was a Japanese film and stage actress.

Biography

After graduating from the Takarazuka Music and Dance School, Aratama joined the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japane ...

in 1945. She gave her film debut in 1951, but it was not before 1955 that she left the Takarazuka Revue, signing first with

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 ...

film studios, then, after her contract expired, with

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

. She worked for directors such as

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, ...

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 ...

and

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sens ...

, appearing in films like ''

The Human Condition ''The Human Condition'', first published in 1958, is Hannah Arendt's account of how "human activities" should be and have been understood throughout Western history. Arendt is interested in the ''vita activa'' (active life) as contrasted with ...

'', ''

The End of Summer is a 1961 Japanese film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Toho Films. It was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was his penultimate; only ''An Autumn Afternoon'' (1962) followed it, which he made for Shochiku Films. P ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

47 Ronin 47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to: *47 (number) *47 BC * AD 47 *1947 * 2047 *'47 (brand), an American clothing brand * ''47'' (magazine), an American publication * 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala *47, a song by New Found Glory from the alb ...

''. Since the late 1970s, she concentrated solely on stage and television work. Due to health problems, she reduced her appearances after 1994. She died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

in 2001.

Selected filmography

Films

Television

Awards

Michiyo Aratama received the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''The Human Condition'' and ''Watashi wa kai ni naritai'', and the

Kinema Junpo Award , 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 dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

for Best Actress for ''The Human Condition''. She was awarded the Mainichi Film Concour for Best Supporting Actress for ''The End of Summer'' and ''Minami no kaze to nami''.

References

External links

* * 1930 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Japanese actresses {{Japan-actor-stub