was a Japanese actress and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Uget ...

, such as ''

The Life of Oharu is a 1952 Japanese historical fiction film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi from a screenplay by Yoshikata Yoda. It stars Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a ''daimyō'' (and mother of a later ''daimyō'') who struggles to escape the sti ...

'' (1952) and ''

Ugetsu , is a 1953 Japanese historical drama and fantasy film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi starring Masayuki Mori and Machiko Kyō. It is based on two stories in Ueda Akinari's 1776 book of the same name, combining elements of the '' jidaigeki'' ( ...

'' (1953). With her 1953 directorial debut, ''

Love Letter A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a lo ...

'', Tanaka became the second Japanese woman to direct a film, after

Tazuko Sakane was a Japanese film director. She was Japan's first female director, followed by Kinuyo Tanaka. Her first feature film ''New Clothing'' (''初姿 Hatsu Sugata,'' 1936) is known to be the first Japanese feature film directed by a female. The ma ...

Biography

Early life and career

Tanaka was born in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, the youngest of nine children of Kumekichi and Yasu Tanaka. Her family were ''

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

'' merchants. Although her family was originally wealthy, after her father Kumekichi died in 1912, the family began having financial troubles. She learned playing the

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...

at an early age and moved to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

in 1920, where she joined the Biwa Girls' Operetta Troupe. Tanaka's first credited film appearance was in ''Genroku Onna'' (lit. "A Woman of the Genroku era") in 1924, which also marked the start of her affiliation with the

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

Studios. She lived with director Hiroshi Shimizu after appearing in a number of his films; although they separated in 1929, she starred in some of his later films. Tanaka remained unmarried for her entire life and had no children. She became a leading actress at an early age, appearing in

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

's '' I Graduated, But...'' in 1929. The following year she played the lead in '' Aiyoku no ki'', and in 1931 she appeared in Japan's first

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', directed by

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shomin-geki (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his most noted works ...

. Gosho also directed her in his adaptation of the famous

Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal an ...

story, ''

The Dancing Girl of Izu is a novel by Japanese writer and Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata first published in 1926. Plot The narrator, a twenty-year-old student from Tokyo, travels the Izu Peninsula during the last days of the summer holidays, a journey which h ...

'' (1933). In the 1930s, Tanaka became so popular that the titles of many feature films used her name, as in ''Kinuyo Monogatari'' ("The Kinuyo Story"), ''Joi Kinuyo Sensei'' ("Doctor Kinuyo") and ''Kinuyo no Hatsukoi'' ("Kinuyo's First Love"). In 1938, she starred in Hiromasa Nomura's ''Aizen katsura'' with

Ken Uehara was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1990. He starred in ''Entotsu no mieru basho'', which was entered in the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. His son is the singer and actor Yūzō Kayama. Sel ...

, which was the highest-grossing movie of the prewar period. In 1940, she worked with

for the first time, starring in ''Naniwa Onna'' ("A Woman of Osaka"), which is regarded as a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. The following year, she appeared in ''

Ornamental Hairpin is a 1941 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu. It is based on the short story ''Yottsu no yubune'' (四つの湯槽, lit. "The four bathtubs") by Masuji Ibuse. Plot A diverse group of people is staying at a remote ...

'', directed by Shimizu, which nowadays ranks, also thanks to Tanaka's performance, as one of the director's most mature achievements. 1944 saw her first collaboration with director

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasu ...

in the patriotic piece ''

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

''. The film became famous for its finale which, a subversion of its militarist message, showed a mother (Tanaka) desperately trying to catch a last glimpse of her son who is marching off to war.

Post-war career

Starting in October 1949, Tanaka made a three-month trip to the United States as one of Japan's first post-war cultural envoys. On her return, Tanaka displayed an inheritance of cultural mannerisms from America which many of her fans found distasteful. She resigned from Shochiku and announced her intention of going freelance, which would give her more scope to choose which directors she wished to work with. She subsequently worked on films with

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, ...

