Machiko Kyô

Biography

Machiko Kyô (March 25, 1924 – May 12, 2019) was a renowned Japanese actress whose career became closely associated with the golden age of Japanese cinema. Born Motoko Yano in Osaka, Japan, she adopted the stage name Machiko Kyô after joining the Osaka Shochiku Kagekidan revue as a young dancer in 1936. She entered the film industry with Daiei Film in 1949.

Kyô achieved international recognition with Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), in which she played Masako Kanazawa, the wife whose conflicting account lies at the center of the film's mystery. The film's success at the Venice Film Festival helped introduce Japanese cinema to a worldwide audience and established Kyô as an internationally respected actress.

She went on to give acclaimed performances in several landmark films, including Kenji Mizoguchi's Ugetsu (1953), Teinosuke Kinugasa's Gate of Hell (1953), Princess Yang Kwei-fei (1955), Street of Shame (1956), Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds (1959), Kon Ichikawa's Odd Obsession (1959), and Hiroshi Teshigahara's The Face of Another (1966).

In 1956, Kyô made her only major appearance in an American film, The Teahouse of the August Moon, starring Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford. She played Lotus Blossom and received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.

Kyô continued working in films, television, and on stage for many decades. Her final television role was in the 2000 NHK series Haregi, koko ichiban, and she continued stage work until 2006. In recognition of her contribution to Japanese cinema, she received major national honors and a lifetime achievement award at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony in 2017.

Machiko Kyô died of heart failure in Tokyo on May 12, 2019, at the age of 95. She is remembered as one of the most important Japanese actresses of the 1950s and as a central figure in films that helped bring Japanese cinema to international attention