Yuko Tanaka

Acting

Yuko Tanaka

Born

1955-04-29 (71)

Place of birth

Ikeda, Osaka, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

62 titles

Yuko Tanaka is a Japanese actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She has won several acting awards during a long career working in both film and television after she graduated from Meiji University.

Known for

Oshin poster
8.2

Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama, which aired on broadcaster NHK from April 4, 1983 to March 31, 1984. The series follows the life of Shin Tanokura during the Meiji period up to the early 1980s. Shin was called "Oshin", which is an archaic Japanese cognomen.

Oshin

1983

Princess Mononoke poster
8.3

Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.

Princess Mononoke

1997

Mare poster
7.9

Mare is an elementary school student. She lives with her family in the city, but, right before her father goes bankrupt, they run away and settle down at a fishing village in Noto. The family rents a couple's home who run a salt pond. Mare's father starts a new business, but it also fails. Her mother supports the family by working at the salt pond. 8 years later, Mare, about to graduate from high school, decides to work for the Wajima local government. She wants to have a steady job, unlike her father. Her job is to support people who move to Noto.

Mare

2015

Monster poster
7.9

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

Monster

2023

Tales from Earthsea poster
6.5

As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.

Tales from Earthsea

2006

Wakaba poster
4.0

The story is about a young woman who becomes a landscape gardener following her father's wishes. Wakaba, born and brought up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, lived happily with her parents and younger brother until the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook and destroyed the city in 1995. In the disaster, Wakaba loses her father, who was an architect and moves with her mother and brother to Obi, old castle town in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, where her grandmother lives with her uncle and aunt. Living in Obi's rich natural environment, Wakaba learns that plants can heal people's hearts. She makes a resolution to return to Kobe and reconstruct the city abundant in greenery.

Wakaba

2004

Film credits

2020s · 6 titles

Monster poster
7.9

After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.

Monster

2023

The Real You poster
7.1

Why had a mother who seemed happy desired to end her own life? Desperate to uncover his mother’s true intentions, Sakuya ventures into uncharted technological territory. He turns to VF (Virtual Figure), a technology that aggregates personal data from one’s life to create a “human” in a virtual space.

The Real You

2024

Ora, Ora Be Goin' Alone poster
7.2

In 1964, Momoko came by herself to Tokyo from her hometown. She met Shūzō and married him. They raised two children together, but Shūzō suddenly passes away. Momoko is dumbfounded by being alone again. She begins to go to the library and borrows books. This changes her life.

Ora, Ora Be Goin' Alone

2020

Children Untold poster
NR

War may be over, but for the children of Miwa Nishikawa’s latest film — adapted from her forthcoming novel — survival has only begun.

Children Untold

2026

Gift of Fire poster
8.2

Towards the end of WWII, the Navy gave the Kyoto University's physics lab the secret of a bomb that makes use of nuclear fission energy. While doing research to save Japan, the researchers there wonder if they should promote the development of weapons as scientists. Research enthusiast Ishimura Osamu tries to experiment purely but is at the mercy of the time period. His brother, Hiroyuki, also has to face the truth of the war. Asakura Setsu wants only to talk about the future. A story based on historical facts about youth during the tragedy of war.

Gift of Fire

2021

Thousand and One Nights poster
6.0

Tomiko, a middle-aged woman, waits patiently for her husband, who disappeared thirty years ago, to return. She lives alone in a declining fishing village, and continues to search tirelessly for her husband. One day she meets Nami, whose husband has also disappeared.

Thousand and One Nights

2022

2010s · 11 titles

Backwater poster
6.1

Toma lives in a small riverside town with his brutish father and his father's girlfriend. Witnessing his father's predilections for abuse, Toma becomes anxious that he will have inherited those urges.

Backwater

2013

Midnight Diner poster
7.7

A restaurant opens at midnight. Both the menu offerings and personality of the owner draw a series of flawed patrons including Tamako, whose boyfriend has passed away, live-in worker Michiru, and ruckus-raising Kenzo.

Midnight Diner

2014

Haru's Journey poster
6.6

Stuck in a fishing village in Hokkaido, Tadao's grand-daughter Haru is desperate to visit Tokyo, a trip Tadao is reluctant to make.

Haru's Journey

2010

One Night poster
7.2

A family reunites after 15 years. They each have a story to tell as they have not forgotten what happened years ago.

