Takehisa Chieko

[Aaron Gerow]

The Asahi reported that the actress Takehisa Chieko died on the 14th at 
the age of 94. Takehisa debuted in 1933 at PCL appearing in such films 
as Kimura Sotoji's Ani imoto, in which she played Mon to Maruyama 
Sadao's Ino (Alex recently asked about a much later version of the 
film; everyone should see Kimura's version if they can). When PCL 
turned into Toho, she appeared in variety of films, ranging from 
Yamamoto Kajiro's Uma (as the mother) to a number, such as Songoku,  
opposite Enoken (the great comedian Enomoto Ken'ichi). After the war, 
she married the American journalist nisei Clark Kawakami and moved to 
Hawaii, appearing in her last film in 1950. According to the obituary 
in the Honolulu Advertiser, she is survived by three sons, nine 
grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

On a related note, Takehisa is not the only Japanese film actress who 
married a foreigner and moved abroad, at least for a while. Off the top 
of my head, I can recall a few:

	Sugi Yoko (who appeared in the first Aoi sanmyaku and is still active 
in LA)
	Shimizu Misa (from Unagi, who married an American soldier and recently 
appeared in a Canadian film)
	Kishi Keiko (she married the French director Yves Champi and appeared 
in a number of foreign films)
	Kudo Yuki (also married an American nisei from Hawaii (I think))
	Goto Kumiko (Mitsuo's love interest in the Otoko wa tsurai yo series, 
she married the French F1 driver Jean Alesi)

Unfortunately, a lot of these ended in divorce (Goto and Shimizu are 
still married).

Can anyone think of any others?
	
Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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