was a Japanese film

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 ...

. Born in

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 ...

into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was ), she graduated from

Bunka Gakuin is a Japanese vocational school. It opened in 1921 as the first co-educational school in Japan. Alumni * Hisae Imai * Takako Irie * Liu Chi-hsiang * Yoko Mizuki * Akiko Santo * Akira Terao *Mitsu Yashima * Guan Zilan Guan Zilan (; January ...

before debuting as an actress at

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 ...

in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own production company, Irie Productions, in 1932. One of

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 ...

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 ...

masterpieces, ''

The Water Magician is a 1933 Japanese silent drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is based on the story of the same name by Kyōka Izumi. Plot Tomo, called "Shiraito", is a "mizugei" (water arts presented by a performer) artist touring with a circus troupe ...

'', was produced at that company with Irie starring. She appeared in many advertisements, as well as on fans and other commercial goods. Irie was also the subject of a

folding screen A folding screen, also known as pingfeng (), is a type of free-standing furniture consisting of several frames or panels, which are often connected by hinges or by other means. They have practical and decorative uses, and can be made in a variet ...

painting by ''

Nihonga ''Nihonga'' (, "Japanese-style paintings") are Japanese paintings from about 1900 onwards that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a thousand years ...

'' artist Nakamura Daizaburō, which appeared in the 1930 Teiten (Imperial Exhibition), and which is today in the collection of the

Honolulu Museum of Art The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...

; toy dolls were also produced based on this image.Brown, Kendall et al (eds.). ''Taishō Chic: Japanese Modernity, Nostalgia, and Deco''. Honolulu Academy of Arts, 2001. pp. 70–77. In the postwar period, Irie became known as a " ghost cat actress" (''bakeneko joyū'') for appearing in a series of ''

kaidan 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 ...

'' (ghost story) movies. One of her late memorable roles was 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 ''

Sanjuro is a 1962 black-and-white Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. It is a sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 ''Yojimbo''. Originally an adaptation of the Shūgorō Yamamoto novel ''Hibi Heian'', the script ...

'', where she plays Mutsuta's wife, the lady who warns Sanjuro (

Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and '' ...

) that "the best sword stays in its scabbard". Her husband,

Michiyoshi Tamura Michiyoshi (written: 道由, 道義, 道美 or 通芳) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese film director *, Japanese professional wrestler and mixed martial artist *, Japanese shogi player *, Japan ...

, was a film producer. Their daughter, Wakaba Irie, is also an actress. Irie's brother, Yasunaga Higashibōjō, was a film director and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Selected filmography

* ''

Tokyo March 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 ...

'' (1929) * ''

'' (1933) * ''

Sincerity Sincerity is the virtue of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine. Etymology The Oxford English Dictionary and most scholars state ...

'' (1939) * ''

The Most Beautiful is a 1944 Japanese drama and propaganda film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. The semidocumentary film follows a group of female volunteer workers at an optics factory during the Second World War, during which the film was produced. Plot ...

'' (1944) * ''

Odoroki ikka is a 1949 black-and-white Japanese film directed by Torajiro Saito. Cast * Hibari Misora * Takako Irie (入江たか子) * Harume Tone (利根はる恵) * Nijiko Kiyokawa (清川虹子) * Achako Hanabishi (花菱アチャコ) * Shintarō K ...

'' (1949) * ''

Ghost of Saga Mansion is a 1953 Japanese horror film directed by Ryohei Arai. It was filmed in Black and White, academy ratio format (full screen). It was never dubbed in English, nor shown in the United States theatrically. Cast * Kōtarō Bandō * Kunitarō Saw ...

'' (1953) * ''

Ghost-Cat of Arima Palace is a 1953 Japanese horror film directed by Ryohei Arai and produced by Daiei Film. Filmed in black and white in the Academy ratio format, it stars Takako Irie and Kotaro Bando. A prior version of the story, titled '' Arima Neko'', was relea ...

'' (1953) * ''

Ghost Cat of Yonaki Swamp , also known as ''Necromancy'', is a 1957 Japanese horror film directed by Katsuhiko Tasaka. It stars Shintaro Katsu and Takako Irie was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was ), ...

'' (1957) * ''

'' (1962) * '' Toki o Kakeru Shōjo'' (1983)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irie, Takako 1911 births 1995 deaths Japanese film actresses Japanese silent film actresses 20th-century Japanese actresses