was a Japanese actress. She appeared in the early films of

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

and later starred in many films by

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 Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

Biography

After graduating from Tokyo Film School (東京映画学校), Chieko Nakakita entered the Toho film studios and gave her debut in

Yasujirō Shimazu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, and a pioneer of the ''Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga'' (common people drama) genre at the Shōchiku studios in pre-World War II Japan. Biography Shimazu was born in Tokyo, the second son of merch ...

's ''Nichijō no tatakai'' (1944). Her first film with Kurosawa was ''

Those Who Make Tomorrow is a 1946 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Sekigawa and Kajirō Yamamoto (who was also co-writer). Purpose The film was produced to illustrate the purpose of the Trade union, workers' union at the Toho film studios, as the Alli ...

'' (1946), which he co-directed but disowned. Later films with Kurosawa include '' One Wonderful Sunday'' (1947), ''

Drunken Angel is a 1948 Japanese noir film directed by Akira Kurosawa, and co-written by Kurosawa and Keinosuke Uekusa. Starring Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune, it tells the story of alcoholic doctor Sanada, and his recidivist patient Matsunaga. Sanada ...

'' (1948) and ''

The Quiet Duel is a 1949 Japanese medical drama film directed by Akira Kurosawa. Plot The film centers on Dr. Kyoji Fujisaki, a young, idealistic doctor who, during his service as an army physician during World War II, contracted syphilis from the blood of a pa ...

'' (1949). During the 1948 strike at Toho, Nakakita, like actresses

Yoshiko Kuga was a Japanese actress. She starred in '' The Woman in the Rumor'' (1954), ''Equinox Flower'' (1958), and '' An Inlet of Muddy Water'' (1953). She won a Mainichi Film Award in 1954, and a Blue Ribbon Award in 1956. She was the wife of actor ...

and Setsuko Wakayama, sided with the unionists. Her first film with Naruse was the 1950 ''White Beast'', followed by regular supporting roles in the director's most important films, such as '' Repast'' (1951), ''

Lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

'' (1952), for which she received the Blue Ribbon Award and the

Mainichi Film Concours The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by ''Mainichi Shimbun'' (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of t ...

, '' Floating Clouds'' (1955) and '' Flowing'' (1956). Other directors Nakakita worked with include

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 ...

Shirō Toyoda was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed over 60 films during his career which spanned 50 years. He was denoted for his high-quality adaptations of works of many important twentieth-century Japanese writers. Career Born in Kyo ...

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 ...

. After 1970, she turned completely to television work, except for her final film, the 1983 '' Tora-san's Song of Love''.

Personal life

Nakakita was married to Toho film producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, who was sixteen years her senior. Together they had three sons and adopted a daughter named Mieko. She died in her

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 ...

home in 2005, 79 years old.

Filmography (selected)

* 1944: ''Nichijō no tatakai'' (dir. Yasujirō Shimazu) * 1946: ''

'' (dir. Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Sekigawa,

Kajirō Yamamoto was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor who was known for his war films and comedies and as the mentor of Akira Kurosawa. The combined list of his efforts as a director for documentaries, silent, and sound films includes over 90 ...

) * 1946: '' No Regrets for Our Youth'' (dir. Akira Kurosawa) * 1947: '' One Wonderful Sunday'' (dir. Akira Kurosawa) * 1948: ''

'' (dir. Akira Kurosawa) * 1949: ''

'' (dir. Akira Kurosawa) * 1950: ''

Conduct Report on Professor Ishinaka is a 1950 Japanese comedy film directed by Mikio Naruse. It consists of three self-contained episodes, based on stories by Yōjirō Ishizaka. Plot ;Episode 1 "A Story of Buried Gasoline" Professor Ishinaka is a novelist living in a village in ...

'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1950: ''White Beast'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1951: ''Repast'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1952: ''

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1952: ''Lightning'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1954: ''Somewhere Under The Broad Sky'' (dir. Masaki Kobayashi) * 1955: ''Floating Clouds'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1955: ''The Grass Whistle'' ''Love Never Fails'' (dir. Shirō Toyoda) * 1956: '' Sudden Rain'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1956: '' Early Spring'' (dir. Yasujirō Ozu) * 1956: ''Flowing'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1958: '' Anzukko'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1960: ''

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs is a 1960 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. Plot Keiko (called "Mama" by the other characters), a young widow approaching 30, is a hostess at a bar in Ginza. Realizing she is getting older, she decides after talking to her bar manag ...

'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1961: ''

The Story of Osaka Castle is a 1961 Japanese Jidaigeki film directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film is based on historical events taking place in Japan during the beginning of the 17th century. Plot The plot is set in the 1610s, ...

'' (dir.

Hiroshi Inagaki was a Japanese filmmaker who worked on over 100 films in a career spanning over five decades. He is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed filmmakers in the history of Japanese cinema, having directed several ''jidaigeki'' epics s ...

) * 1961: '' As a Wife, As a Woman'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1961: '' Girls of the Night'' (dir.

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

) * 1964: '' Yearning'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1966: '' The Stranger Within a Woman'' (dir. Mikio Naruse) * 1983: ''Tora-san's Song of Love'' (dir. Yōji Yamada)

Awards

Chieko Nakakita received the 1952 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''Lightning'' and ''Oka wa hanazakari'' and the 1952 Mainichi Film Concours For Best Supporting Actress for ''Lightning'', ''Mother'' and ''Oka wa hanazakari''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakakita, Chieko Japanese film actresses 20th-century Japanese actresses 1926 births 2005 deaths Actresses from Tokyo