One Night

2019

The Island of Cats poster
7.0

Daikichi is a 70-year-old man and lives on a small island. Since his wife died, he has lived with his cat Tama. Daikichi was born and raised on the small island and enjoys relaxing days with his childhood friends including Iwao and his cat Tama. Daikichi has a son Tsuyoshi who lives in Tokyo. Tsuyoshi worries a bit about his father living alone on the island, but Daikichi is content with his life. After his close friend passes away, Daikichi worries about his physical condition. His daily life begins to change. Based on manga series "Neko to Jiichan"

The Island of Cats

2019

Dearest poster
6.7

The posthumous wish of Eiji's wife is for her ashes to be scattered in the ocean near her hometown. Eiji also learns that his wife letter for him at the post office before she died.

Dearest

2012

Homeland poster
5.7

Jiro Sawada is a sophomore in high school when a false accusation drives him out his hometown: a small village in Fukushima Prefecture. The entire village is abandoned after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, but Jiro returns there to live. Before long, members of his family come and join him.

Homeland

2014

Through Their Eyes poster
7.0

A compelling human drama about the growing social problems and public responsibilities regarding the welfare and ethical treatment of neglected dogs and cats at animal shelters. The story is told through the eyes of tormented vets who are relentless in their efforts to change the system to serve these animals with dignity.

Through Their Eyes

2016

Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story poster
6.0

Keisuke Kinoshita sits easily alongside Ozu, Kurosawa and Naruse as one of Japan’s most respected legends of cinema. Made to commemorate the centenary of Kinoshita’s birth, this biographical drama chronicles formative hardships and personal encounters to provide a rare glimpse into the life of one of Japan’s most acclaimed screen directors. Includes archival footage from 49 of the films he produced during his career at Shochiku.

Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story

2013

Haruko's Doll poster
NR

In the early days of the Showa era in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture a newborn baby is abandoned with a doll under the eaves of a merchant house along the pilgrimage route in Shikoku. It seems to be a pilgrim struggling to make a living. This baby girl is named Haruko and brought by Tomita Shizuko and Katsuji as the younger sister of their son Ryosuke who is three years apart. When the war begins, 16-year old Ryosuke qualifies for the naval academy and crosses the Seto Inland Sea. After some consideration, Shizuko tells Haruko the truth that they are not real siblings for the first time. Haruko who has had a secret crush on her brother ever since he said that he would protect her, is innocently overjoyed and heads to Hiroshima to convey this to him. The next day, an atomic bomb explodes in the sky…

Haruko's Doll

2018

Hana's Miso Soup poster
8.0

Yasutake Shingo works as a newspaper reporter but his life is stiffled and lifeless. That changes one day when he meets the irrepressible Matsunaga Chie by accident. Just as their relationship is blossoming however, Chie tells Shingo that she has breast cancer. Shingo determines to marry Chie right away, but she'll have to go through surgery and cancer treatments firs...

Hana's Miso Soup

2014

2000s · 10 titles

Tales from Earthsea poster
6.5

As crops dwindle and dragons reappear, mankind stands on the verge of total chaos. Lord Archmage Sparrowhawk, a powerful wizard, and Arren, a troubled young prince, search for the force behind this mysterious imbalance that threatens to destroy the land of Earthsea.

Tales from Earthsea

2006

The Whispered City poster
9.0

Director Jun Ichikawa spins this affectionate portrait of the people who populate Shimokitazawa, a bohemian corner of Tokyo filled with small theater companies and smoky coffeehouses.

The Whispered City

2000

The Milkwoman poster
6.9

Minako (TANAKA Yuko), begins her day running up and down the hills of her hometown delivering milk door to door. When that's done, she heads to her day job as a supermarket cashier. Minako is 50 and single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk is a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. The man, Keita (KISHIBE Ittoku), lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the children's affairs section of the local municipal office. Though he insists that he wants nothing more than an "ordinary" existence, his life is in turmoil below the surface. The director uses a variety of narrative devises to portray the loneliness, isolation, and hope of these people who have seemingly allowed their goals and dreams to slip away, whilst keeping them agonizingly close to hand.

The Milkwoman

2005

The Firefly poster
7.5

Shūji Yamaoka was a suicide pilot during the war who somehow survived Japan's surrender. After decades of working as a fisherman in Kumamoto, a provincial seaside city in southern Kyushu, Yamaoka remains reluctant to discuss his wartime experiences with anyone, much less an intrusive reporter looking for a feature story. Then a series of events shake Yamaoka to the core, forcing him to re-evaluate his past.

