was a Japanese stage and film actress who appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1976.

Biography

Sawamura was born Sadako Katō in the

Asakusa is a district in Taitō, Tokyo, Japan. It is known for Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. There are several other temples in Asakusa, as well as various festivals, such as . History The development of Asaku ...

district of

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 ...

. After dropping out of

Japan Women's University is the oldest and largest of private Japanese women's universities. The university was established on 20 April 1901 by education reformist . The university has around 6000 students and 200 faculty. It has two campuses, named after the neighbo ...

, she was active in

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

theatre groups and twice arrested. She started acting in films in 1934, first at the

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

studio, later at

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

. She appeared in many supporting roles after the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, often working with director

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 ...

. Other filmmakers Sawamura worked with include

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...

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 ...

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 ...

and Kaneto Shindō. Her brothers were the actors

Daisuke Katō was a Japanese actor. He appeared in over 200 films, including Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai'', ''Rashomon'', ''Yojimbo'', and ''Ikiru''. He also worked repeatedly for noted directors such as Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi. ...

and Kunitarō Sawamura. Her autobiography ''Watashi no Asakusa'' has been translated into English as ''My Asakusa''. She was married to actor Kamatari Fujiwara and film magazine editor and critic Yasuhiko Ohashi.

Selected filmography

Film

* '' Totsugu hi made'' (1940) * '' Dancing Girl'' (1951) * '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952) * ''

Epitome An epitome (; , from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." A ...

'' (1953) * '' Late Chrysanthemums'' (1954) * '' So Young, So Bright'' (1955) * '' Street of Shame'' (1956) * '' Late Autumn'' (1960) * '' The Wandering Princess'' (1960) * ''

Zero Focus is a 1961 Japanese crime drama film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, and co-written by Shinobu Hashimoto and Yoji Yamada. It is based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto. A remake of the film was released in 2009. Plot One wee ...

'' (1961) * '' Girls of the Night'' (1961) * '' Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki'' (1962)

Television

* ''

Shinsho Taikōki ''Taiko'' (Japanese: 新書太閤記, Hepburn: ''Shinsho Taikōki''), also known as ''Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan'', is a Japanese epic novel written by Eiji Yoshikawa about the life and rise to power of Toyotomi Hideyo ...

'' (1973),

Ōmandokoro Ōmandokoro (大政所, 1516 – 29 August 1592) or Ōmandokoro Naka was the mother of the Japanese ruler Toyotomi Hideyoshi. She was also the mother of Asahi no kata, Tomo and Toyotomi Hidenaga. Biography Ōmandokoro is said to have been ...

* ''Sekigahara'' (1981), Maeda Matsu

References

External links

* 1908 births 1996 deaths Japanese film actresses Actresses from Tokyo People from Taitō Sawamura family 20th-century Japanese actresses {{Japan-film-actor-stub