is an American-born Japanese actress. She is best known for playing the lead role of Gorgeous in the 1977 film ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to Japanese parents, she moved to

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

at age 3. Kimiko graduated from

Horikoshi High School is a private high school in Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. The school was founded by Chiyo Horikoshi in 1923. Due to its trait course (formerly the entertainment activities course) and the physical education course for entertainers and athletes who have ...

Nakano, Tokyo Nakano (, Latn, ja, Nakano-ku) is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City (, Latn, ja, Nakano-ku).

and subsequently attended Tamagawa University. She is closely related to the Bandō Mitsugorō

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

actors: her grandfather was the eighth, her uncle the ninth (later Bandō Minosuke VII), her cousin (Bandō Yasosuke V) the tenth to take that name. With the encouragement of Yasosuke, Kimiko turned to acting.

Career

She made her television debut in 1975 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 ...

show ''Maboroshi no Pen Friend,'' and in that year also appeared in ''Ai to Makoto'' on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.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 ...

). In

Taiga drama is the name NHK gives to the annual year-long historical drama television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white ''Hana no Shōgai'', starring kabuki actor Onoe Shoroku II and Awashima Chikage, the network regul ...

series, Kimiko portrayed Ōhime ''Kusa Moeru'' (1979) Chacha (later named

Yodo-Dono or (1569 – June 4, 1615), also known as Lady Chacha (茶々), was a Japanese historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She was the concubine and the second wife of Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As the mother of his son and successor ...

) in the 1981 ''Onna Taikō-ki,''

Lady Tsukiyama Lady Tsukiyama or was a Japanese noble lady and aristocrat from the Sengoku period. She was the chief consort of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the ''daimyō'' who would become the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. She was the mother ...

(the wife of the title character) in ''

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

'' (1983), and Eri (Lady Aburakawa, concubine of the title character) in ''

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

.'' Other ''

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "historical drama, period dramas", it refers to stories that take place before the Meiji Restoration of 1868. ''Jidaigeki'' show the lives of the samurai, farmers, crafts ...

'' roles have included Sumi in the 1988 NHK ''

Miyamoto Musashi , was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...

'' Okon in ''

Tōyama no Kin-san is a popular character based on the historical Tōyama Kagemoto, a samurai and official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. In kabuki and kōdan, he was celebrated under his childhood name, Kinshirō, shortened ...

'' (1989), and Nami in the 2003 TV Tokyo '' Chūshingura: Ketsudan no Toki''. Contemporary roles include the

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

in '' Gokudō no Onna-tachi Revenge'' (the thirteenth in the series) and the female lead in ''Shiroi Kyotō'' (

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

, 1990). She appears frequently as a guest star on television series such as ''

Mito Kōmon is a Japanese ''jidaigeki'' or period drama that was on prime-time television from 1969 to 2011, making it the longest-running ''jidaigeki'' in Japanese television history. The title character is the historic Tokugawa Mitsukuni, former vice-' ...

.'' Kimiko also recorded a song, ''Nagasarete'', on the

Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...

label. The 1984 release (as of 2006, out of print) was the theme song for the show ''Kiryūin Hanako no Shōgai.'' Her honors include the 1990 Japan Jewellery Association Best Dresser Award.

Filmography

Films

*''

'' (1977) – Gorgeous *'' Fuyu no hana'' (1978) *''

Nichiren was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period. His teachings form the basis of Nichiren Buddhism, a unique branch of Japanese Mahayana Buddhism based on the '' Lotus Sutra''. Nichiren declared that the '' Lotus Sutra ...

'' (1979) *''

Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko Taiyō is the romanization for some Japanese language, Japanese words, such as ''太陽'' for sun and ''大洋'' for ocean. It can also refer to: Persons A male Japanese given name *, Japanese footballer * Taiyō Kea (born 1975), American profess ...

'' (1979) – Zero Sawai *''

The Geisha ''The Geisha, a story of a tea house'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and Jame ...

'' (1983) *'' A Chaos of Flowers'' (1988) *'' Edo Jō Tairan'' (1991) *'' Kozure Ōkami: Sono Chiisaki Te ni'' (1993) *''Tea for Three'' (2024) – Hatsue

Television

*''

Fumō Chitai is a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It was serialized in the weekly magazine ''Sunday Manichi'' from 1973 to 1978. The novel was partially adapted into a film starring Tatsuya Nakadai and directed by Satsuo Yamamoto in 1976. It was later adapted i ...

'' (1979) – Naoko Iki *''

Kusa Moeru is a 1979 Japanese television series. It is the 17th NHK taiga drama. It is also the first Taiga drama to standardize the use of modern language in dialogue starting with this one onward. On the other hand, characters did not use first names to ...

'' (1979) – Ōhime *''Onna Taikōki'' (1981) –

Yodo-dono or (1569 – June 4, 1615), also known as Lady Chacha (茶々), was a Japanese historical figure in the late Sengoku period. She was the concubine and the second wife of Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. As the mother of his son and successor ...

*''

'' (1983) –

*''Miyamoto Musashi'' (1984–85) – Akemi *''Tokugawa Ieyasu'' (1988) – Yodo-dono

References

External links

*
JDorama
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ikegami, Kimiko 1959 births Actresses from Manhattan Living people Horikoshi High School alumni Tamagawa University alumni 20th-century Japanese actresses 21st-century Japanese actresses Japanese television actresses Japanese film actresses