, Ozu, Kinoshita, Gosho and others. She had a close working relationship with director Kenji Mizoguchi, having parts in 15 of his films, including leading roles in ''

'' (1952), ''

'' (1953) and '' Sansho the Bailiff'' (1954). A recurrent topic of these films, both contemporary and historic dramas, was the fate of women mistreated by family, lovers and society. Tanaka's and Mizoguchi's involvement was the subject of much speculation, on which the actress commented in the 1975 documentary '' Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director'' that she and Mizoguchi were "married in front of the camera, but not behind it". Their working relationship ended when Mizoguchi countered a recommendation from the

Directors Guild of Japan The is a trade union created to represent the interests of film directors in the film industry in Japan. It was founded in 1936, with Minoru Murata serving as the first president, and has continued to this day apart from a period between 1943 and ...

for the

Nikkatsu is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio, founded in 1912 during the silent film era. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally ...

studio to hire her as a director.

Director and actress

Tanaka was the second Japanese woman who worked as a film director, after

. Despite Mizoguchi's objection against her application, Tanaka was able to give her directing debut with ''

'' in 1953. Scripted by Kinoshita, it was entered as a contestant in the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 1954. She directed five more films between 1953 and 1962, focusing on the subject of femininity; while her films received less attention from contemporary commentators and Tanaka herself downplayed them, interest in them has been revived in recent years for their unique and pioneering portrayals of Japanese women. ''The Moon Has Risen'' (''Tsuki wa noborinu'') in 1955 was scripted by Yasujirō Ozu, and ''The Wandering Princess'' (''Ruten no onna'') was scripted by Natto Wada and starred

Machiko Kyō was a Japanese actress who was active primarily in the 1950s. Early life and education Kyō, an only child, was born in Osaka in 1924. Her father left when she was five years old, and she was raised by her mother and grandmother. She adopted ...

. One of Tanaka's most acknowledged films, ''

The Eternal Breasts , also titled ''Forever a Woman'', is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by actress Kinuyo Tanaka. It is based on the life of tanka poet Fumiko Nakajō (1922–1954). Plot Unhappily married Fumiko, mother of two children, divorces her drug-ad ...

'', follows the biography of the late

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the ''Man'yōshū'' (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to distinguish "short poem ...

poetess Fumiko Nakajo (1922–1954). In addition to her directing jobs, Tanaka continued with her acting career, appearing in Kinoshita's '' The Ballad Of Narayama'' (1958), for which she received the

Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress The Kinema Junpo Awards for Best Actress is given by ''Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of d ...

, and in

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's ''

Red Beard is a 1965 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, in his last collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune. Based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's 1959 short story collection, '' Akahige Shinryōtan'', the film takes pl ...

'' (1965). During the 1960s, she moved increasingly towards television. For her performance as an aged prostitute in

Kei Kumai was a Japanese film director from Azumino, Nagano prefecture. After his studies in literature at Shinshu University, he began work as a director's assistant. He won the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for his first film, '' Nihon r ...

's 1975 '' Sandakan N° 8'' she won the Best Actress Award at the

25th Berlin International Film Festival The 25th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 27 June – 8 July 1975. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Hungarian film ''Adoption'' directed by Márta Mészáros. The retrospective dedicated to Greta Garbo was shown at the f ...

. Tanaka died of a brain tumor on 21 March 1977.

Legacy

141122 Tanaka Kinuyo Cultural Museum Shimonoseki Yamaguchi pref Japan01s3

Director

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic (genre), epic trilogy ''The Human Condition (film series), The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films ''Harakiri (1962 film), Harakiri'' (1962) and ''Samurai Reb ...

, to whom she was second cousin, initiated an award bearing her name. Since 1985, the Kinuyo Tanaka Award (田中絹代賞) for an actress' works and career is awarded at the annual

Mainichi Film Concours The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

ceremony. A wave of renewed international interest in Tanaka's work started in 2012 with a symposium and retrospective at the University of Leeds. In 2018, Irene Gonzalez-Lopez and Michael Smith published the first English-language collection on Tanaka's work and life, ''Tanaka Kinuyo: Nation, Stardom and Female Subjectivity''. In 2020, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival Lili Hinstin announced a major retrospective dedicated to Tanaka actress and director, postponed in 2021 due to the Covid Pandemic situation and then cancelled after she left the festival. In 2021, all six of the films Tanaka directed were screened theatrically in digitally remastered versions at the

and the Lyon Film Festival. Three of these films were presented in 4K restorations at the 34th

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

Filmography

Actress (partial)

Tanaka appeared in 258 films, not counting TV appearances. * 1929: '' I Graduated, But...'' (大学は出たけれど, Daigaku wa detakeredo) – directed by

* 1930: ''I Flunked, But...'' (落第はしたけれど, Rakudai wa shitakeredo) – directed by Yasujirō Ozu * 1931: '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'' (マダムと女房, Madamu to nyōbō) – directed by

* 1932: ''Konjiki Yasha'' (金色夜叉) – directed by Hōtei Nomura * 1933: ''

'' (恋の花咲く伊豆の踊子, Koi no hana saku Izu no odoriko) – directed by Heinosuke Gosho * 1933: ''

Woman of Tokyo is a 1933 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. The film's working title was ''Her Case, For Example'' (例えば彼女の場合 ''Tatoeba kanojo no baai'') The film tells of a student whose sister supports his studies by moonlighting as a tr ...

