was 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 ...

. She was also famous as a member of the pop group Candies. While a member of Candies, Tanaka was known by the nickname . Still at the height of its popularity, the group disbanded in 1978. Tanaka was also the sister-in-law of the well-known actress

Masako Natsume was a Japanese actress from Tokyo. Widely popular in Japan, she gained worldwide recognition for her portrayal of Tripitaka in the TV series ''Monkey,'' which is now considered a cult classic. Biography Masako was born Masako Odate in Shibuy ...

. Tanaka was born in

Adachi, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward located in Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. It is located to the north of the heart of Tokyo. The ward consists of two separate areas: a small strip of land between the Sumida River and Arakawa River (K ...

. She had a role in ''

Godzilla vs. Biollante is a 1989 Japanese ''kaiju'' film written and directed by Kazuki Ōmori, with special effects by Koichi Kawakita. Distributed by Toho and produced under their subsidiary Toho Pictures, it is the 17th film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, the sec ...

'', portraying Asuka Okouchi. She won the Best Actress Award at the 14th

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the ''Hochi Shimbun , previously known as , is a Japanese-language daily sports newspaper. In 2002, it had a circulation of a million copies a day. It is an affiliate newspaper of ''Yomiuri Shimbun''. ...

for '' Black Rain''. In 1991, she married businessman Kazuo Odate. She was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 1992. In October 2010, her cancer returned. Tanaka died on April 21, 2011 at the age of 55.

Filmography

;Film * ''

'' (1989) – Asuka Okouchi * '' Black Rain'' (1989) – Yasuko ;Television * ''Totsugeki! Hyūman!!'' (1972,

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

Tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

Series) - Hoshiyama Rumiko * ''

Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama (''asadora''), which originally aired on NHK from 4 April 1983 to 31 March 1984; it is the 31st ''asadora'' overall to be produced. The 297 15-minute episodes follow the life of during the Mei ...

'' (1983,

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

) - Hatsuko age 20-40 * ''

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

'' (1983, NHK) – Ayame * ''Byakkotai'' (1986, NTV) - Yamamoto Yaeko * ''Platonic Sex'' (2001,

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

) – Kana's mother

Discography

Singles

# Cabochard (カボシャール) # Tsumi TO ME (罪 TO ME) # Gozen 5 Toki No DREAM (午前5時のドリーム) # Feel My Love Inside

Albums

# Yoshiko (好子, 1984)

References

External links