
Acting
Tomoko Naraoka
Born — Died
1929-12-01 — 2023-03-23
Place of birth
Komagome, Hongo Ward, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Known for
Acting
Credits
67 titles
Tomoko Naraoka (奈良岡 朋子 Naraoka Tomoko, born December 1, 1929) is a Japanese actress and narrator. The daughter of a painter, she was born in Komagome, Hongō (present-day Bunkyo), in the city of Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design. Naraoka debuted as a cinema actress in the 1949 film Chijin no Ai, based on the novel Naomi. In 1981 she appeared in Rengō Kantai (lit. "Combined Fleet", United States title: The Imperial Navy). She also appeared in Torajirō Sarada Kinenbi (a 1988 movie in the long-running Otoko wa Tsurai yo series) as well as eight films in the Tsuribaka Nisshi series. Naraoka has appeared in several NHK Taiga dramas. Her first was the 1969 Ten t…
Known for
7.8When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.
Ponyo
2008
8.3Princess Go was the youngest of the most famous three sisters in Japanese history, who each led a remarkable life in an age of turmoil and civil war. Go loses her parents in the war, marries three times, and feuds with her own sister in competing for power. Go's husband becomes the second Tokugawa Shogun and she ensures her prominence as she gives birth to a son who later becomes the third Shogun and a daughter, a wife of the Emperor. The drama describes the age of the civil war through the eyes of Princess Go, who plays a significant part in establishing the age of peace that lasts over 200 years in Japan.
Princess Go
2011
NRThe story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.
Haru no Sakamichi
1971
7.0The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.
Life of a Flower
1963
NRNo synopsis available yet.
ありがとう
1970
8.3Set in the 1950's, a Japanese Antarctic research exploration team and 19 dogs that accompanied the team are stationed at the Showa Base in Antarctica. After a year, the exploration team is ordered to withdraw from the Antarctic station due to severe weather conditions. The dogs have to be left behind. The following year, the next team arrives at the Showa Base station and a miraculous reunion occurs between a dog handler accompanying the new tean and two dogs, Taro and Shiro, that are brothers.
Antarctica
2011
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
7.2An essayist, he finds peace in his mountain life. His routine is pleasantly disturbed by occasional visits from Machiko, his editor and love interest, as he struggles to let go of his late wife's ashes.
The Zen Diary
2022
NRA "Goze" is a blind entertainer who travels to various places singing stories while playing the shamisen (Japanese three-stringed lute). Becoming a goze due to her blindness at seven-years-old, Haru was strictly trained with a parent's affection by her once kind mother, Tome.
THE LAST GOZE
2020
2010s · 7 titles
6.4Set within the fictional city of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada runs a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. His assistant is his former high school classmate Haruhiko Gyoten. A big crisis then occurs for them.
Disconcerto
2014
6.7In 16th century Japan, a young man has to choose between becoming a master steel maker like his father and grandfather before him, or becoming a samurai so that he can help protect his village from attacks by the various clans which want the high-quality steel made there.
Tatara Samurai
2017
7.0A heartwarming tale about the turning point in the life of an elite business man in his fifties and a local train that has been running since 1911. Hajime is in line to be the next head of a prominent electronics company. He toils day and night over his work and has no time for his family. But one day, his mother in Shimane falls ill, and his best friend dies in an accident. Grief-stricken, Hajime returns home, where memories of his childhood dream come back to him. He had always wanted to be a train conductor and drive the local "bataden" Ichibata Electric Railway.
Railways
2010
NRSet along the river basin of Shimane Prefeture's Takatsu River, a government-protected river, this drama portrays various people living in an area burdened by decreasing population as they carry on the tradition of "Kagura" Shinto music and dance which is said to be the roots of Kabuki. Directing from his own screenplay is Nishikori Yoshinari of Railways. Saito Manabu (Komoto Masahiro) operates a ranch on a mountain and worries his son Tatsuya (Ishikawa Raizo) has been making a habit of skipping Kagura practice. Then Manabu learns his alma mater elementary school will be closed down.
The Takatsu River
2019
6.5No synopsis available yet.
300 Million Yen Robbery
2014
7.0No synopsis available yet.
Izakaya Moheji 6
2017
6.0A small, out-of-the-way izakaya in Tokyo has become the favorite hangout of people searching for nourishment…for their bodies and their souls. The proprietor of Izakaya Moheji is Heiji, played by Yutaka Mizutani, star of the popular AIBOU series. Izakaya Moheji is a place where regulars and strangers alike can find comfort and comfort food.
