Fujiko Yamamoto

Acting

Fujiko Yamamoto

Born 1931-12-11 · Itachibori, Nishi, Osaka, Osaka, Japan

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.

Acting credits

Nocturne of a Woman poster
7.0

A woman has to give up her dream of becoming an actress when her family goes into debt, but she catches the eye of a businessman while working at a nightclub. He sets her up with her own nightclub, but with expectations attached.

Nocturne of a Woman

1961

The Loyal 47 Ronin poster
6.3

Japan, 1701. A group of samurai become rônin after their lord is forced to commit seppuku for assaulting a court official, who will become the target of a merciless revenge.

The Loyal 47 Ronin

1958

An Actor's Revenge poster
6.6

In Edo Japan, a kabuki actor seeks revenge against the three men who drove his parents to their deaths years ago.

An Actor's Revenge

1963

Hana no sando gasa poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hana no sando gasa

1954

Picnic poster
6.8

Believing that the world will end that very day, three mental patients Coco, Tsumuji, and Satoru set out upon a journey. Walking upon the tops of the walls of the city, they seek to find a picnic spot with the best vantage point to view the final event.

Picnic

1996

Asakusa monogatari poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Asakusa monogatari

1953

Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Kiniro no ōkami poster
NR

A series of murders surrounds the 70,000 ryō in buried treasure hidden by the Kanayama Magistrate.

Zenigata heiji torimono hikae: Kiniro no ōkami

1953

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Coming Up of Kodokan

1953

Hana no kenkajō poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hana no kenkajō

1953

Equinox Flower poster
7.4

Wataru's outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares her love for a coworker and is adamant to live her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.

Equinox Flower

1958

Hunting Rifle poster
8.0

Story of a woman, Saiko, who divorces her doctor husband when she is given a baby by a stranger who claims it is the husband's child. Saiko embarks on an affair with her cousin's husband, but a crisis threatens when she discovers that her ex-husband is about to remarry.

Hunting Rifle

1961

A Woman's Testament poster
6.4

The first story concerns an attractive young woman who works in a Tokyo nightclub. Her plan for a solid financial future has a double whammy. In the second story, a beautiful young woman is employed by an unscrupulous real estate agent to convince male clients to invest in worthless property. The last story is about a widowed geisha who has no real financial worries and who falls in love with a forger.

A Woman's Testament

1960

Blind Devotion poster
9.0

Late romance by acclaimed filmmaker Kinugasa Teinosuke.

Blind Devotion

1961

Shunsetsu no mon poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Shunsetsu no mon

1953

Ten Dark Women poster
5.8

Kaze is a philandering TV producer. His wife and nine of his mistresses conspire to kill him. However each woman would rather keep him alive, as long as she was the only woman in his life.

Ten Dark Women

1961

Being Two Isn't Easy poster
6.9

The days leading up to a toddler's second birthday are seen alternately from the child's point of view as well as that of his parents.

Being Two Isn't Easy

1962

A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love poster
10.0

A Girl isn't Allowed to Love is a 1955 Japanese film directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa.

A Girl Isn't Allowed to Love

1955

The Demon of Mount Oe poster
6.5

A band of warriors journeys to Mount Oe to rescue abducted women from a demon, overcoming supernatural threats like a giant spider and a diabolical witch along the way.

The Demon of Mount Oe

1960

Zoku Tange Sazen poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Zoku Tange Sazen

1953

Okoto and Sasuke poster
8.0

One of Kinugasa's last films--based on the story by Tanizaki Jun'ichirō.

Okoto and Sasuke

1961

京化粧 poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

京化粧

1961

Undercurrent poster
6.2

In Kyoto a young kimono maker with traditional ideas gets involved with a married professor.

Undercurrent

1956

Buddha poster
10.0

An Indian prince leaves his world of comfort and riches behind to wander and meditate for six years in search of spiritual enlightenment. Siddartha (Cojoin Hong) turns his back on the old religion when people are starving needlessly and holy rituals include human sacrifices. During his meditations, he is tempted by erotic dancing women, demons, and the evil machinations of his criminal cousin. Devastate to attain the spiritual perfection and become the Buddha. He travels to convert followers by his kindness and wisdom, gaining a multitude of believers when he stops an elephant from crushing a local priest. Buddha of course goes on to become one of the great religious leaders of the world.

Buddha

1961

Secret of Naruto poster
7.0

From the pen of Yoshikawa Eiji comes this exciting story. The Naruto Strait separates Tokushima from the islands of Awaji and Honshu. On Tokushima the mad lord dreams of conquest and forges a bloody revolt against the Tokugawa shogunate. A mysterious swordsman named Noriyuki Gennojo has crossed Naruto’s waters to uncover the Awa clan’s secrets. He puts his life on the line after finding a testament of Awa’s secrets, written in blood by a dying man. Joining Noriyuki are a female ninja who loves him, and the beautiful daughter of an enemy who’s sworn to kill him. Awa’s defenders willl stop at nothing to prevent the blood-soaked letter from reaching the shogun.

Secret of Naruto

1957