Kumeko Urabe ( ja, link=no, 浦辺粂子) (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, and one of the first in
the country. Born Kimura Kume, she also adopted the stage names Kumeko Ichijo, Toyama Midori, Chidori Shizuura and Chidori Toyama. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of the
Shizuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...
. She lived in several homes while growing up, as she relocated with her father, a Buddhist priest, among the temples to which he was assigned. Urabe completed her education in
Numazu
is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 189,486 in 91,986 households, and a population density of 1,014 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Numazu is at the nor ...
, and left school in 1919 to join a theatre company, touring under various stage names as an actor and dancer.
In 1923, Urabe auditioned at the
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...
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 ...
, and adopted the name Kumeko Urabe, by which she was known for the rest of her life. She appeared in her first film the following year, and continued to act until 1987. She worked with such directors as
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 ...
and
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, ...
, and performed in over 320 films, including ''
Ikiru
is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. ...
'', ''
Older Brother, Younger Sister
is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. The film is based on the short story ''Ani imōto'' by Saisei Murō.
Plot
Mon, the elder daughter of a rural family, returns home from Tokyo pregnant after an affair with college student ...
'', ''
Portrait of Madame Yuki
, also titled ''A Picture of Madame Yuki'', is a 1950 Japanese drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.
Plot
Yuki Shinano, a descendant of the once powerful Shinano family, is living in an unhappy marriage with her husband Naoyuki. Although he tr ...
'', ''
She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum
, also known as ''You Were Like a Wild Chrysanthemum'' or ''My First Love Affair'', is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It is based on a novel by Saicho Ito.
Plot
73-year-old Masao is taking a river boat to pay his remote ...
,'' and ''
Street of Shame
is a 1956 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is the personal tales of several Japanese women of different backgrounds who work together in a brothel. It was Mizoguchi's last film.
The film is based on the novel '' Su ...
''. She also starred in
television dramas, including thirteen episodes of ''Toshiba Sunday Theatre'' between 1958 and 1980. In the following decade, she carved a niche as a
Grandma idol, until her death in 1989.
Biography
Early life
Kimura Kume was born on October 5, 1902, the daughter of Keichu Kume, a
Rinzai
The Rinzai school ( ja, , Rinzai-shū, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (along with Sōtō and Ōbaku). The Chinese Linji school of Chan was first transmitted to Japan by Myōan ...
priest at
Kenchō-ji
Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the ...
, and Hana Kume. She grew up in the rural district of
Kamo The name Kamo may refer to the following:
Places
Japan
(Note: ''kamo'' ( 鴨), is the common word for ''duck'' in Japanese, but the following names do not necessarily mean ''duck'' and are not necessarily written with that character.)
* Kamo, N ...
as an only child, her one sibling, an older brother, having died when he was young. In 1909, the family moved to
Kawazu, also in
Shizuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...
, where Kume attended the primary school. In 1915, the family moved again, this time to
Numazu
is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 189,486 in 91,986 households, and a population density of 1,014 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Numazu is at the nor ...
, where her father served at the
Myōshin-ji
is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan, and head temple of the associated branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. The Myōshin-ji school is by far the largest school in Rinzai Zen, approximately as big as the other thirteen branches combined: it contains wit ...
temple. Kume finished her formal schooling two years later, attending Numazu Girls' School. During this time, her interest in acting had been formed by seeing Rensageki, a form that mixed silent film and stage play. In 1919, she left school and joined Yasuyoshi Suzuki's troupe, adopting the
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Kumeko Ichijo.
Over the next four years, Kume joined travelling theatres and opera companies, perfecting her singing and dance routines, as well as learning to act in many roles. She also adopted a number of stage names, including Toyama Midori, Chidori Shizuura, and Chidori Toyama. It was also during this time that she met Chieko Saga: the pair became known as "Sagachi" and "Tochi".
Movie career
In August 1923, Yasumasa Hatano recommended that she audition at the
film studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...
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 ...
