Isuzu Yamada

Isuzu Yamada (山田 五十鈴, 5 February 1917 – 9 July 2012) was a Japanese stage and screen actress whose career spanned seven decades, making her one of the most enduring figures in Japanese cinema. Born in Osaka as Mitsu Yamada, she was the daughter of shinpa actor Kusudu Yamada and a geisha mother, Ritsu, and began studying traditional nagauta singing and dance at the age of six. She debuted in film at twelve, appearing in Nikkatsu’s Tsurugi wo koete (1930) and quickly rose to prominence at the studio, where her portrayals of strong‑willed modern women in Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion (1936) earned critical acclaim. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s she collaborated with leading directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse and Yasujirō Ozu, and co‑founded the theater troupe Shin Engi‑za with Kazuo Hasegawa during World War II.

After the war she became involved in the anti‑unionist “Society of the Flag of Ten”, moved to Shintoho, and later pursued a freelance career that included marriage to left‑ist actor Yoshi Katō and membership in the Mingei Theatre Company. In the 1950s she balanced stage work with memorable film roles in Naruse’s Flowing (1956), Ozu’s Tokyo Twilight (1957) and Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957) and The Lower Depths (1957). Her later years saw TV appearances, most notably in the long‑running Hissatsu series, with her final screen performance in 2002. Yamada received numerous honors, including two Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actress, a Special Award from the Japan Academy (1995), the Person of Cultural Merit (1993) and became the first actress awarded the Order of Culture (2000). She died of multiple organ failure in Tokyo at age 95, leaving a legacy celebrated for both artistic excellence and cultural impact.