
Acting
Takako Irie
Born 1911-02-07 · Tokyo, Japan
Takako Irie (入江 たか子 Irie Takako, 7 February 1911 – 12 January 1995) was a Japanese film actress. Born in Tokyo into the aristocratic Higashibōjō family (her birth name was Hideko Higashibōjō (東坊城 英子 Higashibōjō Hideko)), she graduated from Bunka Gakuin before debuting as an actress at Nikkatsu in 1927. She became a major star, even starting her own production company, Irie Productions, in 1932. One of Kenji Mizoguchi's silent film masterpieces, The Water Magician, was produced at that company with Irie starring. She appeared in many advertisements, as well as on fans and other commercial goods. Irie was also the subject of a folding screen painting by Nihonga artist Nakamura Daizaburō, which appeared in the 1930 Teiten (Imperial Exhibition), and which is today in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art; toy dolls were also produced based on this image. In the postwar period, Irie became known as a "ghost cat actress" (bakeneko joyū) for appearing in a series of kaidan (ghost story) movies. One of her late memorable roles was in Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro, where she plays Mutsuta's wife, the lady who warns Sanjuro (Toshirō Mifune) that "the best sword stays in its scabbard".
Acting credits
7.9In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Sanjuro
1962
9.0The Lord of Okazaki is killed by his brother-in-law. Although the Lord's widow bears a child, she is also killed. Then, a ghost cat begins stalking in the castle.
Terrible Ghost Cat of Okazaki
1954
7.2In 39 interviews with actors and actresses, writers, producers and staff members, interspersed with film excerpts and stills, Shindō recounts the life and career of his friend and mentor Mizoguchi.
Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director
1975
6.8Kazuko Yoshiyama is a third-year junior-high-school student. One day, while cleaning the lab, she smells lavender and faints. From then on, she has the power to travel through time.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
1983
6.7Wealthy young Toyomi and Shintaro are in love. However, Shintaro’s father is arranging for him to marry Yurie, the scion of an even wealthier family. The two lovers flee to Tokyo, but when Shintaro returns to proclaim his intent to marry Toyomi, his father browbeats him into attending the marriage meeting with Yurie. Part one of a two-part romance based on a story by noted author Kikuchi Kan.
Learn from Experience, Part One
1937
NRA blind little girl searches for her mother.
Haha no hitomi
1953
While returning by boat to Japan, Yoshie Fujiwara meets a rich woman who suggests him to become a singer thanks to an impresario friend of hers.
Yoshie Fujiwara's Hometown
1930
A Daiei erotic film depicting the five passionate love affairs of a voluptuous married woman, driven by her beauty.
Doku bara
1949
6.8Five years after the end of the Second World War, Reikichi, a repatriated veteran, translates love letters for Japanese women to American GIs, while searching for his lost love, Michiko.
Love Letter
1953
6.2This time, Kousuke investigates a murder in a hospital. The murderer leaves misleading evidence to divert Kousuke's attention on the case. Suspicion and doubt clouds Kousuke's mind.
The House of Hanging
1979
7.0The first part of a fascinating melodrama based on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, the action of which is transferred to the era of the Meiji Revolution. The film has not survived.
Jean Valjean: Part One
1931
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Dekoboko taikōki
1953
7.1A kabuki actress is murdered. Her pet cat laps its mistress's blood and becomes a demon possessed by the vengeful murder victim.
The Ghost Cat of Ouma Crossing
1954
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Tsuki yori no shisha
1934
7.0A remake of Kaidan Saga yashiki (1953).
Ghost-Cat of Yonaki Swamp
1957
10.0Kayo and Kuniko graduated from girls' school together and are as close as sisters. Kuniko's fiancé, Minakami, feels something that attracts him deeply towards Kayo. On the other hand, Kayo prays for the happiness of her best friend and marries a very ordinary man. However, at one point, this mediocre but increasingly ferocious husband died in an accident ... A triangular love story develops depicting a woman's heart that sways between love and morals. Based on a novel by Nobuko Yoshiya, there were originally two parts to the film (If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again), both supposed to be 85 minutes, but apparently what we have now is this 103-minute amalgam of the two.
A Husband's Chastity: If Spring Comes & Fall Once Again
1937
No synopsis available yet.
Tales of a Drifter
1951
A film depicting the duties of a detective and the anguish of human compassion.
Female Prisoner #36
1947
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Matashirō Fighting Journey
1956
5.6Young women at a precision optics factory in wartime Japan push to exceed production quotas, enduring illness, injury, and personal hardship to “serve the country.” Led by Tsuru Watanabe, they fight fatigue and setbacks to keep their line moving—even when duty collides with grief.
The Most Beautiful
1944
NRMovie about biological mothers, foster mothers, and stepmothers.
Three Mothers
1949
7.0This epic depicts the battle between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. The focus of the story is the struggle by the unit leader in charge of the main supply wagons and the supply troops to transport materiel to the Uesugi army. To this are added episodes involving an itinerant woman.
The Battle of Kawanakajima
1941
6.8No synopsis available yet.
Wings of Victory
1942
8.0A power struggle in the fief of Okazaki causes the death of Namiji, a nobleman's daughter. As her fiancé seeks revenge, he finds Namiji's cat helping him, along the Fifty-Three stations of the Tokaido Road. Co-starring Shintarô Katsu and Takako Irie.
The Monster Cat of the Fifty-Three Stations
1956
Behind the camera
7.3Taki no Shiraito is a very independent young woman with a famous water juggling act in a travelling carnival troupe. She falls in love with an orphaned carriage driver Kinya Murakoshi, and pledges to put him through law school in Tokyo. She always encloses money in her letters to him, until one hard winter there is no work to be found.
The Water Magician
1933
7.0A Japanese version of the musical comedy "Yes, Mr. Brown"
Karisome no kuchibeni
1934
Propaganda film, presumed lost.
The Dawn of Manchuria and Mongolia
1932