, born Ginko Yanoshima, was a Japanese actress, dancer, and singer. She was with the

Imperial Theatre The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and ...

in the 1910s, and appeared in Japanese films in the 1930s and 1940s, including

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 ...

's ''

Sincerity Sincerity is the virtue of one who communicates and acts in accordance with the entirety of their feelings, beliefs, thoughts, and desires in a manner that is honest and genuine. Sincerity in one's actions (as opposed to one's communications) m ...

'' (1939) and

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 ...

's '' No Regrets for Our Youth'' (1946).

Early life and education

Ginko Yanoshima was born in Tokyo, the daughter of a paper merchant. She studied art, music, and dance, and trained for the theatre at the school of Sada Yakko. She began her stage career in the Imperial Theatre.

Stage career

Fujima's early career was on the stage. She played

Mistress Quickly Mistress Nell Quickly is a fictional character who appears in several plays by William Shakespeare. She is an inn-keeper, who runs the Boar's Head Tavern, at which Sir John Falstaff and his disreputable cronies congregate. The character app ...

in ''

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'' in Tokyo in 1912. "The fearlessness and scorn of the

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

mother, played by Miss Fusako Fujima, was a revelation of what the shy, sophisticated Japanese women can do in simulating passion," wrote an American reviewer in 1914, in ''

Overland Monthly The ''Overland Monthly'' was a monthly literary magazine, literary and cultural magazine, based in California, United States. It was founded in 1868 and published between the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th centu ...

.'' She was described as "the best Japanese dancer among the actresses", in a 1915 report in ''

The Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In modern times, the term ''F ...

,'' about the Imperial Theatre's "Toy Ballet". She was noted for her "comical" skills, in a 1918 article about fellow actress

Ritsuko Mori Ritsuko Mori (30 October 1890 – 22 July 1961) (森律子 in Japanese, or もりりつこ in kana) was a Japanese actress. As a woman from a respected family, her entry into the acting profession was considered disreputable, but her success im ...

, and she was described as a singer in a 1926 newspaper photo with Mori and Irish tenor John McCormack.

Filmography

Fujima often played older women, wives, mothers, and grandmothers, in Japanese films made in the 1930s and 1940s by directors including Akira Kurosawa,

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza film, yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). ...

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, Mikio Naruse, Osamu Fushimizu, and Torajiro Saito. * ''Hakui no kajin'' (1936) * ''Kokyo'' (1937, ''Hometown'') * ''Gonzo to Sukejyu'' (1937) * ''Ôma no tsuji'' (1938) * ''Magokoro'' (1939, ''

'') * ''Nizuma Kagame'' (1940) * ''Shina no yoru'' (1940, ''China Night'', both parts) * ''Zoku Hebihimesama'' (1940, ''The Snake Princess'') * ''Kinō kieta otoko'' (1941, ''The Man Who Disappeared Yesterday'') * ''Ani no hanayome'' (1941) * ''Waga ai no ki'' (1941) * ''Otoko no hanamichi'' (1941) *'' Midori no daichi'' (1942) * ''Hanako-san ''(1943) * ''Tokkan ekichō'' (1945, ''Station Chief of the Nonstop Train'') * ''Tokyo gonin otoko'' (1945, ''Five Tokyo Men'') * ''Hometown in Green'' (1946) * ''Waga seishun ni kuinashi'' (1946, '' No Regrets for Our Youth'') * ''Waga ai wa jama no kanata ni'' (1948) * ''Ojōsan kampai'' (1949, ''Here's to the Young Lady'') * ''Hakuchû no kettō'' (1950, ''Duel in the Sun'')

References

External links

*
''Hanako-san'' (1943)
on YouTube
''Sincerity'' (1939)
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Fujima, Fusako 1882 births 1954 deaths Japanese actresses Actresses from Tokyo Japanese dancers