Tanaka Yoshiko

[Aaron Gerow]

In somewhat shocking news from the world of entertainment, the wire  
services are reporting that the actress and singer Tanaka Yoshiko has  
passed away at the age of 55 of breast cancer. Tanaka, known to fans  
first as Su-chan, first came to fame as a member of the Candies, one  
of the big idol groups in the 1970s. After they broke up, she became  
an actress and appeared in many famous films such as Imamura's Black  
Rain (for which she won several acting awards), Poppoya, Yoshida's  
Women in the Mirror, etc. She also appeared a lot on TV. Ironically,  
her husband was the older brother of Natsume Masako, the idol star  
who tragically died of leukemia at a young age. Su-chan was too young  
as well.

Aaron Gerow
Associate Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Film Studies Program
Yale University
53 Wall Street, Room 316
PO Box 208363
New Haven, CT 06520-8363
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6764
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu
site: www.aarongerow.com