Kyōko Kagawa

Biography

Kyōko Kagawa (香川 京子 Kagawa Kyōko, born 5 December 1931) is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in leading and supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's The Bad Sleep Well and High and Low, Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, and Kenji Mizoguchi's Sansho the Bailiff. She won the "New Face Nomination" sponsored by the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper out of about 6,000 applicants and joined Shintoho. She was also taking entrance exams for a regular company at the same time, and her final interview and the final exam for the New Faces camera test overlapped, but with her mother's advice, she decided to pursue acting. After appearing in Red Beard in 1965 , she gave birth to a child and accompanied her husband to New York where he was posted overseas, leaving the film industry for about three years. She returned to Japan in 1968. As film began to decline, she expanded her field of work to include television dramas and stage productions. She was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 1998 and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2004 .

Most Known For

Futarikko

Mizuiro no toki

as 知子の母・松宮房子

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

as Self

High and Low

as Reiko Gondo

Shall We Dance?

as Keiko Kishikawa

Life of a Flower

as Akiyama Shizu

Tokyo Story

as Kyoko Hirayama

Imo Tako Nankin

as 花岡和代

Silent Poor

as Fusae Eda

Love Letter

as Yasuko

The Bad Sleep Well

as Yoshiko Nishi

After Life

as Kyoko Watanabe

Mothra

as Michi Hanamura

An Osaka Story

as Onatsu

Sansho the Bailiff

as Anju

Red Beard

as Madwoman ("The Mantis")

Madadayo

as Professor's Wife

The Tale of Genji

Chikamatsu Monogatari

as Osan

The Three Treasures

as Princess Miyazu