The Firefly

2001

The Buried Forest poster
6.6

Three high school girls living out in the country build stories out from their local environment, mountainous and bordered by an unkempt buried forest.

The Buried Forest

2005

The Buried Forest poster
6.6

Three high school girls living out in the country build stories out from their local environment, mountainous and bordered by an unkempt buried forest.

The Buried Forest

2005

Hibi poster
7.3

Hibi tells about mother who does pottery and lives rather simple life, growing her children up. She does remarkable job in pottery, finding a new way to make natural pottery in her own tunnel kiln. Then, her son gets leukemia. And entire family has to fight hard to find a donor who has matching bone marrow.

Hibi

2005

The Homeless Student poster
6.3

Based on an autobiography by Hiroshi Tamura, the film follows story of the author's experience of homelessness when this father suddenly decides to abandon his family. Hiroshi and his older siblings do all what they can to withstand the trouble they encounter along their way.

The Homeless Student

2008

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Bōshi

2008

The Bleep Brothers poster
9.0

Tatsuo and Ikuo have been raised by hard-working parents who run a funeral home. For relief, they practice games of manzai, a Japanese comic vaudeville. Tatsuo grows up to be a handsome chick magnet, while Ikuo is nerdy and unappealing. He spies on his brother to get material for their reality porn show. The show is bleeped heavily, and their bleep language becomes trendy and makes them stars.

The Bleep Brothers

2002

1990s · 6 titles

Princess Mononoke poster
8.3

Ashitaka, a prince of the disappearing Emishi people, is cursed by a demonized boar god and must journey to the west to find a cure. Along the way, he encounters San, a young human woman fighting to protect the forest, and Lady Eboshi, who is trying to destroy it. Ashitaka must find a way to bring balance to this conflict.

Princess Mononoke

1997

The Exam poster
8.0

Togashi, an enthusiastic marathon runner and his wife are occupied with their daughter Mayumi's grade school entrance examinations, but he becomes jobless when his company folds. To regain his confidence Togashi decides to join the marathon that is taking place on the very day of his daughter's examination and the all important interview.

The Exam

1999

The Rainbow Seeker poster
7.0

A young man fails his company entrance exams and leaves home to work at a run-down cinema in Tokushima, whose owner lives to bring entertaining films to the residents of his small town.

The Rainbow Seeker

1996

Osaka Story poster
6.0

Young Wakana is the daughter of a husband and wife comedy act, who have worked together for 20 years without any big success. Wakana’s parents quarrel constantly, and her mother often threatens to leave. When one day her father disappears, Wakana sets out to find him.

Osaka Story

1999

No artwork available
NR

An eerie statue of the Kannon shedding tears in an old Western-style house. Fifty years of the strange lives of the mothers and daughters who protect the statue of the Kannon.

Ghost Story: Flower House

1991

Wild Geese poster
NR

In the 39th year of Meiji, a Yucheng, who had lived in poverty since childhood, lived in a house near the ramp in order to become a concubine of usury

Wild Geese

1993

1980s · 12 titles

Amagi Pass poster
6.5

Japan in the 1940s. A high school boy went into a magic encounter with Ozuka Hana, a geisha (pub-girl) when he traveled through Amagi Pass. A mysterious murder took place afterwards, an Ozuka was held responsible. 40 years later, the boy, who became a printing shop owner, was visited by a retired policeman who came from Amagi Pass. The truth then started to reveal itself.

Amagi Pass

1983

Edo Porn poster
5.9

The world-famous woodblock artist Hokusai (1760-1849), a widower in need of a steady income, lives with his daughter Oei in the house of his friend Bakin.

Edo Porn

1981

Eijanaika poster
6.2

The film depicts carnivalesque atmosphere summed up by the cry "Ei ja nai ka" ("Why not?") in Japan in 1867 and 1868 in the days leading to the Meiji Restoration. It examines the effects of the political and social upheaval of the time, and culminates in a revelrous march on the Tokyo Imperial Palace, which turns into a massacre. Characteristically, Imamura focuses not on the leaders of the country, but on characters in the lower classes and on the fringes of society.

Eijanaika

1981

The Rape poster
4.5

Yahagi Michiko is accosted and raped walking home one evening. From there she maneuvers the logistics of the police, hospital, and criminal justice system while balancing her home life including romantic relationships.

