Ayako Wakao

Acting

Ayako Wakao

Born

1933-11-08 (92)

Place of birth

Tokyo, Japan

Known for

Acting

Credits

71 titles

Ayako Wakao (若尾文子, born November 8, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese actress who was one of the country's biggest stars of the 20th century. Wakao began her career contracted to Daiei Studios in 1951 as part of the fifth "New Face" group. She has gone on to appear in over 100 feature films, plus numerous television movies and series. She was a favorite actress of director Yasuzo Masumura, starring in 20 of his films. In addition to her many collaborations with Masumura, she was a favorite of Kon Ichikawa, having starred or co-starred in seven of the director's works. She appeared in Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha and Street of Shame. She also appeared in Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds. Descr…

Known for

SMAP×SMAP poster
8.5

SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games.  These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking.  Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.

SMAP×SMAP

1996

Ohisama poster
9.0

Ohisama is a Japanese television drama that aired on NHK in 2011 in the Asadora time slot. Set in Nagano prefecture, "Ohisama" covers the life of Yoko Sudo (Mao Inoue) through World War II. Yoko Sudo with her smile is able to bring brightness to those around her & she follows her mother's motif to laugh through the hard times. During the onset of WW II, Yoko is a high school student and "Ohisama" follows her as she eventually becomes a teacher and then gets married and has a child. Yoko then opens a soba restaurant with her student. --asianwiki

Ohisama

2011

Takeda Shingen poster
7.5

There was a very turbulent time in the warring period in the history, and Takeda Shingen is consider one of the great warlord among many other.

Takeda Shingen

1988

Shin Heike Monogatari poster
7.3

Set at the end of the 12th century when several wars for control of Japan disrupted a long era of peace, this tale of "Heike" (another name for the Taira clan) focuses on Taira Kiyomori who fights alongside other members of his clan to at first successfully overcome the Minamoto clan and their bid for power. Battles and intrigue abound, as the puppet Emperor and Buddhist monks take sides in the power struggle. At issue is Kiyomori's parentage, not an unusual problem for the nobility in that era where clandestine liaisons among courtiers and the upper classes were common.

Shin Heike Monogatari

1972

Genroku Taiheiki poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Genroku Taiheiki

1975

Tokugawa Yoshinobu poster
10.0

The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

1998

Film credits

1960s · 17 titles

Red Angel poster
7.6

In 1939, Sakura Nishi is a young army nurse who is sent to the field hospitals in China during the Sino-Japanese war. She has to assist the surgeon Dr. Okabe with an incredible number of amputations. In the crowded wards, she gives sympathy to some of the soldiers, including sexually servicing one who has lost both arms and has no hope of returning home. She falls in love with Dr. Okabe, and follows him to the front, even though he is impotent from his morphine addiction.

Red Angel

1966

One Day at Summer's End poster
6.5

A Yasuzō Masumura film about a love affair starring Ayako Wakao. The literal title is The Two Who Got Wet.

One Day at Summer's End

1968

Irezumi poster
6.8

Otsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.

Irezumi

1966

Diary of a Mad Old Man poster
6.7

Utsugi, a seventy-seven-year-old man of refined tastes who is recovering from a stroke, discovers that, while his body is decaying, his libido still rages on -- unwittingly sparked by the gentle, kindly attentions of his daughter-in-law Satsuko, a chic, flashy dancer with a shady past. Pitiful and ridiculous as he is, Utsugi is without a trace of self-pity, and his diary shines with self-effacing good humor.

Diary of a Mad Old Man

1962

A Night to Remember poster
7.5

Seventeen years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a newspaper reporter looks for the bomb's effects, but everyone seems to have forgotten. He meets a woman who was there when it happened but when they fall in love she isn't able to move on.

A Night to Remember

1962

The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka poster
6.6

The disturbing story of a physician who conducted the first operation with general anaesthetic, and the women in his life who are both so determined to win his love that they volunteer as subjects for his experiments

The Wife of Seishu Hanaoka

1967

Two Wives poster
7.3

After a random encounter at a bar, two couples collide. Two men, two women, embroiled in a love-and-hate drama that threatens to engulf them. The sexual anxiety between the interwoven couples tautens right up to the nearly unbearable tension of the climax...

