Kyoko Kagawa is a 92-year-old Japanese actress who has appeared in some of the greatest Golden Era Japanese films. There are only a few stars left from the golden era of cinema, and she is one of them. She worked with famous directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, and Kenji Miziguchi, and her performances in the 1950s and 1960s were incredibly popular among fans. Some of her most memorable movies include Tokyo Story (1953), Sansho the Bailiff (1954), and An Osaka Story (1957).
The actress is married to Takuji Makino, a writer and journalist. They have two children together. She last appeared in a 2020 movie The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai.
Kyoko Kagawa’s Early Life and Education
Kagawa Kyoko was born in Tokyo, Japan on December 5th, 1931. She is 92 years old currently. Her father was an engineer who spent a lot of time on water. She was the youngest of three siblings. She enrolled in high school in 1937 but couldn’t graduate until 1949 due to the Second World War.
After high school, Kyoko was interested in running her own business rather than working in an office. Although she enjoyed watching movies and plays, she had no plans to become an actress since she didn’t like speaking in public. However, fate had other plans for her. She eventually became an actress and starred in the movie The Crucified Lovers (1954).
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She Became an Actress at the Age of 17
Kyoko Kagawa was discouraged by her teachers from becoming a ballerina dancer due to her age. However, she refused to remain idle and decided to participate in a beauty competition organized by Tokyo Shimbunsha, a newspaper company, and Shintoho, a film studio. Around the same time, she also applied for a sales position in a department store.
Only six people out of 6,000 who submitted their photos were selected, and Kagawa was one of them. She left her job as a salesgirl and rushed to attend the audition in front of a camera. After that, she was ushered into the film industry, and at the age of 17, she joined the film studio and underwent a three-month training with the other winners. Due to her age, people at the studio took care of her as if she were their child. The rest, as they say, is history.
When she started her acting career, her first words were “arigato gozaimashita,” which means “thank you.” She began as an extra, but after playing in some roles, she left Shintoho and became a free agent. Although several film studios offered her a job, she insisted on appearing only in films of her own choice. Many people were unhappy with her decision.
In recognition of her contributions to the film industry, Kyoko was awarded the prestigious International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2011. Kyoko Kagawa, a talented actress of Asian descent, achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the first actress of her ethnicity to receive the award. She won the Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in the movie Madadayo (1993).
She was also honored by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, through an exhibition titled “Kyoko Kagawa,” which celebrated her long career and her significant contribution to Japanese cinema.
For a career spanning over 70 years, the 92-year-old actress has been involved in 147 movies, dramas, and series according to IMDb. Below are some of her works:
Filmography
- The Pass: Last Days of the Samurai (2020)
- Swindle Detective (2019)
- In This Corner of the World (2018)
- Somewhere in Kamakura (2016)
- Summer Leaf Drop (2015)
- Silent Poor (2014)
- The Intermission (2013)
- After Life (1998)
- Deep River (1995)
- Woman Boss (1970)
- Mothra (1961)
- An Osaka Story (1957)
- Ginji of the Seven Faces (1955)
- Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
- Tokyo Story (1953)
She is Married to a Writer
Kyoko Kagawa married Takuji Makino, a writer and reporter at the United Nations in New York in 1963 when she was 32 years old. She gave birth to her first son in 1965. Kyoko then went to the USA to join her husband where she had her second son in 1968. She returned to Japan later on. During her stay in America, Kyoko took a break from acting but resumed in 1974 after she came back to Japan.