. Urabe was successful, and adopted the stage name Kumeko Urabe, which she retained for the rest of her career with pride. In fact, decades later, she objected to her birth name on the
Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
, saying that the award was for the work of Kumeko Urabe. She appeared in her first film in 1924, playing the heroine in the film . She was one of the first female actors in
Japanese cinema
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...
. Her skills attracted the attention of the 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 ...
, who cast her alongside
Denmei Suzuki
was a Japanese film actor most famous for starring roles in gendaigeki of the silent era.
Career
Suzuki was born in Tokyo and was a championship swimmer at Meiji University when he first appeared in ''Souls on the Road'' in 1921 under the n ...
in the film , released in the same year.
After this, Urabe became one of the most popular members of the studio, after Yoneko Sakai and Haruko Sawamura. She worked with Mizoguchi on many of his films which were released in the next four years, including , and . She developed a close relationship with the director, even being by his side when he was attacked by Yuriko Ichiro, the scar from which became what Tokuzo Tanaka calls Mizoguchi's badge of honour. After a brief break from acting between 1928 and 1930, she appeared in Mizoguchi's next film ''
Tojin Okichi'' . He also cast her in other films over the next decade, including and in 1933. Up to this point she had almost exclusively starred in silent films. In July 1933, she left the studio to join
Shinkō Kinema
was a Japanese film studio active in the 1930s.
Background
Shinkō was established in September 1931 out of the remnants of the Teikoku Kinema studio with the help of Shōchiku capital. The historian Jun'ichirō Tanaka writes that the studio w ...
, which in 1942 became
Daiei Film
Daiei Film Co. Ltd. ( Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ''Daiei Eiga Kabushiki Kaisha'') was a Japanese film studio. Founded in 1942 as Dai Nippon Film Co., Ltd., it was one of the major studios during the postwar Golden Age of Japanese cinema, producing ...
. It was during this time that she first appeared in
talking pictures
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 ...
.
Urabe continued to appear in films after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The 1947 film ''Koisuru Tsuma'' was her first with director Ryo Hagiwara. In 1952, she played the role of Watanabe Kanji's wife Tatsu 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 film ''
Ikiru
is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. ...
'' . In the same year, she appeared in
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, ...
's . She subsequently worked with Naruse in released the following year and became one of his stable group of actors. She also rejoined Mizoguchi for his final film, , released in 1956. Her movies also reached an increasingly international audience. For example, in 1955, she appeared in Hiromichi Horikawa's , which was released with English subtitles as ''Tomorrow I'll be a Fire Tree''.
During the 1960s, Urabe continued to be cast in films, often in the role of a grandma, as in
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 ...
's , which was released in English in 1967 as ''Eyes, the Sea and a Ball''. She later appeared in , which explored the issue of
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
and was released with English subtitles in 1994 as ''Twilight Years''.
By the end of her career, Urabe had appeared in over 320 films and worked with some of the most well-known directors in Japanese cinema. During her life, she received a number of accolades, including the Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon in 1966 and the individual merit award at the inaugural Fumiko Yamaji Film Awards in 1977.
Other work
In addition to her movie career, Urabe expanded her repertoire by appearing in
television drama
In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...
, firstly in episodes of ''There Are People Here'' which were aired in 1957 and 1959. She subsequently went on to play many roles, increasingly of grandmothers, in other shows, including ''Sharp Tuesday Theatre'' and ''Toshiba Sunday Theatre''. In the latter case, she appeared in a total of thirteen episodes in the period between 1958 and 1980, her last in the 1228th episode, titled . After 1980, Urabe increasingly found work as a
Grandma Idol.
[ She released two ]singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
in November 1984, titled and . She was at the time the oldest debut singer in history.
Private life
On October 23, 1928, Urabe married Koichi Ueno, the son of a wealthy man from Kyoto. The couple gambled heavily, and the marriage ended in divorce in April 1930. Urabe never remarried. In her free time, she enjoyed mahjong
Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-play ...
and gambled on bicycle
A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Bic ...
and boat races. On October 25, 1989, the stove in her Tokyo apartment set alight her clothing and she was severely burned. Taken to Tokyo Medical University Hospital in Nishi-Shinjuku
is a skyscraper business district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. This region was previously called .