Two Wives

1967

Manji poster
6.5

The four principals in a love affair collide when jealousy, blackmail and suicide enter the picture.

Manji

1964

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

Freezing Point poster
7.2

Keizo Tsujiguchi believes his wife Natsue was having an extramarital affair when their child was kidnapped and killed. He believes of her extramarital affair she was unable to watch over their child properly and blames her for their daughter's death. To exact revenge on his wife, he then adopts the killer's child without telling the truth to his wife or their newly adopted child.

Freezing Point

1966

The Temple of Wild Geese poster
6.5

Satoko is a mistress by trade or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner—a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.

The Temple of Wild Geese

1962

Strange Triangle poster
7.3

A young man is determined to have as many affairs as possible but not to get married. One of his conquests is of a different mind however. For she is pregnant and so he agrees to live with her. But he misses very much the other younger girl whom he saw a lot of, and with the older woman's consent, sees the younger one and on her request, asks her to move in with them. This is the beginning of a very strange triangle which they all live through to a not unhappy ending.

Strange Triangle

1965

The Great Wall poster
7.0

In 221 BC, Qin Shihuangdi conquered the rest of China. Qin's great accomplishments and also his serious faults are showed in this film. Qin adopted autocratic dictatorship and led a luxurious life: abolition of feudalism and the centralization of power in the form of a now-hereditary bureaucracy loyal to himself; burning books and burying scholars; the construction of a sumptuous palace for his concubines and also the Great Wall.

The Great Wall

1962

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

Thousand Cranes poster
8.2

The entangled relations between the son of a seductive tea-ceremony teacher and the women in his father's life. Based on the novel by Kawabata Yasunari.

Thousand Cranes

1969

Closing Time poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Closing Time

1962

Bamboo Doll of Echizen poster
7.8

Kisuke, a young bamboo worker marries Tomoe, a courtesan who was once involved with Kisuke's late father.

Bamboo Doll of Echizen

1963

1950s · 40 titles

My Son's Revolt poster
NR

A coming-of-age film.

My Son's Revolt

1958

Street of Shame poster
7.7

Follows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.

Street of Shame

1956

Floating Weeds poster
7.5

A theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.

Floating Weeds

1959

Kanojo no tokudane poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kanojo no tokudane

1952

The Moon Over the Ruined Castle poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Moon Over the Ruined Castle

1954

Kuchibue o fuku wataridori poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Kuchibue o fuku wataridori

1958

Her Secret poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Her Secret

1952

Escape from Temptation poster
NR

A young man who is ostracized by society because his older brother has a criminal record—a situation that even threatens his marriage—is on the verge of falling into a life of crime. To protect him, the older brother takes up a gun once again.

Escape from Temptation

1957

Tsuma koso waga inochi poster
NR

This story depicts the struggles of a man living in the cutthroat world of competition and the pure love of his wife.

Tsuma koso waga inochi

1957

A Girl Who Delivers Happiness poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

A Girl Who Delivers Happiness

1955

The Blue Sky Maiden poster
7.1

Yuko is sent to the coastal regions to be raised away from the rest of her sophisticated family where she finds out from her ill grandmother that she is not who she thought she was.

The Blue Sky Maiden

1957

I Love You poster
NR

A romantic story about a young medical student and a Japanese dancer who meet while watching a university ice hockey league game, and how they overcome various difficulties to be together.

I Love You

1956

Ginga no miyako poster
NR

After helping a woman recover her wallet, which had been stolen by a pickpocket, a rough-around-the-edges young man who is a sixth-dan judo practitioner falls in love with a beautiful teacher of traditional folk songs.

Ginga no miyako

1957

Outlaw poster
NR

A young engineer and a pure-hearted mountain girl take on the challenges of the Akan primeval forest, where lawlessness and violence run rampant.

