HOW HARA SETSUKO STOLE OUR HEARTS

By: Kenji

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Moon behind the clouds,
The last autumn leaf will fall
where once were snowdrops.
(Kenji’s haiku for Setsuko)
___

She was born 会田昌江 Masae Aida in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture., June 17th 1920.

As the Inuit has many words for snow, so behind her smile could lie many deep emotions. Through her shone the sun, she was warm and kind, like a flower in the wind she was fragile yet resilient. There are few more joyful scenes than the bike ride in Late Spring. When she suddenly retired from acting in 1963- she has since lived a secluded life away from the public glare-, there was some resentment, so closely did the public feel her career had become their property too. She is most famous internationally for her role as the selfless daughter-in-law Noriko in Tokyo Story, and for the “Noriko” trilogy, as a whole, including Late Spring and Early Summer too, but excelled long before, and for a range of directors- superb for instance in an unexpected role in Kurosawa’s The Idiot.

Some video clips previously here are no longer on youtube- new ones to be found!

This list of her films on this site is in chronological order.

FILMOGRAPHY

Ishinaka sensei gyojoki (1966)
… aka “Big Wind from Tokyo” – USA
Shiroi Kyotou (1966)
… aka “The Great White Tower” – International (English title)
Chushingura – Hana no maki yuki no maki (1962) …. Riku Oishi
… aka “47 Samurai” – USA
… aka “Chushingura: 47 Samurai” – USA (reissue title)
Musume to watashi (1962) …. Chizuko Iwatani
… aka “My Daughter and I” – USA
Kohayagawa-ke no aki (1961) …. Akiko
… aka “The End of Summer” – International (English title)
Akibiyori (1960) …. Akiko Miwa
… aka “Late Autumn” – USA
Musume tsuma haha (1960) …. Sanae Soga
Robo no ishi (1960) …. Oren Aikawa
… aka “The Wayside Pebble” – USA
Fundoshi isha (1960) …. Iku, Wife of Keisai

Nippon tanjo (1959) …. Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess
Onna gokoro (1959)
Tôkyô no kyûjitsu (1958)
… aka “A Holiday in Tokyo” – International (English title)
Onna de aru koto (1958)
Zokuzoku Ôban: Dôto uhen (1957)
Saigo no dasso (1957)
Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen (1957)
Tôkyô boshoku (1957) …. Takako Numata
…aka “Tokyo Twilight”
Ôban (1957)
Chieko-sho (1957)
Ani to sono musume (1956)
Jôshû to tomo ni (1956) …. Sugiyama, manager
Aijô no kessan (1956)
Shu-u (1956) …. Fumiko
Non-chan kumo ni noru (1955) …. Nobuko’s mother
… aka “Nobuko Rides on a Cloud” – Japan (English title)
Utsukushiki haha (1955)
Yama no oto (1954) …. Ogata Kikuko
… aka “The Sounds from the Mountains” – USA (review title)
… aka “The Thunder of the Mountain” – International (English title)
Tôkyô monogatari (1953) …. Noriko Hirayama
… aka “Tokyo Story” – USA
Shirauo (1953) …. Sachiko
Tokyo no koibito (1952)
Kin no tamago: Golden girl (1952)
Meshi (1951) …. Michiyo Okamoto
… aka “Repast”, “A Married Life” – USA (festival title)
Bakushû (1951) …. Noriko Mamiya
… aka “Early Summer” – , International (English title)
Hakuchi (1951) …. Taeko Nasu
… aka “The Idiot” – USA
Shirayuki sensei to kodomo tachi (1950) …. Kayoko Amamiya

Banshun (1949) …. Noriko Somiya
… aka “Late Spring” – USA
Zoku aoi sanmyaku (1949)
Aoi sanmyaku (1949) …. Yukiko Shimazaki
Ojôsan kanpai (1949) …. Yasuko Ikeda
Taifuken no onna (1948)
Yuwaku (1948)
Anjô-ke no butôkai (1947) …. Atsuko, 2nd daughter
Sanbon yubi no otoko (1947)
Waga seishun ni kuinashi (1946) …. Yukie Yagihara
… aka “No Regrets for Our Youth” – International (English title)
Kita no san-nin (1945)
… aka “Three Women of the North” – International (English title)
Shôri no hi made (1945)
Wakaki hi no yorokobi (1943) …. Yasuko Hozumi
Bôrô no kesshitai (1943)
Ahen senso (1943) …. Airan (Ai Lan)
Hawai Mare oki kaisen (1942)
Haha no chizu (1942) …. Kirie
… aka “Map for Mother” – USA
Wakai sensei (1942) …. Tomiko Hirayama
Seishun no kiryu (1942)
… aka “Currents of Youth” – International (English title)
Kibo no aozora (1942)
Shidô monogatari (1941) …. Kuniko
Futari no sekai (1940)
Onna no machi (1940) …. Ine, Shinjiro’s wife
Hebihime-sama (1940) …. Koto Hime
Toyuki (1940) …. Actress of Showa Kinema

Onna no kyôshitsu – Chû-kôhen (1939) …. Chen Fengying
Onna no kyôshitsu – Gakkô no maki: Nanatsu no omokage (1939) …. Chen Fengying
Shanhai rikusentai (1939) …. Mingzhu – Chinese girl
Chûshingura: Kôhen (1939) …. Oteru
Chûshingura: Zenpen (1939) …. ‘Ichiriki’ nakai – O-Teru
Uruwashiki shuppatsu (1939) …. Tomiko Hojo
Tokyo no josei (1939) …. Setsuko Kimizuka
Fuyu no yado (1938)
Den’en kôkyôgaku (1938) …. Yukiko
Kyojin-den (1938) …. Chiyo
Atarashiki tsuchi (1937) …. Misuko Yamato
Kenji to sono imôto (1937)
Kochiyama soshun (1936)….Onami
…aka “Priest of Darkness”
Tamashii o nagero (1935)
Tamerau nakare wakodo yo (1935) …. Osetsu