is a Japanese stage and film actress who has appeared in films of

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese filmmaker. 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 the 1930s. The most pr ...

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and ...

Masaki Kobayashi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy '' The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology '' Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Sen ...

and most frequently of

Masahiro Shinoda was a Japanese film director, whose career spanned over four decades and covered a wide range of genres and styles. He was one of the central figures of the Japanese New Wave during the 1960s and 1970s. He directed films for Shochiku Studio fro ...

, her husband. She is best known for starring in the '' Yakuza Wives'' series of

yakuza film is a popular film genre in Japanese cinema which focuses on the lives and dealings of ''yakuza'', Japanese organized crime syndicates. In the silent film era, depictions of '' bakuto'' (precursors to modern yakuza) as sympathetic Robin Hood- ...

s between 1986 and 1998. In 2000, Iwashita ranked tenth on ''

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

''s readers' poll of the top female movie stars of the 20th century. In 2025, she was ranked fourth in a poll conducted by ''

Sankei Shimbun The , name short for , is a daily national newspaper in Japan published by the Sankei Shimbun Co., Ltd, ranking amongst the top five most circulated newspapers in Japan. Together with its English-language paper ''Japan Forward'', the ''Sankei ...

'' on the top actresses of the

Shōwa era The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...

Biography

Iwashita was born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, as the eldest daughter of Kiyoshi Nonomura and Miyoko Yamagishi, both stage actors. In 1958, while still attending high school, she made her first television appearance in the

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

series ''Basu Tōri Ura''. The following year, she entered the literature department of

Seijo University is a private university in Seijō, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is operated by the Seijo Gakuen institute. History Seijo University has its origins in , which was founded in 1917 by Masataro Sawayanagi, a former minister of education. U ...

, which she left without a degree. She joined the

Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...

film studio the same year (1960) and gave her debut in Keisuke Kinoshita's ''

The River Fuefuki is a 1960 Japanese historical drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita and starring Hideko Takamine. It is based on a novel by Shichirō Fukazawa. Plot The film is set in the Sengoku period in Japan, spanning in time from the Battle of Iidagaw ...

'', but due to the film's long production time, it was her next film, Masahiro Shinoda's ''Dry Lake'', which was released first. In 1961, she received the

Blue Ribbon Blue ribbons are typically a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Order of the Holy Spirit#Cordon Bleu, Cord ...

Newcomer Award. Iwashita subsequently appeared in Yasujirō Ozu's last film, ''

An Autumn Afternoon is a 1962 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu for Shochiku Films. It stars Ozu regular Chishū Ryū as the patriarch of the Hirayama family who eventually realises that he has a duty to arrange a marriage for his daughter Michiko (Shim ...

'', Masaki Kobayashi's '' Harakiri'' (both 1962),

Noboru Nakamura was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Biography After graduating from the Tokyo Imperial University Faculty of Letters in 1936, Nakamura joined the Shochiku film studios, working as an assistant director for Torajirō Saitō and Yas ...

's '' Twin Sisters of Kyoto'' (1963), in which she played a dual role, and many films by her husband Masahiro Shinoda like ''

Assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

'' (1964) and '' Double Suicide'' (1969), in which she again played a dual role. Also in 1969, she appeared on stage in the role of Desdemona in ''Othello''. Iwashita is best known for starring in the '' Yakuza Wives'' series of female-led

s, which are based on a book of interviews with the wives and girlfriends of real gangsters. Beginning with the first installment in 1986, she appeared in eight of the ten theatrical films, ending with 1998's ''Yakuza Wives: Decision''. In addition to her film work, she kept appearing on television and on stage, receiving numerous awards like the Blue Ribbon Award, the

Award and the Mainichi Award for Best Actress.

Filmography (selected)

Film

Television

Awards and honours (selected)

* 1961: Blue Ribbon Newcomer Award * 1969–70: Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress for ''Double Suicide'' * 1977–78: Blue Ribbon Award, Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress in '' Ballad of Orin'' * 1988: Kinuyo Tanaka Award (1988) * 2004: Medal with Purple Ribbon * 2012: Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iwashita, Shima 1941 births Living people Actresses from Tokyo 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses People from Chūō, Tokyo Taiga drama lead actors Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class