Outlaw

1953

Where Might is Right poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Where Might is Right

1955

The Bride Carries On poster
NR

Keita, who had been taken along as a cover for his father-in-law’s affair, was discovered by his new wife when she unexpectedly showed up while he was sharing a room with a geisha.

The Bride Carries On

1956

Various Flowers poster
NR

A heartwarming tale of romance and thrills featuring an aging groom who discovers the potential of an exceptional racehorse hidden within an ordinary bloodline and dedicates his life to that horse, and an up-and-coming jockey, set against the backdrop of a thrilling steeplechase race.

Various Flowers

1959

Inhibited Love poster
NR

Chieko Izumi is a reporter for the magazine "Weekly Japanese Women". She had come to Tokyo to stay with her aunt in order to escape her stubborn grandmother in her hometown in Kyushu, who was trying to force her to marry Komori, the local ringleader.

Inhibited Love

1955

No artwork available
NR

An entertainment film set in a movie studio, featuring songs and hidden talents performed by male and female stars.

Studio wa ōsawagi

1956

Hanayome no tameiki poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hanayome no tameiki

1956

Bara no kōdōkan poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Bara no kōdōkan

1956

Shichinin no ani imōto poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Shichinin no ani imōto

1955

Zoku ginga no miyako poster
NR

Judo movie.

Zoku ginga no miyako

1957

Shunsetsu no mon poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Shunsetsu no mon

1953

The Loyal 47 Ronin poster
6.2

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

Okore Sanpei poster
NR

Sanpei, an innocent sailor with incredible strength, arrives in the big city teeming with social ills carrying a mysterious bag.

Okore Sanpei

1953

Punishment Room poster
6.9

Shimada is a student of U College. When the college's baseball team wins the day, he and his friend Ito drug two girls they met at the game.

Punishment Room

1956

Machi no kotengu poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Machi no kotengu

1952

Asashio yushio poster
NR

A sweet and melancholy melodrama set against the backdrop of the beautiful Seto Inland Sea, in which a pair of twin sisters, one a young lady of high birth, the other a maid, are manipulated by the threads of fate as they vie for the affection of the same young man.

Asashio yushio

1956

Midori no nakama poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Midori no nakama

1954

A Geisha poster
7.6

Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.

A Geisha

1953

Hanayome hanamuko chanbara bushi poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hanayome hanamuko chanbara bushi

1952

Musume hatsukoi yatton-bushi poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Musume hatsukoi yatton-bushi

1952

Jirocho Fuji poster
7.4

Legendary yakuza Shimizu Jirocho and his 28 henchmen travel the unruly path from a 'Fire Festival' in Akiba to a decisive battle by the Fujigawa.

Jirocho Fuji

1959

Bridge of Japan poster
7.8

Ichikawa's 1956 adaptation of Nihonbashi was the first to take the work of Kyoka Izumi— until then regarded as a writer of common tragic melodramas—and re-evaluate it as a tanbi-ha work of decadence, aestheticism, and intrigue. Ichikawa's film presents the tragic plot of the young geisha who is unable to enact her love for a man publicly in any way other than a histrionic story of torment, a heart-rending tale of lovers being crushed by fate. Instead, Ichikawa shows the contest of wills that transpires as two geisha, Oko and Kiyoha fight for the top spot in Nihonbashi, the pinnacle of the Tokyo geisha world. Nihonbashi is an elegant, if steely, exposition of manners. The young doctor, Shinzo Katsuragi, is the object of affection for both women, but appears to be more the choice reward for the plotting and thieving of these two early modern superwomen, than a lover they swoon over.

Bridge of Japan

1956

Yearning poster
NR

A young judo athlete ends up working as a cabaret bouncer.