'' (東京の女, Tōkyō no onna) – directed by Yasujirō Ozu * 1933: ''

Dragnet Girl is a 1933 Japanese silent gangster film directed by Yasujirō Ozu. Written by Tadao Ikeda, the film tells the story of a gangster and his girlfriend finding redemption through the actions of an innocent girl and her not-so-innocent brother. P ...

'' (非常線の女, Hijōsen no onna) – directed by Yasujirō Ozu * 1935: ''Okoto and Sasuke'' (春琴抄お琴と佐助, Shunkinshō Okoto to Sasuke) – directed by

Yasujirō Shimazu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, and a pioneer of the ''shomin-geki'' (common people drama) genre at the Shōchiku studios in pre-World War II Japan. Biography Shimazu was born in Tokyo, the second son of merchant Otojirō Shimazu ...

* 1935: ''Burden of Life'' (人生のお荷物, Jinsei no onimotsu) – directed by Heinosuke Gosho * 1938: ''Flower in Storm'' (愛染かつら, Aizen katsura) – directed by Hiromasa Nomura * 1941: ''

'' (簪, Kanzashi) – directed by Hiroshi Shimizu * 1944: ''

'' (陸軍, Rikugun) – directed by

* 1944: ''The Swordsman'' (宮本武蔵, Miyamoto Musashi) – directed by

* 1945: ''A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo'' (三十三間堂通し矢物語, Sanjūsangendō tōshiya monogatari) – directed by

* 1946: ''

Utamaro and His Five Women ''Utamaro and His Five Women'' is a 1946 Japanese historical drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is based on the novel of the same title by Kanji Kunieda, itself a fictionalized account of the life of printmaker Kitagawa Utamaro. Synopsi ...

'' a.k.a. ''Five Women Around Utamaro'' (歌麿をめぐる五人の女, Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1947: '' The Love of Sumako the Actress'' (女優須磨子の恋, Joyū Sumako no koi) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1948: ''Women of the Night'' (夜の女たち, Yoru no onnatachi) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1948: ''

A Hen in the Wind is a 1948 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Kinuyo Tanaka and Shūji Sano. Plot The film is set in immediate postwar Japan, Tokyo. Tokiko (Kinuyo Tanaka), a twenty-nine-year-old mother of a young boy of four, is waiting f ...

'' (風の中の牝鶏, Kaze no naka no mendori) – directed by Yasujirō Ozu * 1949: '' Flame of My Love'' a.k.a. ''My Love Has Been Burning'' (わが恋は燃えぬ, Waga koi wa moenu) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1950: ''

Wedding Ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern pract ...

'' a.k.a. Engagement Ring (婚約指環, Kon'yaku yubiwa) – directed by Keisuke Kinoshita * 1950: ''

The Munekata Sisters is a 1950 drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Kinuyo Tanaka and Hideko Takamine was a Japanese actress who began as a child actress and maintained her fame in a career that spanned 50 years. She is particularly known for her co ...

'' (宗方姉妹, Munekata kyōdai) – directed by Yasujirō Ozu * 1951: ''The Inner Palace Conspiracy'' (おぼろ駕籠, Oboro kago) – directed by Daisuke Itō * 1951: ''

Ginza Cosmetics is a 1951 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a novel by Tomoichirō Inoue. Plot ''Ginza Cosmetics'' follows the life of hostess Yukiko, single mother of a young boy, in the lively Tokyo quarter of Ginza. Cast * Kinuyo ...

'' (銀座化粧, Ginza keshō) (1951) – directed by Mikio Naruse * 1951: '' Miss Oyu'' (お遊さま, Oyū-sama) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1951: ''

The Lady of Musashino is a 1951 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is based on the novel by Shōhei Ōoka. Plot Michiko Akiyama is married to Tadao Akiyama, a college professor but a vulgar man with a lower-class background. Towards the end of World W ...

