Fujiko Yamamoto
Acting • Born 1931-12-11
Biography
Fujiko Yamamoto (山本富士子, Yamamoto Fujiko) (born 11 December 1931) is a Japanese stage, film and television actress. She was the winner of the first Miss Nippon Grand Prix in 1950, and appeared in over 100 films between 1953 and 1963, including works by directors Yasujirō Ozu, Kon Ichikawa, Shirō Toyoda and Kōzaburō Yoshimura. Yamamoto was born on 11 December 1931 in Nishi ward, Osaka. In 1953, she made her film debut at Daiei Film, and became one of the studio's top actresses. Yamamoto was considered one of Japan's most beautiful women, with, in the words of film historian Catherine Russell, "noble" features that represented the classic ideal of Japanese beauty. As such, she was well-suited for costumed parts in the era's popular period dramas, with her less-frequent modern roles (in films like Ozu's Equinox Flower and Ichikawa's Being Two Isn't Easy) often shot in "movie star" closeups that placed her apart from the films' contemporary storytelling. In 1963, when her contract came up for renewal, she insisted on changes. The head of Daiei, Masaichi Nagata, refused, dismissed her, and prevented her from finding work at other film studios via the Five-Company Agreement. After the Daiei dismissal, Yamamoto acted in the TV series Toshiba Sunday Theatre and on Fuji TV. Even though she has appeared frequently on stage and on television, she has not appeared in a film since then.
Filmography
72 credits
Musume no boken
Movie • 1958
Yume de aritai
Movie • 1962
An Actor's Revenge
Movie • 1963
Ohatsu
Picnic
Movie • 1996
Nurse
The Precipice
Movie • 1958
Nakayoshi ondo: Nippon ichi dayo
Movie • 1962
Ika naru hoshi no moto ni
Movie • 1962
The Great Wall
Movie • 1962
Princess Chu
Being Two Isn't Easy
Movie • 1962
Chiyo
Made in Japan
Movie • 1953
Yoshiko Sunohara
Night Butterflies
Movie • 1957
O-Kiku
The Venus' Tear
Movie • 1962
What Price Love?
Movie • 1960
Komako Shirokoya
Jirocho Fuji
Movie • 1959
Oshin
Miai Ryokou
Movie • 1955
Utamaro, Painter of the Woman
Movie • 1959
Satan's Sword: The Dragon God
Movie • 1960
Omatsu
Satan's Sword
Movie • 1960
Omatsu
Bridge of Japan
Movie • 1956
Kiyoha Takinoya
Ghost Soup
Movie • 1992
Buddha
Movie • 1961
Usha
Undercurrent
Movie • 1956
Kiwa Funaki
The Makioka Sisters
Movie • 1959
Secret of Naruto
Movie • 1957
The Twilight Story
Movie • 1960
Ten Dark Women
Movie • 1961
Futaba Kaze
Hunting Rifle
Movie • 1961
Saiko Tagi
The Golden Demon
Movie • 1954
Miya
The Loyal 47 Ronin
Movie • 1958
Yôsen'in
The Demon of Mount Oe
Movie • 1960
Equinox Flower
Movie • 1958
Yukiko Sasaki
The Snowy Heron
Movie • 1958
Tsukigata Hanpeita
Movie • 1956
Umematsu
Three Women Around Yoshinaka
Movie • 1956
Stop the Old Fox
Movie • 1959
Tomi / Toyoharu
Blind Devotion
Movie • 1961
Natsuko
Okoto and Sasuke
Movie • 1961
Okoto
Love of the Princess
Movie • 1957
Yuhide
Patterns of Love
Movie • 1960
The Messenger from the Moon
Movie • 1954
Michiko Nonomiya
Refresher Course for Wives
Movie • 1961
Nocturne of a Woman
Movie • 1961
Beauty the Enemy
Movie • 1959
Kikue Yoshino
Princess Sen in Edo
Movie • 1960
Princess Sen
A Woman's Testament
Movie • 1960
Floating Vessel
Movie • 1957
Ukifune
The Path I Remember
Movie • 1959
Saya Ikeda
Pilgrimage at Night
Movie • 1959
A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love
Movie • 1955
Michiyo Sawada
Daiei Studio is Bustling
Movie • 1957
Inochi wo Kakeru Otoko
Movie • 1958
The Swishing Sword
Movie • 1958
The Dancer and Two Warriors
Movie • 1955
Notebooks of Heiji Zenigata: Spider on the Skin
Movie • 1956
Flowery Hood
Movie • 1956
Flowery Hood 2
Movie • 1956
Peony on the Skin
Movie • 1959
The Song Lantern
Movie • 1960
The Romance of Yushima
Movie • 1955
The Actress and the Three Rascals
Movie • 1962
Jūdai no yūwaku
Movie • 1953
Zenigata Heiji torimono hikae: madara hebi
Movie • 1957
Tange Sazen
Movie • 1952
Tokyo Eyes
Movie • 1958
Mother
Movie • 1958
Yamanaka
Thirst
Movie • 1958
Zoku Tange Sazen
Movie • 1953
Jōen
Movie • 1959
京化粧
Movie • 1961
Tange Sazen
Movie • 1953
Madame Aki
Movie • 1963
Aki
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman
TV • 1998
Kyouhei's Mother