Yearning

1954

Firefly Light poster
9.0

Set in the 1860s, the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate, The Fireflies focuses on Tose (Awashima Chikage), the mistress of the Teradaya, a small inn in the Kyoto suburb of Fushimi. She does not have an easy life. Her husband, Isuke (Ban Junzaburo), is a wastrel who fancies himself a kabuki singer and who is obsessed with cleanliness. Her mother-in-law, Sada (Miyoshi Eiko) dislikes her because of her humble origins (her family are farmers) and because she fears that she will inherit the inn instead of Sugi, her daughter. Sada's hopes for Sugi, however, are dashed when she runs off with a con artist and leaves her child behind for Tose to take care of. When Sada becomes seriously ill, it is Tose who nurses her. On her deathbed, Sada asks her daughter-in-law's forgiveness. Meanwhile Isuke spends most of his time with a mistress he has taken, forcing Tose to manage the inn by herself

Firefly Light

1958

A Certain Woman poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

A Certain Woman

1954

The Most Valuable Wife poster
8.0

Kyoko is the third daughter of the Nonomiya family, a very ordinary family. Momoko, the eldest daughter, is married to Ichiro, the president of Mihara Shoji, and Riko, the second daughter, is married to Jiro, the managing director, and they plot to marry Kyoko to Saburo, the third son of the Mihara family. Kyoko is angry at the marriage talk that is being pushed forward without her permission, and declares that she "definitely won't get married," but before she knows it, she begins to become aware of the other person...

The Most Valuable Wife

1959

Roses Bloom on a Rose Tree poster
8.0

Yano Reiko is a part-time student. After being introduced by a well-known classmate, she becomes the tutor for Mariko, the second daughter of the bourgeois Todo family. The eldest daughter of the Todo family, Tomoe, is a typical bourgeois lady who secretly loves Fuyuhiko Kanae, an architectural engineer who is designing her villa. For Reiko, the life of the Todo family is completely different, but when she meets the bright and intelligent Fuyuhiko, she feels more than just affection for him, going beyond Reiko's circumstances. Meanwhile, Fuyuhiko also begins to love the neat and beautiful Reiko. The relationship between the two develops rapidly, but Reiko's heart is complicated. This is because Reiko has an older sister, Ginko, who works in a red-light district...

Roses Bloom on a Rose Tree

1959

Series credits

SMAP×SMAP poster
8.5

SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games.  These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking.  Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.

SMAP×SMAP

1996

Ohisama poster
9.0

Ohisama is a Japanese television drama that aired on NHK in 2011 in the Asadora time slot. Set in Nagano prefecture, "Ohisama" covers the life of Yoko Sudo (Mao Inoue) through World War II. Yoko Sudo with her smile is able to bring brightness to those around her & she follows her mother's motif to laugh through the hard times. During the onset of WW II, Yoko is a high school student and "Ohisama" follows her as she eventually becomes a teacher and then gets married and has a child. Yoko then opens a soba restaurant with her student. --asianwiki

Ohisama

2011

Takeda Shingen poster
7.5

There was a very turbulent time in the warring period in the history, and Takeda Shingen is consider one of the great warlord among many other.

Takeda Shingen

1988

Shin Heike Monogatari poster
7.3

Set at the end of the 12th century when several wars for control of Japan disrupted a long era of peace, this tale of "Heike" (another name for the Taira clan) focuses on Taira Kiyomori who fights alongside other members of his clan to at first successfully overcome the Minamoto clan and their bid for power. Battles and intrigue abound, as the puppet Emperor and Buddhist monks take sides in the power struggle. At issue is Kiyomori's parentage, not an unusual problem for the nobility in that era where clandestine liaisons among courtiers and the upper classes were common.

Shin Heike Monogatari

1972

Genroku Taiheiki poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Genroku Taiheiki

1975

Tokugawa Yoshinobu poster
10.0

The 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu

1998

The Tale of Genji poster
NR

The life of Prince Hikaru Genji, who was nicknamed "Shining" by people for his dazzling noble beauty. Based on the novel "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu.

The Tale of Genji

1991

愛と愛 poster
NR

The movie stars Ayako Wakao. It depicts the emotional turmoil of a woman caught between two kinds of love: her familial love for her father and her romantic love for her partner. Co-starring are Takashi Shimura, Tsutomu Yamazaki, and others. Released in 1972.

愛と愛

1972

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

ときめきの午後

1985

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

女の家庭

1974

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

女の夏

1975