was a Japanese stage and film actress. She was a member of the Bungakuza theatre company and regularly appeared in the films of director

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, ...

. During her 50 years spanning career, she also worked for directors such as

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 ...

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 ...

, Keisuke Kinoshita and

Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for Social realism, social realist filmmaking informed by a Left-wing politics, left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life ...

Biography

Natsuko Kahara was born Hatsuko Tsukahara in Tokyo. After graduating from Toyo Eiwa Girls' School, she gave her stage debut at the Bungakuza theatre company in 1939. She started appearing in films in 1946, starting with Keisuke Kinoshita's ''Morning for the Osone Family'', and became a regular cast member of the films of Mikio Naruse in the 1950s. Kahara left the Bungakuza in the wake of the "Harp of Joy incident" (the Bungakuza ensemble had split over the refusal of some of its members to perform

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

's play ''The Harp of Joy'') to become a founding member of the Geikan NLT theatre group in 1964, which staged many of Mishima's plays. In 1969, after the group's split, she debuted as a stage director at NLT. In addition to her stage and film work, she also regularly appeared on television. Kahara was repeatedly awarded for her theatre work, including two prizes at the

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

National Arts Festival. She died on 20 February 1991, aged 70.

Selected filmography

* 1946: ''Morning for the Osone Family'' * 1953: '' An Inlet of Muddy Water'' * 1956: '' Flowing'' * 1957: '' Untamed'' * 1957: '' Black River'' * 1958: ''

Anzukko is a 1958 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a novel by Saisei Murō. Plot Kyoko, daughter of successful writer Hirayama, rejects several marriage prospects before taking Ryokichi, owner of a small used book store, ...

'' * 1958: '' Summer Clouds'' * 1959: '' My Second Brother'' * 1959: ''

Floating Weeds is a 1959 Japanese drama directed by Yasujirō Ozu, starring Nakamura Ganjirō II and Machiko Kyō. It is a remake of Ozu's own black-and-white silent film '' A Story of Floating Weeds'' (1934) and considered one of the greatest films ever made. ...

'' * 1960: ''

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is a 1960 Japanese drama directed by Mikio Naruse. Plot Keiko (called " Mama" by the other characters), a young widow approaching 30, is a hostess at a bar in Ginza. Realizing she is getting older, she decides after talking to her bar manager, ...

'' * 1960: ''

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 befrien ...

'' * 1960: ''

The Bad Sleep Well is a 1960 Japanese crime mystery film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was the first film to be produced under Kurosawa's own independent production company. It was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival. The film stars Toshiro ...

'' * 1960: ''

The Twilight Story , also titled ''Twilight Story'', is a 1960 Japanese Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Shirō Toyoda. It is based on Kafū Nagai's 1937 short story ''A Strange Tale from East of the River''. Plot In the Tamanoi (now Higashi-Muk ...

'' * 1961: ''

As a Wife, As a Woman is a 1961 Japanese drama (film and television), 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 ma ...

'' * 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 ...

'' * 1976: '' Lullaby of the Earth'' * 1976: ''

Brother and Sister "Brother and Sister" (also "Little Sister and Little Brother"; German: ''Brüderchen und Schwesterchen'') is a European fairy tale which was, among others, written down by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 11). It is a tale of Aarne–Thompson Type 450. In ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahara, Natsuko 1921 births 1991 deaths Actresses from Tokyo 20th-century Japanese actresses Japanese film actresses Japanese stage actresses