'' a.k.a. ''Lady Musashino'' (武蔵野夫人, Musashino fujin) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1952: ''

'' (西鶴一代女, Saikaku ichidai onna) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1952: ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

'' (おかあさん, Okaasan) – directed by Mikio Naruse * 1953: ''

Where Chimneys Are Seen , also titled ''Four Chimneys'', is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. Based on a novel by Rinzō Shiina, ''Where Chimneys Are Seen'' is regarded as on ...

'' a.k.a. Four Chimneys (煙突の見える場所, Entotsu no mieru basho) – directed by Heinosuke Gosho * 1953: ''

'' a.k.a. ''Tales of Ugetsu'' (雨月物語, Ugetsu monogatari) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1954: '' Sansho the Bailiff'' (山椒太夫, Sanshō dayū) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1954: ''

Onna no Koyomi is a 1954 Japanese film directed by Seiji Hisamatsu based on the short story collection by the Japanese woman writer Sakae Tsuboi. It was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. Cast * Kinuyo Tanaka as Michi Saeki * Yōko Sugi as Kuniko Hy ...

'' (女の暦) – directed by

Seiji Hisamatsu (20 February 1912 – 28 December 1990) was a Japanese film director. He directed 101 films between 1934 and 1965. Selected filmography * ''Jūdai no yūwaku'' (1953) * ''Keisatsu nikki'' (1955) * ''Onna no koyomi is a 1954 Japanese fi ...

* 1954: ''

The Woman in the Rumor , also titled ''The Crucified Woman'' or ''The Woman of the Rumor'', is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. Plot Widow Hatsuko maintains a successful tayū (highest class of courtesans) house in Kyoto. She is having a discreet ...

'' a.k.a. ''The Crucified Woman'' (噂の女, Uwasa no onna) – directed by Kenji Mizoguchi * 1956: ''

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 1999 ...

'' (嵐) – directed by

Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker best remembered for the Academy Award-winning '' Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto'', which was released in 1954. Career Born in Tokyo as the son of a shinpa actor, Inagaki appeared on stage in his childhood before joining t ...

* 1956: '' Flowing'' (流れる, Nagareru) – directed by Mikio Naruse * 1957: ''

Yellow Crow is a 1957 Japanese drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. Plot Kiyoshi Yoshida is a 9 years old boy. The boy loves to draw and he has some talent, but his teacher is worried because he draws only in black and yellow (that's where the title is fr ...

'' (黄色いからす, Kiiroi karasu) – directed by Heinosuke Gosho * 1957: '' Stepbrothers'' (異母兄弟, Ibo kyōdai) – directed by Miyoji Ieki * 1958: ''

Equinox Flower is a 1958 color Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu which is based on a novel by Ton Satomi. Plot Wataru Hirayama (Shin Saburi) is a wealthy Tokyo businessman. When an old schoolmate Mikami ( Chishū Ryū) approaches him for help concerning ...

'' (彼岸花, Higanbana) – directed by Yasujirō Ozu * 1958: '' The Ballad Of Narayama'' (楢山節考 Narayamabushi-ko) – directed by Keisuke Kinoshita * 1958: ''

Sorrow is Only for Women is a 1958 Japanese drama film written and directed by Kaneto Shindo. Cast * Kinuyo Tanaka as Hideyo * Machiko Kyō as Michiko * Jūkichi Uno as Kishimoto * Eiji Funakoshi as Hiroshi * Reiko Hibiki as Toshi * Kazuko Ichikawa as Yoshiko * Na ...

'' (悲しみは女だけに, Kanashimi wa onna dakeni) – directed by

Kaneto Shindō was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...

* 1960: ''

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 ...

'' (おとうと, Otōto) – directed by

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

* 1962: ''

A Wanderer's Notebook , also known as '' Her Lonely Lane'', is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse, starring Hideko Takamine. It is based on the autobiographical novel of the same title by writer Fumiko Hayashi and its stage adaptation ...

'' a.k.a. ''Her Lonely Lane'' (放浪記, Hōrōki) – directed by Naruse Mikio * 1963: ''

Alone Across the Pacific is a 1963 color (Eastmancolor) Japanese adventure film directed by Kon Ichikawa. It was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on the book , Kenichi Horie's account of his 1962 solo voyage across the Pacific, which was t ...

