is a Japanese actress, writer, and

UNFPA The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities, is a UN agency aimed at improving reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies a ...

Goodwill Ambassador.

Life and career

She made her acting debut in 1951. In the 1950s,

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

had proposed her for the main role in ''

The Wind Cannot Read ''The Wind Cannot Read'' is a 1958 British drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Dirk Bogarde, Yoko Tani, Ronald Lewis and John Fraser. It was based on the 1946 novel by Richard Mason, who also wrote the screenplay. Songwriter P ...

'', which is about a Japanese language instructor in India circa-1943 who falls in love with a British officer, but the project fell through. Kishi married the French director

Yves Ciampi Yves Ciampi (; 9 February 1921 – 5 November 1982) was a French film director. He was married to Japanese actress Kishi Keiko from 1957 to 1975. His 1965 film '' Heaven on One's Head'' was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Fest ...

in 1957, and commuted for a while between Paris and Japan to continue her acting career. In 1963 a daughter, Delphine Ciampi, a musician and composer, was born. She divorced her husband in 1975. Since 1996 she has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (

). In 2002, she won the Japan Academy Prize for best actress for her role in the film '' Kah-chan.''

Filmography

Film

* ''Home Sweet Home'' (1951) * '' Hibari no Sākasu Kanashiki Kobato'' (1952) * ''

The Garden of Women is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It is based on the novel by Tomoji Abe. Plot After the opening sequence, documenting the uprise of students at a women's boarding school following the death of one of their fellow st ...

'' (1954) * ''

Takekurabe , English titles including ''Growing Up'' and ''Child's Play'', is a novella by Japanese writer Ichiyō Higuchi, first published in 1895–96. It depicts a group of youths growing up in Shitaya Ryūsenji-chō, Yoshiwara, Meiji era Tokyo's red li ...

'' (1955) * '' Early Spring'' (1956) * ''

Typhoon Over Nagasaki ''Typhoon Over Nagasaki'' (French: ''Typhon sur Nagasaki'') is a 1957 French-Japanese romantic drama film directed by Yves Ciampi and starring Danielle Darrieux, Jean Marais, Keiko Kishi and Gert Fröbe.Parish p.361 It was shot in Japan in N ...

'' (1957) * '' Untamed'' (1957) * ''

Snow Country is a novel by the Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata. The novel is considered a classic work of Japanese literature and was among the three novels the Nobel Committee cited in 1968, when Kawabata was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Writ ...

'' (1957) * ''

Her Brother is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Kon Ichikawa. The film is based on the novel ''Otōto'' by Aya Koda. It was entered into the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, where it won a prize for Special Distinction. Plot 17-year-old Gen takes care ...

'' (1960) * ''

Ten Dark Women ''Ten Dark Women'' (, literally "ten black women") is a 1961 Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa. Plot A married television executive has many mistresses. Nine of the mistresses and his wife band together and plan to kill him. His wife tells h ...

'' (1961) * ''The Inheritance'' (1962) * ''

Love Under the Crucifix is a 1962 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Kinuyo Tanaka. Love Under the Crucifix is the last film Tanaka directed. The film was adapted from Tōkō Kon's novel '' Ogin-sama''. The film is a bittersweet love story between Sen no Rikyū's da ...

'' (1962) * ''

Rififi in Tokyo ''Rififi in Tokyo'' (French: ''Rififi à Tokyo'') is a 1963 French-Italian crime film directed by Jacques Deray and starring Karlheinz Böhm, Charles Vanel and Barbara Lass.Monaco p.160 Synopsis The veteran gangster Van Hekken arrives in Tokyo t ...

'' (1963) * ''

Kwaidan is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 (''kai'') meaning "strange, mysterious, rare, or bewitching apparition" and 談 (''dan'') meaning "talk" or "recited narrative". Overall meaning and usage In its broadest sense, ''kaidan'' refers ...

'' (1964) * ''

Mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of th ...

'' (1969) * '' The Rendezvous'' (1972) * ''

Tora-san Loves an Artist ''aka'' ''Tora-san Goes French'' is a 1973 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Keiko Kishi as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san Loves an Artist'' is the twelfth entry ...

'' (1973) * ''

The Yakuza ''The Yakuza'' is a 1974 neo-noir crime drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Robert Mitchum, Ken Takakura and Brian Keith. The screenplay by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne is from a story by Schrader's brother, Leonard Schrader. T ...

'' (1974) * '' The Fossil'' (1975) * ''Akuma No Temari-uta'' (1977) * ''

Rhyme of Vengeance ''Rhyme of Vengeance'' ( ja, 女王蜂) is a 1978 Japanese film, directed by Kon Ichikawa. It is based on Seishi Yokomizo's novel of the same title. It is 4th in Kon Ichikawa and Koji Ishizaka`s Kindaichi film series. Plot In the Daidoji fami ...

'' (1977) * ''

Hunter in the Dark ''Hunter in the Dark'' is a young adult novel by Monica Hughes, first published in 1982 and has been the subject of school study. It is about a boy with leukemia who goes on a hunting expedition. Plot summary Mike Rankin is an athletic teenag ...

'' (1979) * ''

Koto Koto may refer to: * Koto (band), an Italian synth pop group * Koto (instrument), a Japanese musical instrument * Koto (kana), a ligature of two Japanese katakana * Koto (traditional clothing), a traditional dress made by Afro-Surinamese women * K ...

'' (1980) * ''

The Makioka Sisters is a novel by Japanese writer Jun'ichirō Tanizaki that was serialized from 1943 to 1948. It follows the lives of the wealthy Makioka family of Osaka from the autumn of 1936 to April 1941, focusing on the family's attempts to find a husband fo ...

'' (1983) * ''Kah-chan'' (2001) * ''

The Twilight Samurai ''The Twilight Samurai'' is a 2002 Japanese historical drama film co-written and directed by Yoji Yamada and starring Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life ...

'' (2002) * ''

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film based on a 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars , , and . Set in the city o ...

'' (2005) * ''

Snow Prince is a 2009 Japanese film. This film is adapted from the 1872 novel '' A Dog of Flanders'' and is inspired by the 1971 film '' A Small Love Melody''. Directed by Joji Matsuoka and written by Kundō Koyama—the scriptwriter for the film '' Depart ...

'' (2009)

Television

* ''

Taikōki The is a biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose to the office of '' taikō'' during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history. The Confucian scholar (1564–1640) published the work in 1626 during the rule of the third Tokugawa shōgu ...

'' (1965),

Oichi was a female historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She is known primarily as the mother of three daughters who became prominent figures in their own right – Yodo-dono, Ohatsu Nagamasa had no hope of winning, and chose to commit seppuk ...

* ''Mango no Ki no Shita de'' (2019), Rinko

Honours

*Kinuyo Tanaka Award (1990) * Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2004)

References

External links

* * Japanese film actresses 1932 births Living people People from Yokohama 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses Japanese officials of the United Nations Japanese expatriates in France Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class {{Japan-film-actor-stub