Shizue Tatsuta ( ja, link=no, 龍田静枝) (3 November 1903 - 21 January 1962) was 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 ...

of Shizue Shiono, a Japanese

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

who starred in

silent movie ''Silent Movie'' is a 1976 American satirical comedy film co-written, directed by and starring Mel Brooks, released by 20th Century Fox in the summer of 1976. The ensemble cast includes Dom DeLuise, Marty Feldman, Bernadette Peters, and Sid Cae ...

s. Born in

Yamagata Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Yamagata Prefecture has a population of 1,079,950 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 9,325 km² (3,600 sq mi). Yamagata Prefecture borders Akita Prefecture to the north, ...

, she briefly attended

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighbo ...

but did not graduate. Moving to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

and joining the

Shochiku Studio is a Japanese film and production studio company of Shochiku Group, which has been producing movies and dramas for roughly a century, being the second-oldest motion picture company in Japan. The company has production bases in Kyoto and Tokyo s ...

in 1924, she subsequently starred in over seventy silent films, primarily in the role of

modern girl (also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I. were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ...

. Her last film, ''Educating Father'' was released in 1935. After retiring from acting, she opened a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, the city in which she ultimately died aged 58.

Biography

Shizue Shiono was born in the

of Japan on 3 November 1903, although she later claimed to have been born in 1906. After attending the local high school, she moved to

to study at

, but left before graduating with the ambition to become a photographer. In May 1924, she moved to

and auditioned for the

, appearing in her first

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

, titled ''Kudō no hibiki'' or ''Throat Sound'', the same year. She adopted the

of Shizue Tatsuta, under which she subsequently appeared in over seventy films, her last, titled ''Oyaji kyōiku'' or ''Educating Father'', being released in 1935. During her time, she worked with directors like

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 ...

and

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 ...

. She then retired and moved to

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

, opening a

. She married Aikichi Ikeda, a dealer in luxury furniture, in 1938, with whom she had a child. She died on 21 January 1962 at her home in

Setagaya is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is also the name of a neighborhood and administrative district within the ward. The ward calls itself Setagaya City in English. Its official bird is the azure-winged magpie, its flower is the fringed orch ...

, Tokyo. As an actress, Shizue frequently played the role of the

. In the

nationalistic Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: T ...

atmosphere of the time, this character often had the role of

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist. Etymology The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...

, being subject to inherent flaws that led to her downfall in comparison to the more traditional

Japanese values Japanese values are cultural goals, beliefs and behaviors that are considered important in Japanese culture. Global perspective From a global perspective, Japanese culture scores higher on ''emancipative values'' (individual freedom and equalit ...

embodied by the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

Filmography

Shizue's film career lasted between 1924 and 1935 and included appearances in the following films: * 1924 ''Throat Sound'' * 1924 ''Pirate Island'' * 1924 ''Deciduous Song'' * 1925 ''Kouei is Hell'' * 1926 ''Dawn of Tears'' * 1927 ''Tears'' * 1927 ''New Pearl'' * 1927 ''The Hero of the Sea'' * 1927 ''The Man Who Picked up Love'' * 1928 ''Weak People'' * 1928 ''Spring Hiraku'' * 1929 ''A New Kind of Woman'' * 1930 ''An Introduction to Marriage'' * 1930 ''I Love Women'' * 1930 ''Sisters'' * 1930 ''New edition, I am Sin Sakubei'' * 1930 ''Young Lady'' * 1933 ''The Bride Talks'' * 1935 ''Educating Father''

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tatsuta, Shizue 1903 births 1962 deaths Actors from Yamagata Prefecture Japanese silent film actresses