was a Japanese stage and film

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

who appeared in works of directors

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 ' ...

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

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 ...

Biography

Natsukawa was born in Tokyo and first appeared on stage at the age of seven. She gave her film debut in ''

The Glow of Life is a Japanese film directed by Norimasa Kaeriyama made in 1918 and released in 1919 by Tenkatsu. It is considered the first in a series of films aimed at reforming and modernizing Japanese cinema. Plot A country girl Teruko falls in love with ...

'' in 1918 (released 1919), in which she appeared together with her brother Daijirō. In 1927, joined 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, where she gained popularity through films such as ''Tsubakihime'' and ''Kekkon nijuso: zenpen''. She married composer Nobuo Iida and retired from acting for a while, but returned to the screen with Shirō Toyoda's ''

Spring on Leper's Island ''Spring on Leper's Island'' () is a 1940 Japanese drama film directed by Shirō Toyoda. It is based on the memoir of Masako Ogawa, a Japanese doctor who specialised in leprosy treatment, and is noted by film historians for its Humanism, humanist ...

''. She played many secondary roles in films and on television after the war. Natsukawa's daughter Kahoru Natsukawa (1943–1998) also acted on stage and in film.

Selected filmography

Film

* ''

'' (1919) * ''Tsubakihime'' (1927) * ''Kekkon nijuso: zenpen'' (1928) * ''

Tokyo March is a 1929 Japanese silent drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is one of the left-leaning " tendency films" Mizoguchi made in the late 1920s. Only a fragment of the film exists today. Plot Michiyo, an orphan and factory working girl, li ...

'' (1929) * ''

Young People Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

'' (1937) * ''

'' (1940) * ''

Love Letter A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

'' (1953) * '' Be Happy, These Two Lovers'' (1953) * ''

Twenty-Four Eyes is a 1954 Japanese drama film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Sakae Tsuboi. The film stars Hideko Takamine as a young schoolteacher who lives during the rise and fall of Japanese nationalism in the ea ...

'' (1954) * ''

Night Drum is a 1958 Japanese historical drama film directed by Tadashi Imai. It was written by Kaneto Shindō and Shinobu Hashimoto, based on the 1706 play ''Horikawa nami no tsuzumi'' by Monzaemon Chikamatsu. Film historians regard ''Night Drum'' as one ...

'' (1957) * '' Anzukko'' (1958)

Television

* '' Akō Rōshi'' (1964)

References

External links

* 1909 births Actresses from Tokyo 1999 deaths Japanese stage actresses Japanese silent film actresses 20th-century Japanese actresses Japanese television actresses Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon {{Japan-film-actor-stub