Yōko Minamida

Yōko Minamida (76)

1933-03-01 - 2009-10-21 | Tokyo, Japan

Yōko Minamida (南田 洋子, Minamida Yōko, March 1, 1933 – October 21, 2009) was a Japanese actress. Born in Tokyo, Minamida made her screen debut in 1953 for the Daiei studio and quickly rose to stardom, working with Kenji Mizoguchi on two films: “A Story from Chikamatsu” and “Princess Yang Kwei-fei.” In 1955, she moved to the Nikkatsu studio, where she starred in Takumi Furukawa’s “Season of the Sun” (1956), a smash hit that launched the so-called “Sun Tribe” boom for films about rebellious youth looking for sex and kicks on Shonan Beach — Japan’s nearest equivalent to Malibu. Minamida acted in dozens of movies for Nikkatsu, working with Shohei Imamura, Seijun Suzuki, and other directors. In 1961 she married her co-star on “Season of the Sun,” Hiroyuki Nagato. As she acted in fewer movies after the mid-1960s, Minamida made a smooth and successful transition to TV as both an actress and MC. She also continued to appear occasionally in movies, with the last being Nobuhiko Obayashi’s “Song of Goodbye” in 2006. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in November 2008, and a TV documentary was made about her condition and the efforts of her husband to care for her. She died in Tokyo.

On Movies

  • Song of Goodbye
  • The Motive
  • Salaryman Senka
  • Yellow Fangs
  • This Story of Love
  • Zero
  • At Noon
  • Take Me Away!
  • House
  • The Wild Daisy
  • Japanese Humanity and Justice
  • Ame no meguri ai
  • Time of First Love
  • Karafuto 1945 Summer
  • The Kanto Scarlet Cherry Gang
  • A Young Man's Stronghold
  • Tale of the Last Japanese Yakuza
  • Portrait of Chieko
  • Glorious Fights
  • Showdown of Men
  • The Kingdom of Jirocho 4
  • The Domain: Kanto Legends of Chivalry
  • Ankoku gai jingi
  • The Soundless Cry
  • The Domain: The Naniwa Story
  • Prison Gambler
  • The Domain
  • Gambler
  • An Outlaw
  • Jakoman and Tetsu
  • To Your Majesty, The Emperor 2
  • The Gambling Monk
  • Kyu-chan, Draw Your Sword
  • Kiriko's Tango
  • Love Comes with Youth
  • I Have the Sun in My Back
  • A Modern Samurai Village
  • Beyond the Green Hills
  • The Guys Who Put Money on Me
  • Glass-Hearted Johnny
  • Wind and waves of the South
  • The Crimson Plains
  • The Man with a Shotgun
  • Quick Draw Joe
  • Joe of Aces: Gambling for a Living
  • Tokyo Knights
  • Pigs and Battleships
  • Tales of a Gunman: The Man Without Tomorrow
  • The Rambler Rides Again
  • Umi no jōji ni kakero
  • Jungle Block
  • Return of the Vagabond
  • The Poem of the Blue Star
  • A Turning to Hell
  • Farewell to Southern Tosa
  • Wounded Beast
  • Kamen no Onna
  • Voice Without a Shadow
  • Stolen Desire
  • The Awakening
  • Mountain Pass
  • But the Flesh is Weak
  • The Barefoot Girl
  • A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era
  • The Champion
  • Dancing Sisters
  • Hungry Soul, Part II
  • Hungry Soul
  • Tonari no yome
  • Our Town
  • Season of the Sun
  • The Happy Dancers
  • The Motherless
  • The Doctor
  • Princess Yang Kwei-fei
  • Chikamatsu Monogatari
  • Jūdai no seiten

On Series

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