was a Japanese actress and dancer who also acted in more than 75 films.

Dance career

A child prodigy and daughter of the president of Nippon Medical School, Fujima ultimately became a Grand Master of the Fujima style, one of the five major schools of

traditional Japanese dance Japanese traditional dance describes a number of Japanese dance styles with a long history and prescribed method of performance. Some of the oldest forms of traditional Japanese dance may be among those transmitted through the tradition, or folk ...

. Following her 1985 divorce from Kanjuro Fujima, the 7th successor in the Fujima style’s lineage (whom she had met at age 12 and married in 1944), she started her own Murasaki sect in 1987. Fujima and longtime partner (and eventual husband) Ennosuke Ichikawa, a star of

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

theater, became a prominent couple in Japan’s arts community. In the 1990s Fujima portrayed China’s Empress Dowager Cixi to acclaim in a grand stage production.

Film career

Fujima is known to Western audiences for her supporting roles in such films as Keisuke Kinoshita’s 1959 melodramas ''

Thus Another Day is a 1959 color Japanese film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. Plot Facing financial difficulties, young couple Shôichi and Yasuko Satô rent their suburban home to his boss over the summer. While Shôichi rooms with a friend, Yasuko and their s ...

'' and ''

Farewell to Spring ''Clarkia amoena'' (farewell to spring or godetia; syn. ''Godetia amoena'') is a flowering plant native to western North America, found in coastal hills and mountains from British Columbia south to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is an annual pla ...

'' and Mikio Naruse’s ''

The Approach of Autumn is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. Plot After the death of his father, Hideo and his mother Shigeko leave Ueda, Nagano, for Tokyo, where she starts a job at a ryokan, while Hideo moves in with his uncle's family. He befriend ...

'' (1960) and ''

As a Wife, As a Woman is a 1961 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. Plot Miho, mistress of married professor Keijiro, has been managing the Ginza bar owned by him and his wife Ayako for years, hoping that some day she might be made the owner as appreciation ...

''/''Poignant Story'' (1961). She also appeared in several of Hisaya Morishige’s Toho comedies of the 1950s and 60s, starring with him in 1953’s '' Husband's Festival''. Following a 12-year absence from cinema screens, Fujima played a leading role in Hideo Gosha’s popular 1986 movie '' The Yakuza Wives'', receiving a “special appearance” credit. Fujima penned a memoir, ''Shura no hazama de onna no jijoden (Autobiography of a Woman At The End of Her Struggle)'', in 1992. She died in 2009 from liver failure.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fujima, Murasaki 1923 births 2009 deaths Actresses from Tokyo 20th-century Japanese actresses Japanese film actresses