
Acting
Masako Motai
Born
1952-10-17 (74)
Place of birth
Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
48 titles
Born in Shibuya, Tokyo. A Japanese actress joined in Shasha Co.. Started acting in around 1972, created an acting band called Gekidan Sanjyumaru with Eri Watanabe in 1979. At the time she was directing, yet she began to act later on. In 1984, she played a role of a teacher in a TV drama called "Takeshi's Gakumon no Susume". In 1985, she started appearing in many TV dramas and shows such as "OH! Takeshi" and "Haru no Hato" etc.
Known for
8.1Oomae Haruko is an A+ Temp worker who never cracks a smile or minces words, and leaves work on the dot. But her cynical nature indicates she has something painful to hide. Satonaka Kensuke has just been promoted to head S&F's new Marketing Division. Saddled with a rag-tag group of subordinates, he is struggling to lift his division off the ground. When Oomae is placed in Kensuke's department, she finds herself doing more work than she's ever done before. This is a timely drama that examines the different attitudes toward temp workers and regular employees, and the ways to overcome frictions in interpersonal relationships. This follows an October report on labor conditions by the Labor Ministry, which showed that, after regulations were relaxed, the proportion of regular employees to Temps had doubled compared to that of eight years ago.
The Pride of the Temp
2007
NRA young woman Chiaki whose family runs an old miso company in Nagano Prefecture, the only daughter of old traditional family. For generations, they were making soybean paste for living. Now she needs to take over this business and rebuild it. She lives through the hardships of postwar Japan.
Karin
1993
7.5Shinko (Ryoko Shinohara) is an accounting auditor who chases after tax evaders and embezzlers that hard working citizens needlessly pay for. Shinko has a knack for solving cases without common sense or standards.
The Golden Piggy
2010
8.0Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big hidden secret.
Quartet
2017
5.0The job of a medical jurisprudence involves a lot of complicated crimes such as murder and accidents. Hikaru (Fukatsu Eri) is a graduate of a medical university, also focused her discipline on neurology. One night during a student reunion, a dead body was found in the kitchen. Hikaru, who is a little regretting that she choose her focus in neurology was moved by another doctor's words, Dead bodies will not tell us what happened, that is why we have to piece together its last words.(Dramawiki)
Shining Brightly
1998
7.0Hatanaka Kosaku is a talented boxer who turned pro at the age of 19, winning his debut match with a first round KO. He is talented, but he has no guts. His uncontrollable appetite is an even bigger problem. He can't put himself in the right weight class, he runs out of energy because of hunger, and he gets knocked out while his eyes are set on food at the ringside. However, Kosaku's life changed when he met Sister Angela, a novice nun in the convent near his boxing gym. She became the source of his power, and Kosaku fights only to win her heart.
One-Pound Gospel
2008
Film credits
2010s · 10 titles
6.4Following the death of his wife professor Kyoichi leads a solitary life by the sea. A stray cat called Mii, who was being fed by his wife, not only continues to drop by, but also seems to be visiting the altar Kyoichi has set up for his deceased wife. While uncomfortable with the cat and its visits, he nonetheless takes up a search when Mii goes missing. The endeavour connects him with the town's folk and reveals that he is not alone.
Teacher and Stray Cat
2015
7.2As the Tokyo Olympics usher in a wave of rapid modernisation, the residents of Third Street face new beginnings as Mutsuko becomes involved with a seemingly perfect young doctor who may not be all he appears, while Chagawa struggles with his stalled writing career and what it truly means to be a father to the boy he has raised as his own.
Always: Sunset on Third Street '64
2012
6.4Yukio is your average high school student who spends his days going to class and avoiding bullies. That is until he meets Ryusuke, a guitar prodigy. Together with Taira, Chiba, and Saku they form the rock band BECK. As their popularity increases so does the danger as Ryusuke's past catches up with him.
BECK
2010
5.8Eikichi left his hometown in Hiroshima for Tokyo. He tried to find success with his music band, but failed. Several years later, Eikichi goes home to tell his father, Osamu, that his girlfriend is pregnant. His father curses him out, but he is also excited to have a grandchild. Osamu has a party to celebrate the news, but, at the party, he collapses and goes to the hospital. Eikichi struggles to make his father happy.
The Mohican Comes Home
2016
7.0Hana, Toki and Toki’s daughter Toshi begin to live in the countryside. Hana’s nephew Akira, who just graduated from middle school, also lives with them. Doing farm work everyday, Hana and Toki get used to life in the countryside with help from couple Gen and Shiori. One day, Toshi and Akira decide to raise a cat to catch rats. A cat named Tom then begins to live with them.
Mountain Days with Tom
2015
6.3Set with three central figures, "Mother Water" describes the daily lives of people near the Kamo River in Kyoto, Japan.
Mother Water
2010
6.15th-grader Atsuko Kagami, nicknamed Akko, comes into possession of a magical mirror that lets her transform into anything she wishes. Wanting to grow up beautiful, she gets a job at a cosmetics company, and finds true love. What will Akko do to keep the company afloat and her secrets hidden? Only her technical magical compact can help!
