was a Japanese film and stage actress.

Life

A graduate from Takarazuka Music and Dance School and member of the

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japa ...

, Chikage Awashima entered the

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not ...

film studios and made her film debut in 1950. She appeared in films of numerous prominent directors like

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. 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 t ...

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, ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first sound film, ''The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shomin-geki (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his most noted works ...

. She received twice the Blue Ribbon Award and twice the

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 193 ...

for her performances. Awashima retired from stage in 2009. She died on 16 February 2012, aged 87, from cancer.

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Honours

* 1950: Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress for ''Ten'ya wan'ya'' and ''Okusama ni goyojin'' * 1955: Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress for ''Marital Relations'' * 1958:

for Best Actress for ''Summer Clouds'' and ''Hotarubi'' * 1988: Medal with Purple Ribbon * 1995:

Order of the Precious Crown The is a Japanese order, established on January 4, 1888 by Emperor Meiji of Japan. Since the Order of the Rising Sun at that time was an Order for men, it was established as an Order for women. Originally the order had five classes, but on Ap ...

, 4th Class, Wisteria * 1997: Mainichi Film Awards Kinuyo Tanaka Award

References

External links

* 1924 births 2012 deaths Japanese film actresses 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses Deaths from cancer in Japan Actresses from Tokyo Takarazuka Revue Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon {{Japan-film-actor-stub