Izakaya Moheji
2011
2000s · 8 titles
7.8When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.
Ponyo
2008
7.5Shūji 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
8.3Hama-chan takes a vacation to go fishing in Akita despite warnings from Su-san as his company faces a restructuring process.
Free and Easy 15
2004
7.5Hama-chan goes to Okayama to look for Su-san when he goes missing a few days after freezing up during his inaugural speech as the company chairman.
Free and Easy 18
2007
7.7Half a Confession introduces itself as a thriller and abruptly changes gears, transforming into a tale of morality with deeper insights into its characters than we had anticipated. It begins when Soichiro Kaji (Terao), a retired detective, walks into police headquarters and confesses to the murder of his wife. We learn that the victim had prematurely developed Alzheimer's after the tragic death of their son, and in her suffering, had asked to die. The police chiefs would be far more content to take him at his word if it were not for a conspicuous hole in his story: 48-hour gap between the alleged murder and his confession. Fearing a public relations nightmare, they are eager to bury the incident and keep the press in the dark.
Half a Confession
2004
5.8Yumiko returns to work in Hama-chan's department. She had once left the company after getting married, but a dark shadow now seems to loom over her.
Free and Easy 17
2006
7.2Mr. Takano, a company employee, announces plans to take an early retirement so he can return to his home town and spend his days fishing. Su-san and Hama-chan envy his decision, and Hama-chan conspires to visit Takano, even though he has no vacation time left.
Free and Easy 12: Big Holiday Bonus Project
2001
8.0Hama-chan meets a friendly US soldier on a trip to Nagasaki with Su-san. Su-san returns to Tokyo and is informed that Hama-chan has gone missing.
Free and Easy 16
2005
1990s · 7 titles
7.0A railway stationmaster at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the railroad line is scheduled to be closed, he is offered a job at a hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with his career as a railroader. His life takes a turn when he meets a young woman with an interest in trains who resembles his daughter.
Railroad Man
1999
6.8An auto repairman's daughter questions him about what happened to her aunt during the war, but the father remains reticent. Finally the man opens up, and the girl is able to piece together her aunt's tragic story.
War and Youth
1991
9.0Set in Osaka just after the end of the war, the story depicts an unconventional merchant who returns from evacuation. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Teru Miyamoto, and the screenplay was written by Eizo Sugawa, who also wrote "Horagawa". The director is Takeichi Saito, who also directed "Kawachi no Osan no Uta: Yokita no Ware". Kozo Okazaki, who worked on "I am a Cat," is in charge of the cinematography.
Sea of Wandering
1990
7.8Tetsuo is a young man living in Tokyo, who falls in love with a deaf-mute factory girl. He has always felt jealous of his college-educated brother, but ultimately wins both the girl and his father's acceptance and support in a touching and refreshing way.
My Sons
1991
6.3The patriarch of a bickering family announces his retirement, stirring competition about who will succeed him as a leading practitioner of Noh theater, his granddaughter or grandson.
Noh Mask Murders
1991
7.0Su-san resigns after getting fed up with corporate life, but he finds himself back in familiar surroundings on his first assignment at a new job.
Free and Easy 10
1998
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Ningen no sabaku
1990
1980s · 8 titles
NRA tragic love story between a prostitute and a young trainee monk.
May Love Be Restored
1980
6.6A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship during the Second World War.
The Imperial Navy
1981
NRTV adaptation of the novel "Twenty-Four Eyes", combining animation with a few live-action scenes.
Twenty-Four Eyes
1980
8.3In his travels through Japan, Tora-san meets and falls in love with a female doctor, however he is afraid of committing to a relationship.
Tora-san's Salad-Day Memorial
1988
9.0During the winter in Toyama in 1962, Tatsuo Mizushima is fretting about his feelings for his classmate Eiko Tsujisawa while agonizing about his upcoming high school examinations. When he was little, he and Eiko had heard that in April of a year when the winter has been very harsh, any couple finding fireflies together needs to get married. However, his family's situation does not allow Tatsuo to continue his worrying about such things for very much longer.
River of Fireflies
1987
7.2Rokuheita Narumi is fascinated by oriental art and works as the director of the Saho Art Museum in Nara. His wife, Noriko, is unable to leave Tokyo, despite his wishes, and the two live separately. Feeling lonely and neglected by her husband, she immerses herself in the depraved life of the city and continues to have a loveless relationship with a doctor, Katsumori. One day, Narumi arrives in Tokyo and learns of Noriko's affair, but he cannot divorce her for the sake of their child, so he devotes himself to his work.