The Rape

1982

Tora-san, the Expert poster
8.7

Tora-san gets into an argument with his uncle and sets out on the road again. In Kyushu he meets a young woman named Keiko and the shy zoologist Saburō, and attempts to play matchmaker between the two when they all return to Tokyo.

Tora-san, the Expert

1982

Wuthering Heights poster
6.8

Young orphan Onimaru is adopted by the wealthy Yamabe family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Kinu. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Kinu, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Mitsuhiko, a man of means who befits her stature. Onimaru vows to win her back.

Wuthering Heights

1988

Capone Cries a Lot poster
6.0

Umiemon is a naniwa-bushi singer who travels with his wife to the United States in hopes of achieving fame and fortune.

Capone Cries a Lot

1985

Demon poster
7.6

Shuji was once a feared member of the Yakuza crime syndicate, but he's reformed his ways, abandoned his old life and left the city for a small coastal fishing town where he's become an honest fisherman.

Demon

1985

Children on the Island poster
10.0

The story of a teacher who comes to a village on the Inland Sea and the relationship that develops between her and her 12 pupils.

Children on the Island

1987

Fifth Movement poster
7.0

When a broadcasting company takes away its financial support from a symphony orchestra, some of the members refuse to admit defeat. The first violinist returns to his home and manages to get the orchestra back together for a grandiose performance, saved at the last minute by their original conductor -- and boding well for the future of the die-hard musicians.

Fifth Movement

1981

Still Life - Kiriko and Marie's Criminal Cohabitation Life poster
NR

This 1989 drama is an adaptation of Natsuki Ikezawa's Akutagawa Prize-winning novel. It depicts the mysterious life of a young pianist who loses her future and mental balance after a broken heart, and a mysterious woman who appears before her. Marie (Kaho Minami) works part-time at a dyeing factory in downtown Tokyo. Three months ago, her left hand suddenly stopped working, despite her excellent grades at music college as an aspiring pianist. After her boyfriend, cellist Yuji (Arthur Kuroda), was taken away by a classmate, Marie takes a leave of absence from music college and begins receiving treatment. Around that time, Marie met Kiriko (Yuko Tanaka), who worked at the same factory. Marie felt a strange attraction to Kiriko, a mysterious woman she had only spoken to a few times. However, Kiriko suddenly quit the factory for some reason, and a few days later, she approached Marie with a peculiar request for advice…

Still Life - Kiriko and Marie's Criminal Cohabitation Life

1989

Shiawase no Kuni: Aoi Tori Patapata? poster
NR

Set in the big city of Kobe, Hanako (Yuko Tanaka) is a woman who is positive and strong in Japan's old evil society and always tries to live with new values. She questions the state of modern families and considers what freedom and happiness mean through the life of a "pseudo family" in which lonely people live together and seek bonds with others.

Shiawase no Kuni: Aoi Tori Patapata?

1985

Series credits

Oshin poster
8.2

Oshin is a Japanese serialized morning television drama, which aired on broadcaster NHK from April 4, 1983 to March 31, 1984. The series follows the life of Shin Tanokura during the Meiji period up to the early 1980s. Shin was called "Oshin", which is an archaic Japanese cognomen.

Oshin

1983

Mare poster
7.9

Mare is an elementary school student. She lives with her family in the city, but, right before her father goes bankrupt, they run away and settle down at a fishing village in Noto. The family rents a couple's home who run a salt pond. Mare's father starts a new business, but it also fails. Her mother supports the family by working at the salt pond. 8 years later, Mare, about to graduate from high school, decides to work for the Wajima local government. She wants to have a steady job, unlike her father. Her job is to support people who move to Noto.

Mare

2015

Wakaba poster
4.0

The story is about a young woman who becomes a landscape gardener following her father's wishes. Wakaba, born and brought up in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, lived happily with her parents and younger brother until the Great Hanshin Earthquake shook and destroyed the city in 1995. In the disaster, Wakaba loses her father, who was an architect and moves with her mother and brother to Obi, old castle town in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, where her grandmother lives with her uncle and aunt. Living in Obi's rich natural environment, Wakaba learns that plants can heal people's hearts. She makes a resolution to return to Kobe and reconstruct the city abundant in greenery.