Nishi-Shinjuku was Tokyo's first major foray into building skyscrapers with the first appearing in the 1970s with Keio Plaza Inter-Continental. It ...
, she died of her injuries the next day.[
]
Filmography
Film
Urabe appeared in over 320 films including:
* 1924, , Come.
* 1924, , Omatsu.
* 1924, , Pearlko, Senami Chinami.
* 1924, , Supein no hato.
* 1925, , Yuriko.
* 1925, , Village daughter.
* 1925, , Tsubame Musume.
* 1925, , Yukie.
* 1925, , Kuma's wife, Yu
* 1927, , Miyako Hayashida.
* 1930, , Omatsu.
* 1931, , Atsuko's mother.
* 1933, , Ogin.
* 1934, , Jailer.
* 1936, , Yutaka.
* 1937, , Midwife Murai Ume.
* 1938, , Shinkichi's second wife.
* 1942, , Kinbe's wife.
* 1943, , Weruenke.
* 1948, , Aunt of pimp.
* 1949, , Iku.
* 1949, , Odai.
* 1950, Aunt Karasawa and Otami.
* 1950, '' A Mother's Love''
* 1950, San.
* 1951, , Auntie.
* 1951, , Watanabe wife, Tatsu.
* 1951, , Shige Taniguchi.
* 1952, , Osamu.
* 1953, , Kayo Nojima.
* 1953, , Riki.
* 1953, , Otsune.
* 1954, , Teacher's wife.
* 1954, , Shige.
* 1955, , Minko's grandmother.
* 1955, , Minko's grandmother.
* 1955, , Shige.
* 1956, , Otane.
* 1956, , Fujita.
* 1958, , Chie Kuwata.
* 1958, , Osamu's mother.
* 1960, , Mine Matsumoto.
* 1962, , Zamameba Asan Waka.
* 1962, , Ino.
* 1962, , Ume Nakagome.
* 1964, , Bar madam at Ginzang hot-spring.
* 1964, '' Jakoman and Tetsu'' , Taka.
* 1966, , Hisako Kanematsu.
* 1967, , Kura Ninotani.
* 1967, . Mishima Nui.
* 1968, , Old guest.
* 1968, , Oume.
* 1968, , Ume Suzuki.
* 1973, , Grandma Kadoya.
* 1973, , Mother.
* 1977, , Daikoku of the Temple.
* 1980, , Ushima Zuyo.
* 1985, , Fuki Inoue.
* 1987, , Mrs Uchigi.
TV
Urabe has appeared in over 100 TV episodes, including:
* 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 ...
–
:* 1957, Episodes 26 & 27
:* 1959, Episode 77 .
* KRT/TBS – ''Toshiba Sunday Theatre'' . 13 episodes including:
:* 1958, 91 Oki Letter
:* 1964, 416
:* 1973 890
:* 1980 1228 .
* 1961, CX – "Like Nogiku" .
* 1966, TBS – '' Keisuke Kinoshita Hour'' "Memorial Tree" .
* 1971, 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 Televis ...
– .
* 1981–1982, TBS – ''When Hamanasu flowers bloom'' .
* 1988, NTV – Female Lawyer Ayuko Takabayashi: 4 Shinshu Iida Line Tenryukyo Gorge .
Writing
Urabe authored a number of books including:
* Urabe, Kumeko Tokyo: Tokyo Engei Tsūshinsha, 1925
* Urabe, Kumeko Tokyo: Shikai Shobō, 1985
* Urabe, Kumeko Tokyo: Kawade Shobō Shinsha, 1985
* Urabe, Kumeko; Sugai, Ichiro and Kawazu, Seizaburo Tokyo: Rikugei Shobo, 1966
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Urabe, Kumeko
1902 births
1989 deaths
Actors from Shizuoka Prefecture
Japanese film actresses
Japanese silent film actresses
Japanese television actresses
Deaths from fire in Japan