Spring Bell
1985
7.6Shuji 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
NRNo synopsis available yet.
マルゴォの杯
1988
1970s · 7 titles
7.1On a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a homeless father and son designing a dream house, a young woman brutalized at home, drunks, schemers, and saints of small kindnesses. Kurosawa crafts a ragged mosaic of hardship, fantasy, and flickers of grace that keep people moving forward.
Dodes'ka-den
1970
7.2Expelled from her group for losing her virginity, blind travelling musician Orin endures a life of hardship, abuse, and poverty while wandering the countryside, finding brief companionship with an army deserter, and struggling against a society that marginalises her.
Ballad of Orin
1977
6.3Japanese youngsters enduring hard training in Recruit Camp and then going to Iwo Jima in the last days of World War II.
Special Boy Soldiers of the Navy
1972
6.2A film set in Nagasaki examining prejudice against atom bomb victims.
Apart from Life
1970
NRIn a small town on the Kasumigaura coast in the early Showa period, the Masukawa clan from Tokyo is trying to take away the interests of the local Isetoku family. Setsuko, the adopted daughter of the Isetoku family, falls in love with Seijiro, a travelling raven she meets on a whim. However, Koide, a businessman connected to the Masukawa clan, wants Setsuko to become his mistress... Setsuko puts aside her love and her regrets and bets on the greatest female challenge of her life!
Gambling Den Desire
1970
NRA dramatic film that recorded the history of Japan in the period of high economic growth. This work deals with Kashima Rinkai industrial zone development. The men who dream of making the overlooking wasteland as a big industrial area draw the courage to realize the ideal purely with the fishy desire swirling back to the coastal industrial area of Kashima Nada in Ibaraki prefecture.
The Earth is Born Again
1971
8.0Kyoko met Tetsu during her trip to San Francisco. Soon they fell in love but getting married was not in his mind. They were to meet again back in Tokyo but Tetsu didn't turn up. She went to look for him in San Francisco but all she found was him with his new girlfriend. Kyoko went back to Tokyo and eventually married a big corporate CEO.
Take Me Away!
1978
1960s · 13 titles
7.1In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko, both involved with yakuza, brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together.
Pigs and Battleships
1961
6.7Everything goes wrong when Jiro tries to break up his mother's relationship with a business man. The young rebel Jiro has to deal with an environment of crime and prostitution, and the impact of its choices on personal relationships: one with his mother, one with her business man lover and one with the girl in love with him.
Everything Goes Wrong
1960
8.0Unlike traditional gangster movies, it is a gangster swashbuckler that mixes romance and humanity with a yakuza lover as the main character. A young man who heard that his former boss was killed is imprisoned by slashing his family's minions, and his lover is tortured by the enemy, but rescued by the imprisoned young man's nemesis.
Ruthless Gambler
1969
8.2During WWII, Zensaku, middle-aged and deaf in one ear, learns that his son has fallen for the daughter of a war officer responsible for the maiming.
Hymn to a Tired Man
1968
7.2After her mother runs away from home, Tomoko is raised to be a geisha. One day Tomoko meets her mother in a red-light district in Tokyo and her life deeply gets in trouble.
The Scent of Incense
1964
6.8The tragic tale of Kiyono, a young woman from the mountain who fell in love with Takuji, a fisherman's son, and her devotion to him during a time of war.
The Flame of Devotion
1964
NRIt is 1922 and Fumiko is a high school student. Her family is poor but she loves to study literature. Her father, a peddler, does not return home and Fumiko finds herself in financial trouble, not being able to pay for her schooling and her school excursion trip. Still, she gets a temporary job at a factory and tries to make ends meet. A film about bright side of youth adapted from the television serial of the same name.
Eddy Currents of Life
1964
NRThe love story between a traveling guest and a geisha who inadvertently becomes the leader of her father's yakuza clan, after his death.
Gambler's Dilemma
1969
NRTetsuo, the captain of the rugby team, who was preparing for the university entrance exams, starts working to earn money for his mother's surgery after she was involved in a hit-and-run accident, giving up on furthering his education. During this time, a relative's college student named Ikuko visits him and introduces him to her grandfather, Tatsunosuke. Tatsunosuke, a wealthy man, asks Tetsuo to take over his business, but...
Let's find your sweetheart
1967
6.5Murder case and trial.