'' (太平洋ひとりぼっち, Taiheiyō hitori-botchi) – directed by Kon Ichikawa * 1964: ''

The Scent of Incense is a 1964 Japanese drama film based on a novel by Sawako Ariyoshi and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. Screened in two parts, it was one of Kinoshita's last cinema productions before working mainly for television. Plot Spanning in time from the Ru ...

'' (香華, Kōge) – directed by Keisuke Kinoshita * 1965: ''

'' (赤ひげ, Akahige) – directed by

* 1966: ''Futari no hoshi'' (二人の星) – television drama, TBS * 1967: ''Momotarō-zamurai'' (桃太郎侍) – television drama,

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

* 1970: ''Momi no ki wa nokotta'' (樅ノ木は残った) – television drama,

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

* 1970: ''Asu no shiawase'' (明日のしあわせ) – television drama,

NET Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...

* 1971: ''Nyonin Heike'' (女人平家) – television drama,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

* 1973: ''Singular rebellion'' (たった一人の反乱 Tatta hitori no hanran) – television drama, NHK * 1974: ''

Sandakan No. 8 is a 1974 Japanese drama film directed by Kei Kumai, starring Yoko Takahashi, Komaki Kurihara and Kinuyo Tanaka. It was nominated for the 1975 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also became one of the highest-grossing Japanese fi ...

'' (サンダカン八番娼館望郷, Sandakan hachiban shōkan: bōkyō) – directed by

* 1974: ''Rin rin to'' (りんりんと) – television drama, HBC * 1974: ''Jaane'' (じゃあね) – television drama, NHK * 1975: '' Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director'' (ある映画監督の生涯溝口健二の記録, Aru eiga-kantoku no shōgai Mizoguchi Kenji no kiroku) – directed by Kaneto Shindō * 1975-1977: ''Zenryaku ofukurosama'' (前略おふくろ様) – television drama, NTV * 1976: ''Kita No misaki'' (北の岬) – directed by Kei Kumai * 1976: ''Maboroshi no machi'' (幻の町) – television drama, HBC * 1976: ''Kumo no jūtan'' (雲のじゅうたん) – appeared as a narrator, television drama, NHK * 1976: ''Sekishun no uta'' (惜春の歌) – television drama, CBC * 1976: '' Lullaby of the Earth'' (大地の子守歌, Daichi no komoriuta) – directed by

Yasuzo Masumura was a Japanese film director. Biography Masumura was born in Kōfu, Yamanashi. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei Film studio, later returning to university to study ph ...

Director (complete)

* 1953: ''

'' (恋文 Koibumi) * 1955: '' The Moon Has Risen'' (月は上りぬ Tsuki wa norinu) * 1955: ''

'' (乳房よ永遠なれ Chibusa yo eien nare) * 1960: ''

The Wandering Princess is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Kinuyo Tanaka, based on the memoir of Hiro Saga. It was Tanaka's first film in colour and CinemaScope format. Cast * Machiko Kyō as Ryuko (Hiro Saga) * Eiji Funakoshi as Futetsu (Pujie) * Yomei Ryu as ...

'' (流転の王妃 Ruten no Ouhi) * 1961: ''Girls of the Night''　(女ばかりの夜 Onna bakari no yoru) * 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 ...

'' (お吟さま Ogin sama)

Honours and awards

* Mainichi Film Concours For Best Actress for ''Marriage'', ''The Love of Sumako the Actress'', ''A Hen in the Wind'', ''Women of the Night'' and ''Sandakan No. 8'' * Mainichi Film Concours For Best Supporting Actress for ''Ibo kyoudai'', ''Chijo'', ''Kottaisan yori: Nyotai wa kanashiku'' and ''Her Brother'' *

for ''The Ballad Of Narayama'' and ''Sandakan No. 8'' *

Silver Bear for Best Actress The Silver Bear for Best Actress (german: Silberner Bär/Beste Darstellerin) was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chos ...

for ''Sandakan No. 8'' *

Medal with Purple Ribbon are medals awarded by the Government of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and we ...

(1970) * Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (1977, posthumous)

References

External links

*
Choreography of desire: analysing Kinuyo Tanaka's acting in Mizoguchi's films by Chika Kinoshita
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanaka, Kinuyo Deaths from cancer in Japan Deaths from brain tumor Japanese film actresses Japanese film directors Japanese silent film actresses Japanese women film directors People from Shimonoseki 1909 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Japanese actresses Silver Bear for Best Actress winners Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Women film pioneers