Akko's Secret
2012
5.6A 30-something Gundam fan and engineer is forced to live with his recluse brother Maury and younger sister Lisa to take care of their Japanese grandmother after their mother's funeral.
Toilet
2010
6.1In Tokyo, actress Touko leaves the filming set of her latest project and comes across three people by random chance: she gives a ride to a man named Nagano, whom she has never met before; at a small theater, runs into Kikuchi, a former screenwriter; lastly, meets Yasuko at the zoo.
Tokyo Oasis
2011
7.0Hazuki and Aoi are classmates but their relationship outside class is fraught, and outside school non-existent. But when both girls are drawn to helping an elderly woman, they're forced to interact, confronting their differences and similarities as well as their deepest secrets.
Hello, Goodbye
2017
2000s · 11 titles
7.4A young man is falsely accused of molesting a high-school girl on a train. He is arrested and charged, and goes through endless court sessions, all the while insisting that he is innocent.
I Just Didn't Do It
2007
7.7In 1958 postwar Tokyo, the residents of a humble Third Street neighbourhood struggle, dream, and grow together as rapid modernisation transforms their lives beneath the shadow of the newly rising Tokyo Tower.
Always - Sunset on Third Street
2005
7.4On a quiet street in Helsinki, Sachie has opened a diner featuring rice balls. For a month she has no customers. Then, in short order, she has her first customer, meets Midori, a gangly Japanese tourist, and invites her to stay with her.
Kamome Diner
2006
7.1A year has passed in postwar Tokyo, and struggling writer Chagawa enters the Akutagawa Prize competition in hopes of securing a better future for the boy in his care, while the Suzuki family unexpectedly take in a new relative who looks down on their humble way of life.
Always: Sunset on Third Street 2
2007
7.2When radicals from Japan's Red Army took a woman hostage in the resort town of Karuizawa, Nagano in 1972, Officer Atsuyuki Sassa was put in charge of diffusing the situation. But the task had its challenges. Upon arriving in mountainous Nagano, Sassa had to compete with freezing winter temperatures, conflicting opinions between the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and the Nagano Prefectural Police, as well as public opinion to gain entrance to the lodge that held the single woman captive.
The Choice of Hercules
2002
7.1An overworked career woman leaves her life in the city for an island vacation only to encounter eccentric local inhabitants.
Glasses
2007
7.9In a small town on the countryside, every young boy is forced to have the same bowl-head haircut known as the "Yoshino-gari" hairstyle. Then one day, a drastic change occurs when a transfer student with bleached hair comes from Tokyo.
Yoshino's Barber Shop
2004
5.9A story of 6 days with 5 people gathered around a small sparkling pool at Chiang Mai in Thailand. 4 years ago, Kyoko started to live in Thailand and has been working in a Guest house outside in Chiang Mai, leaving her mother and her daughter Sayo, in Japan. Just before the graduation of University, Sayo sets foot on Thailand to visit her mother with mixed feelings. However, emotional experiences with the people living there changes such feelings toward her mother.
Pool
2009
7.5A haiku club comprised of five unlikely students aim to win the national high school haiku tournament.
Love Is Five Seven Five
2005
7.5The highly disciplined human resources manager Taro Onizuka starts to heal and change as he raises the kitten he found in a park.
Nekonade
2008
4.5Ichiro Hanada is a mischievous boy who gains the ability to see and talk to ghosts after a near-death experience. (live-action adaptation of the manga )
Hanada Shonenshi the Movie: Spirits and the Secret Tunnel
2006
1990s · 9 titles
6.6When his mother's untimely death quickly follows his father's, a doctor begins to believe a killer may be targeting him and his amnesiac wife.
Gemini
1999
6.2When a major bank is caught paying off a corporate extortionist, the media and prosecutors begin to dig, breaking open a money-and-favours scandal that threatens to rock the entire structure of business and government to its core. While the bank's top executives continue to vacillate, a quartet of middle-management reformers, led by straight-arrow Kitano (Koji Yakusho), decide to stage a boardroom coup and install a new, clean management team. With the aid of a hotshot news anchor (Mayumi Wakamura) and a hard-nosed prosecutor (Kenichi Endo), heads begin to roll.
Jubaku: Spellbound
1999
7.0While on a cigarette break in between sets, Koji, a jazz musician, witnesses a murder and runs into a girl, Linda, who is being pursued by the killers. Mistakenly identified as prime suspects, they have to solve the crime but time is running out: Koji has to be back to perform in his club by midnight, as a very special guest will be attending.
Round About Midnight
1999
6.9A young man named Kazuo Takayama runs across a religious group whose founder cures an old woman in a wheelchair, restoring her power to walk by a simple touch. Kazuo grows more interested in this new religion and tries to get more followers.
