanairo no hana (1950) – Teruko KashiwagiJoi no Shinsatsushitsu (1950) – Dr. TajimaThe Idiot (1951) – Taeko NasuEarly Summer (1951, directed by Ozu) – Noriko MamiyaRepast (1951) – Michiyo OkamotoKaze futatabi (1952)Kin no tamago: Golden girl (1952)Tōkyō no koibito (1952) – YukiShirauo (1953) – SachikoTokyo Story (1953, directed by Ozu) – Noriko HirayamaSound of the Mountain (1954) – Ogata KikukoNon-chan Kumo ni Noru (1955) – Nobuko's motherUruwashiki haha (1955) – Mitsuyo ŌtaShūu (1956) – FumikoAijō no kessan (1956) – KatsukoKon'yaku sanbagarasu (1956)Jōshū to tomo ni (1956) – Sugiyama, managerAni to sono musume (1956) – Akiko MamiyaŌban (1957) – Kanako MoriTokyo Twilight (1957, directed by Ozu) – Takako NumataChieko-sho (1957) – Chieko TakamuraZoku Ōban: Fūun hen (1957) – Kanako ArishimaSaigo no dasso (1957) – TomikoZokuzoku Ōban: Dotō hen (1957) – Kanako ArishimaOnna de aru koto (1958) – IchikoA Holiday in Tokyo (1958) – ChairmanŌban kanketsu hen (1958)Onna gokoro (1959) – IsokoThe Three Treasures (1959) – Amaterasu, the Sun GoddessRobo no ishi (1960) – Oren AikawaDaughters, Wives and a Mother (1960) – Sanae Sakanoshi, the eldest daughterFundoshi isha (1960) – Iku, Wife of KeisaiLate Autumn (1960, directed by Ozu) – Akiko MiwaThe End of Summer (1961, directed by Ozu) – AkikoMusume to watashi (1962) – Chizuko IwataniChushingura (1962) – Riku (final film role)
Notes
References
Karlsson, Mats. 'Setsuko Hara: Japan's Eternal Virgin and Reluctant Star of the Silver Screen.' In Stars in World Cinema: Screen Icons and Star Systems Across Cultures, ed. Andrea Bandhauer and Michelle Royer, pp. 51–63. I.B. Tauris. (2015) Weston, Mark. Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women. Kodansha International. (2002) Yoshimoto, Mitsuhiro. Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema''. Duke University Press. (2000)
External links
JMDb Profile (in Japanese) Setsuko Hara at Ozu-san.com