is a Japanese film

script supervisor A script supervisor (also called continuity supervisor or script) is a member of a film crew who oversees the continuity of the motion picture including wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, makeup and the actions of the actors during a scene. The ...

and author. She is best known for her work on many of

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 films, a partnership that began in 1950.

Life and career

Nogami was born in

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

as the daughter of Iwao Nogami, a scholar of German literature and professor at

Kobe University , also known in the Kansai region as , is a leading Japanese national university located in the city of Kobe, in Hyōgo. It was established in 1949, but the academic origins of Kobe University trace back to the establishment of Kobe Higher Comme ...

after the war. In 1943, she graduated from the Metropolitan Girls' School of Home Economics. She entered the library training school. In 1944, she graduated from the Library Training Institute, and took up a position at the former Yamaguchi High School Library in

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 km2 (2,359 sq mi). Yamaguchi Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture t ...

. After the war she returned to

and in 1946 she joined the ''People's Daily'' and in 1947 she joined Yakumo Shoten. When she was a student circa 1941, she saw

Mansaku Itami Mansaku Itami (伊丹万作; real name Yoshitoyo Ikeuchi 池内義豊; 2 January 1900 – 21 September 1946) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter known for his critical, sometimes satirical portraits of Japan and its history. H ...

's ''Akanishi Kakita'' (1936) and wrote a fan letter to him. She became pen pals with the director. After Itami's death, Nogami became an apprentice script supervisor at

Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Maruben ...

's Kyoto Studio in 1949. She began her career as a script supervisor on Akira Nobuchi's ''Fukkatsu'' (1950). That year, she also participated in

's ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura ...

'' as a script supervisor. In 1951, she moved to

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

and participated in all Kurosawa films after ''

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. ...

'' as recording, editing and

production assistant A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a member of the film crew and is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget ...

. In the meantime, she has also been enrolled in Sun Ad since 1966, and has also worked on commercial production. In 1979 she left the company. In 1984, she won the Yomiuri Human Documentary Award for Excellence for ''Requiem for Father'', which depicts her childhood. In 2008, director

Yoji Yamada is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor''). Biography He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...

turned this into a movie called '' Kabei: Our Mother''.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1950) * ''

'' (1952) * '' Seven Samurai'' (1954) * ''

Throne of Blood is a 1957 Japanese '' jidaigeki'' film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film transposes the plot of William Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'' from Medieval Scotland to feudal ...

'' (1957) * '' High and Low'' (1963) * ''

Red Beard is a 1965 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, in his last collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune. Based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's 1959 short story collection, '' Akahige Shinryōtan'', the film takes p ...

'' (1965) * '' Dersu Uzala'' (1975) * ''

Kagemusha is a 1980 jidaigeki film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is set in the Sengoku period of Japanese history and tells the story of a lower-class criminal who is taught to impersonate the dying ''daimyō'' Takeda Shingen to dissuade opposing lords fr ...

'' (1980) * ''

Ran Ran, RaN and ran may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ran'' (film), a 1985 film directed by Akira Kurosawa * "Ran" (song), a 2013 Japanese song by Luna Sea * '' Ran Online'', a 2004 MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) * ...

'' (1985) * ''

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, althou ...

'' (1990) * '' Rhapsody in August'' (1991) * ''

Madadayo is a 1993 Japanese comedy-drama film. It is the thirtieth and final film to be completed by Akira Kurosawa. It was screened out of competition at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Japanese entry for the Best Foreign Lang ...

'' (1993) * '' After the Rain'' (2000) * '' Letters from the Mountains'' (2002)

Awards

* 5th Yomiuri "Female Human Documentary" Grand Prize, Excellence Award (for ''Requiem for Father'', 1984) * Fumiko Yamaji Distinguished Service Award * 3rd Agency for Cultural Affairs Film Award, Film Achievement Award (2005) * The 28th (2010) Kawakita Award * The 34th Japan Academy Prize, Association Special Award (2011) * 69th Mainichi Film Concours Special Award (2014) * 2nd Kyoto International Film Festival Shozo Makino Award (2015) * 94th Kinema Junpo Best Ten Special Award * 35th

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

, Lifetime Achievement Award

References

{{Authority control 1927 births Living people Japanese women writers 20th-century Japanese women writers Kobe University alumni Writers from Tokyo