Many Happy Returns
1993
5.5Following the lives of three college rugby players drafted to serve in the military during WWII. Though they believe their service will help to benefit their loved ones back home, they are unprepared for the hardships of war. Through their shared trials and sacrifices, they grow closer as friends, and hope to return together to better days. This movie was released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Last Friends
1995
8.0Togashi, 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
6.0A comedy about a young woman who has terminal cancer.
Yamai wa kikara: Byôin e ikô 2
1992
NR1990 Original Video
After All, I Love Cats the Three Onda Sisters’ Great Kyoto Troubles
1990
NRComedy feature.
Sharan-Q no enka no hanamichi
1997
1980s · 6 titles
7.3Based on the "2.26 Incident", an attempted coup d'état in Japan 1936, launched by radical ultra-nationalist parts of the military. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly held by the insurgents before the coup was suppressed.
Four Days of Snow and Blood
1989
7.0Shunzo is a popular greengrocer in a town near Tokyo. His life, and the lives of his wife Michi, and their two children, undergoes a dramatic change when he encounters Li, a poor college student from China.
Beijing Watermelon
1989
TV film directed by Toshiharu Ikeda and written by Takashi Ishii. Produced in 1986 but not aired until 1988.
Cheek to Cheek at Night ~ A Woman Embracing the Past
1988
NRSecond part of the Fujiko Fujio omnibus TV drama special production.
Yume Camera 2
1987
3.0No synopsis available yet.
À la carte Company
1987
NRFuji Television film based on the manga of the same name by Hiroshi Aro.
Space Girl Morumo 1/10
1987
Series credits
8.1Oomae Haruko is an A+ Temp worker who never cracks a smile or minces words, and leaves work on the dot. But her cynical nature indicates she has something painful to hide. Satonaka Kensuke has just been promoted to head S&F's new Marketing Division. Saddled with a rag-tag group of subordinates, he is struggling to lift his division off the ground. When Oomae is placed in Kensuke's department, she finds herself doing more work than she's ever done before. This is a timely drama that examines the different attitudes toward temp workers and regular employees, and the ways to overcome frictions in interpersonal relationships. This follows an October report on labor conditions by the Labor Ministry, which showed that, after regulations were relaxed, the proportion of regular employees to Temps had doubled compared to that of eight years ago.
The Pride of the Temp
2007
NRA young woman Chiaki whose family runs an old miso company in Nagano Prefecture, the only daughter of old traditional family. For generations, they were making soybean paste for living. Now she needs to take over this business and rebuild it. She lives through the hardships of postwar Japan.
Karin
1993
7.5Shinko (Ryoko Shinohara) is an accounting auditor who chases after tax evaders and embezzlers that hard working citizens needlessly pay for. Shinko has a knack for solving cases without common sense or standards.
The Golden Piggy
2010
8.0Maki Maki, Sebuki Suzume, Beppu Tsukasa and Iemori Yutaka happen to meet and form a quartet. They even begin to live together in Karuizawa during the winter, but there is a big hidden secret.
Quartet
2017
5.0The job of a medical jurisprudence involves a lot of complicated crimes such as murder and accidents. Hikaru (Fukatsu Eri) is a graduate of a medical university, also focused her discipline on neurology. One night during a student reunion, a dead body was found in the kitchen. Hikaru, who is a little regretting that she choose her focus in neurology was moved by another doctor's words, Dead bodies will not tell us what happened, that is why we have to piece together its last words.(Dramawiki)
Shining Brightly
1998
7.0Hatanaka Kosaku is a talented boxer who turned pro at the age of 19, winning his debut match with a first round KO. He is talented, but he has no guts. His uncontrollable appetite is an even bigger problem. He can't put himself in the right weight class, he runs out of energy because of hunger, and he gets knocked out while his eyes are set on food at the ringside. However, Kosaku's life changed when he met Sister Angela, a novice nun in the convent near his boxing gym. She became the source of his power, and Kosaku fights only to win her heart.
One-Pound Gospel
2008
5.0Tenko runs a pension alone. The pension is located in a forest in Nagano, that is full of the Japanese larch tree. She interacts with her guests, who come from all walks of life.
Pension Metsä
2021
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Sakura Momoko Land: Taniguchi Rokuzo Shoten
1993
6.4Akiko lives with her mother, but suddenly her mother passes away. Since then she quits her editing job and takes over her mother's small restaurant. At the restaurant there's only two items on the menu: sandwich and soup.
Bread and Soup and Cat Weather
2013
8.0Yoshiko Aoi is a budding researcher in ethology, the study of animal behavior. "Men=male" are born unfaithful. But through her studies, Yoshiko learns it's not the males' fault. Rather, it's the fault of their genes, who work to replicate themselves by controlling the males' body. This is the sad, but commonly accepted theory of biology. What's even sadder is that Yoshiko's nickname is "Gene," because her name written in Chinese characters can also be read as "Jinko/Geneko." The love story follows Yoshiko's struggles with research and romance. -- Fuji TV
Fukigen na Gene
2005
6.3No synopsis available yet.
Beginner
2003
NRNo synopsis available yet.
NonNonBa
1991
