was a Japanese screenwriter. Born in Tokyo, she later graduated from Bunka Gakuin and began writing screenplays to support her family after her father died. Mizuki was active in the 1950s era of the Japanese studio system and is notable for her work with directors

Tadashi Imai was a Japanese film director known for social realist filmmaking informed by a left-wing perspective. His most noted films include ''An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953) and ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'' (1963). Life Although leaning towards left-wing p ...

and

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily shomin-geki ("common people drama") films with female protagonists, ...

. Her work had received several Best Screenplay Awards from ''

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 ...

'' and has been described in the book ''Women Screenwriters: An International Guide'' as "One of the most important and accomplished Japanese female screenwriters of all time".

Biography

Yoko Mizuki was born under the name Tomiko Takagi on 26 August 1910 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, ...

. Mizuki later graduated from Bunka Gakuin and began acting at the Tokyo Left-Wing Theater (Tokyo Sayoku Gekijo). Nelmes father died, which led to her supporting her family by writing stage plays at the age of 23. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Mizuki wrote

radio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. Inspired by her Russian teacher

Toshio Yasumi Toshio is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toshio can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *敏夫, "agile, man" *敏男, "agile, man" *敏雄, "agile, male" *俊夫, "sagacious, man" *俊雄, "sagaci ...

, she began screenwriting. Her first script was ''The Life of a Woman'' (1949) with was co-written with Yasumi. The film involves a pregnant woman who works in printing plant under poor conditions. Her second screenplay for '' Until We Meet Again'' (1950) brought her acclaim and began her collaborations with director

. Despite the praise for the film from ''

'', Mizuki claims that she was still struggling to write screenplays and had to re-write much of ''Until We Meet Again'' while it was filming. Mizuki wrote the screenplay for '' Jun'ai Monogatari'' which won the

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...

at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

. She also wrote unconventional topics for screenplays such as '' Kiku and Isamu'' (1959), a story about two mixed-race children in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. She was later awarded the ''

'' awards for Best Screenplay for her work for '' These Are Harbour Lights'' (1961), '' The Age of Marriage'' (1961), '' Sweet Sweat'' and ''

Kwaidan 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'' refe ...

''. In her later career, Mizuki worked extensively for television, with her credits including '' Ryoma Forever'' (1968) for the

Japanese Broadcasting Corporation , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, 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 licence, television l ...

(NHK). Mizuki died on 8 April 2003 in

Ichikawa, Chiba 240px, Ichikawa City Hall is a city in western Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 491,716 in 251,142 households and a population density of 8559 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city has a conc ...

. Her former home was turned into the Mizuki Memorial Museum.

Personal life

Before World War II, Mizuki was briefly married to director and screenwriter

Senkichi Taniguchi (February 19, 1912 – October 29, 2007) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Born in Tokyo, Japan, he attended Waseda University but left before graduating due to his involvement in a left-wing theater troupe. He joined P.C.L. ...

who often collaborated with

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 ...

. Among her own 34 screen credits, Mizuki's favourite of films of her own works were '' Until We Meet Again'', '' The Story of Pure Love'', '' Kiku and Isamu'' and '' The Age of Marriage''

Partial filmography

* ''The Life of a Woman'' (1949) * '' Until We Meet Again'' (1950) * ''

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago ...

'' (1953) * '' Floating Clouds'' (1955) * ''

Night School A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...

'' (1956) * '' Kiku and Isamu'' (1959) * '' The Age of Marriage'' (1961) * '' Sweet Sweat'' (1964) * ''

'' (1965)

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mizuki, Yoko 1910 births Japanese women screenwriters Writers from Tokyo 2003 deaths 20th-century Japanese screenwriters