Yoshiko Kawada
A young Japanese woman wearing a kimono embellished with flowers
Yoshiko Kawada in the 1920s
Born17 October 1895
Furumachi, Niigata City
Died23 March 1970
Sōka
Other namesYoko Kawakami (stage name)
OccupationActress

Yoshiko Kawada (17 October 1895 – 23 March 1970) (川田芳子 in Japanese, or かわだ よしこ in kana) was a Japanese actress on stage, and in silent and sound films.

Early life

Kawada was born in Furumachi, Niigata City. She trained as a geisha in Tokyo, then joined the theatre troupe of Sada Yacco.[1]

Career

A still from Shima no onna (1920) with Henry Kotani and Yoshiko Kawada; two Japanese actors, a man and a woman, wearing printed kimonos, seated outdoors
A still from Shima no onna (1920), featuring Yoshiko Kawada

Kawada made her stage debut at Tokyo's Imperial Theatre, under the stage name Yoko Kawakami ("Kawakami" was the family name of Sada Yacco's late husband, Kawakami Otojirō).[1] She was popular in Japanese silent films in the 1920s[2][3] and in early sound films in the 1930s,[4] with over a hundred screen credits. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in Japan, according to a 1925 report.[5]

Kawada's first film role was in Shima no onna (Island Woman, 1920), directed by Henry Kotani for the Shochiku studio;[6][7] her last was in Kane no naru oka - Dai sanhen: Kuro no maki (1949). She often played mothers, including in Akeyuku Sora (The Dawning Sky, 1929), directed by Torajirō Saitō, in which she played a poor widowed mother separated from her only child; they reunite years later, after the mother finds a new life in churchwork.[8] She initially retired from screen acting in 1935, after her starring role in Haha no ai (Mother's Love); but she had roles in two films after World War II.

Personal life

Kawada adopted a daughter; she was also known to be kind to Hachiko, a famous dog in Tokyo.[9] Kawada died in 1970, at the age of 74, in Sōka.

References

  1. 1 2 Downer, Lesley (2003). Madame Sadayakko : the geisha who bewitched the West. New York, N.Y.: Gotham Books. ISBN 1-59240-005-1. OCLC 51022849.
  2. ↑ J.N.P. (September 1926). "In the Kingdom of the Silver Screen". Japan Overseas Travel Magazine. 15, 16 (9): 15.
  3. ↑ "Japan's Favorite Film Stars". Intelligencer Journal. 1926-10-15. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Most Popular Japanese Screen Actress". Chattanooga Daily Times. 1934-11-25. p. 34. Retrieved 2022-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Stage Salaries in Japan Higher than Film Pay". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 1925-06-28. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (2018-06-05). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry - Expanded Edition. Princeton University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-691-18746-4.
  7. ↑ McDonald, Keiko I. (1994). Japanese Classical Theater in Films. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 35–36. ISBN 978-0-8386-3502-5.
  8. ↑ Scanlon, Hayley. "Yoshiko Kawada". Windows on Worlds. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  9. ↑ "Hachiko comes alive in "Pawprints In Japan"". Vicki Wong & Hachi. 2013-07-10. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
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