The Witness' Chair
1965
NRYajima Sadako is a bright pawnbroker's daughter in the third year of high school. At school, there is a young and handsome teacher Takei who has just started, and a chemistry teacher Murao who she respects, and is enjoying every day.
Beautiful Calendar
1963
NRA suspense drama directed by Mitsuo Wakasugi. Students, gangsters and other young people who couldn't make money were gathering and negotiating at a coffee shop about this. They were told that if you kidnap a child from a rich family, search for him/her, their family would give you about 50,000 yen if you could send the child back.A woman named Motoko disappeared in the midst of evil, but no one noticed it. Shortly after, Kaneda and Chii appeared in a quiet residential area and took a girl about five years old from the Ohara family....
Mahiru no yūkai
1961
Japanese "kayo" film centered around the song "Namida ni naritai" by Teruhiko Saigo.
Cry for Sorrow
1966
1950s · 7 titles
5.9Following a yearlong attendance upon his shogun in Edo, samurai Hikokuro makes a long-awaited return to his home and doting wife, Dane. Initially greeted by the effusive welcome of his family, spiteful whispers also reach his ear about an adulterous affair carried on, in his long absence, between his wife and a famous drummer. With Hikokuro’s honor imperiled by rumor, his family insists on a formal investigation into the veracity of the gossip. Through the combined testimony of many witnesses, a tale unwinds around the visits of a traveling musician hired to tutor the family heir, the spurned attentions of the man who started the rumor, and the ultimate truth behind the accusations. The conclusion of events prove as much an indictment of bushidō as it is of the reluctant parties involved. Adapted from a 1706 play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon and based on a true case.
Night Drum
1958
7.0In the dying months of the Meiji era, a sympathetic student befriends a married couple, but soon realizes they share a curiously strained relationship stemming from an unknown incident in their past.
The Heart
1955
7.1Shows the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, and by use of a fictional storyline, portrays the struggle of the ordinary Japanese people in dealing with the aftermath.
Children of Hiroshima
1952
6.9A group of five rookie insurance salespersons, driven to desperation by the impossibility of their work in Japan's failing postwar economy, form a plan to rob a cash delivery truck in order to provide for their families.
The Wolves
1955
7.8Ginko, a poor cobbler's daughter, becomes a geisha to support her family. She passes from one geisha house to the next, trying to find love and hope in the process. No matter how hard she tries, she just can't escape her sad fate.
Miniature
1953
The story of a novelist whose wife is confined in a mental hospital. His love for her drives him to write about her, though he runs into trouble when her parents accuse him of cashing in on her misfortune.
How Sorrowful
1956
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Osaka no kaze
1958
Series credits
8.3Princess Go was the youngest of the most famous three sisters in Japanese history, who each led a remarkable life in an age of turmoil and civil war. Go loses her parents in the war, marries three times, and feuds with her own sister in competing for power. Go's husband becomes the second Tokugawa Shogun and she ensures her prominence as she gives birth to a son who later becomes the third Shogun and a daughter, a wife of the Emperor. The drama describes the age of the civil war through the eyes of Princess Go, who plays a significant part in establishing the age of peace that lasts over 200 years in Japan.
Princess Go
2011
NRThe story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.
Haru no Sakamichi
1971
7.0The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.
Life of a Flower
1963
NRNo synopsis available yet.
ありがとう
1970
8.3Set in the 1950's, a Japanese Antarctic research exploration team and 19 dogs that accompanied the team are stationed at the Showa Base in Antarctica. After a year, the exploration team is ordered to withdraw from the Antarctic station due to severe weather conditions. The dogs have to be left behind. The following year, the next team arrives at the Showa Base station and a miraculous reunion occurs between a dog handler accompanying the new tean and two dogs, Taro and Shiro, that are brothers.
Antarctica
2011
NREleven-year-old Julie Braun lives in the lush green mountain pastures of Austria's Southern Tyrol. Her parents are killed by Italian soldiers, and she is sent to Vienna to live with her relatives, the Clementes. She befriends cousins Johan and Tanya but has trouble adjusting to life with Uncle Karl and Aunt Klara. As Austria is plunged into World War I, Karl is fired from his job at a glass factory, and Julie's new family is forced into a life of hardship.
Julie the Wild Rose
1979
NRA unique drama that contrasts the lives of a family of elite salarymen in Tokyo and a family of landowners in Tokorozawa, Saitama, while exploring the timeless themes of drama such as human happiness, love and marriage in their everyday lives, told in a straightforward narrative style.
The Autumn in Tokyo
1985