Wakaba

2004

Mother poster
8.5

Yasuko Matsuyuki plays the part of Nao Suzuhara, an elementary school teacher. When she realizes that one of the female students is receiving abuse from her mother, Nao's maternal instincts kick in, and she impulsively decides to bring the girl into her own care. Serving as a substitute mother, Nao takes the child on a trip from Hokkaido to Tokyo, and the two experience various events together along the way.

Mother

2010

Sister Ma poster
NR

A serialized television series, aired in 1979, based on Hasegawa Machiko's "Sazae-san Uchiakebanashi" (Sazae-san Confessions), which depicts the true vibrant energy and strength of the common people, through their laughter and tears, from the pre-war to the post-war period in Japan.

Sister Ma

1979

Love with a Case poster
8.4

Detective Suzunosuke Shikahama is currently suspended from work after a screw up. He gets together with Haruhi Mabuchi from the Administration Bureau, Sesuna Tsumiki from the Community Safety Bureau, and Ruka Kotori from Accounting. All from different departments and carrying their own baggage, the four join forces. They’re not exactly what you would call champions of justice. They’re not even ambitious enough to go for success. All they want is the truth.

Love with a Case

2022

As If In Flight poster
6.0

Historical drama about the life of Saigō Takamori and his involvement with the Meiji Restoration.

As If In Flight

1990

Woman poster
7.5

After the accidental death of her husband and being deemed ineligible for welfare, Koharu struggles to care for her two children.

Woman

2013

The Firmament of the Pleiades poster
8.0

Two young men looking for a better life enter the royal palace in the midst of a tumultuous political era of the late Qing Dynasty. Chun Er, a poor peasant boy, and Liang Wen Xiu, who grew up in a wealthy household, find their fates are tied together in unexpected ways. The two young men and Chun Er’s younger sister, Ling Er, travel to the Forbidden City together to look for a better future. Based on the popular novel Sokyu no Subaru by Asada Jiro.

The Firmament of the Pleiades

2010

Precious Moments poster
NR

In a red-light district, Nemoto Norio (Shibata Kyohei) is indiscriminately soliciting passersby. "Would you mind taking part in a survey? As a thank you, I'll give you a camera. Take this voucher and come to my office at Shinjuku West Exit later." "No way," replies Yoshikawa Kumiko (Furukawa Yuko). "That would be a problem," replies Saeki Nobuko (Mori Masako). "A camera?" asks Iketani Kaori (Tanaka Yuko), suspicious. The survey is about overseas travel. The three of them gather in a room in Shinjuku. This is how they get to know each other, and they gradually become good friends. Their desire is to find a youth they can be truly proud of. The drama depicts the daily lives of three women of the marriageable age who are desperately trying to make some memories before they get married.

Precious Moments

1981

anone poster
7.7

A solitary young woman and a lonely widow make a tentative connection as a pile of fake money brings trouble to their lives and newcomers to their town.

anone

2018

Tennō no Ryōriban poster
8.0

A biographical series about Tokuzō Akiyama, who served as the imperial cook, from his youth until he became the chief cook of the Ministry of the Imperial Household.

Tennō no Ryōriban

1980

Tokyo Tower ~ Okan and me, sometimes, Oton (SP version) poster
10.0

Adapted from the bestselling Japanese autobiography of the same title, the gentle coming-of-age drama Tokyo Tower - Mom and Me and Sometimes Dad concerns an adolescent boy (Kamiki Ryunosuke), Boku - Masaya, torn between the inherited recklessness of his father Oton and the inherited responsibility, wisdom and emotional strength of his mother Okan. Following a period of intensely rebellious behavior, Boku learns that his mom has contracted cancer; suddenly, his mother comes to live with him in Tokyo the entire emotional landscape of his life is altered.

Tokyo Tower ~ Okan and me, sometimes, Oton (SP version)

2006

Korekara: Umibe no Tabibitotachi poster
NR

Through the lives of people aging in a seaside retirement home, the drama depicts the aging process that comes to everyone.

Korekara: Umibe no Tabibitotachi

1993

Ties: A Miraculous Colt poster
NR

Based on novel "Kizuna ~ Aru Jinba no Monogatari~” by Akihiro Shimada (published from June, 2012 to December, 2012 in horse racing portal site ‘netkeiba.com’).

Ties: A Miraculous Colt

2017

No artwork available
NR

The drama depicts the love-hate and conflict between two men and a woman who meet after a fall at a train station.

Terigaki

1996