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Yoshiko Kuga

Actor

Yoshiko Kuga

Born January 21, 1931 in Ushigome, JaponDied June 9, 202488 films

Yoshiko Kuga (久我 美子, Kuga Yoshiko, 21 January 1931 – 9 June 2024) was a Japanese actress. Kuga was born in Tokyo, Japan. In 1946, while still attending Gakushuin Junior High School, she became an actress for Toho studios. In 1947, she made her debut as one of the lead actresses in the omnibus movie Four Love Stories (四つの恋の物語, Yottsu no Koi no Monogatari). In the 1950s, she started working independently and starred in many productions of the Shochiku studios under the direction of Keisuke Kinoshita. Other important directors include Kenji Mizoguchi (The Woman in the Rumor), Yasujirō Ozu (Equinox Flower), and Tadashi Imai (An Inlet of Muddy Water). Since the 1970s, she appeared mainly on television and on stage.

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Kuga was married to actor Akihiko Hirata from 1961 until his death in 1984. She died from aspiration pneumonia on 9 June 2024, at the age of 93.

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The best way into Yoshiko Kuga's work
Good Morning posterFirst watchGood Morning19597.7as Setsuko AritaTwo boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Drunken Angel poster7.6Drunken Angel1948Godzilla vs. Biollante poster7.3Godzilla vs. Biollante1989Equinox Flower poster7.4Equinox Flower1958The Idiot poster7.0The Idiot1951Cruel Story of Youth poster6.6Cruel Story of Youth1960

Filmography

88 films as actor
  1. 2000As the River FlowsYuki Shiokawa
  2. 1997The Girl Who Leapt Through TimeMichie Yoshiyama
  3. 1997Tokyo Fair Weather
  4. 1994119
  5. 1993Sky Cannot Be This BlueFumi Kobayshi
  6. 1992OkogeWomen's clothing store manager
  7. 1991Nowhere ManLady who walks
  8. 1989Godzilla vs. BiollantePrime Minister's Wife
  9. 1989Four Days of Snow and BloodSuzuko Watanabe
  10. 1988Goryokaku
  11. 1969Through Days and MonthsMatsuko's Mother
  12. 1969Samurai Banners
  13. 1965Ane to imôtoYoshie Matsumoto
  14. 1964WhirlwindKikusato
  15. 1964To Your Majesty, The Emperor 2Yaeno Kurumiya
  16. 1962Umineko ga tonde
  17. 1962Ballad of a WorkmanChiyo
  18. 1962Mother Country
  19. 1961Haitoku no mesuNobuko Sato
  20. 1961Moonlight in the Rain
  21. 1961Zero FocusTeiko Uhara
  22. 1961Hijō no otoko
  23. 1961Daredevil in the CastleKobue
  24. 1960Cruel Story of YouthYuki
  25. 1960Spring DreamsKazuko Yasugi
  26. 1959Thus Another DayYasuko Satô
  27. 1959Good MorningSetsuko Arita
  28. 1959The Snow FlurrySakura
  29. 1958The Eternal RainbowChie
  30. 1958Equinox FlowerFumiko Mikami
  31. 1958Beyond the Seasonal Wind
  32. 1958Woman Unveiled
  33. 1958Yagyu Secret Scrolls: Ninjitsu - Part IIYuhime
  34. 1957Elegy of the NorthReiko Hyodo
  35. 1957Yagyu Secret ScrollsYuhime
  36. 1957Yellow CrowYasuko Ashihara
  37. 1957A Case of Honor
  38. 1956The Rose on His ArmKeiko Hase
  39. 1956Women in PrisonSenko Minami, prisoner
  40. 1956Farewell to DreamYôichi's older sister, Toyoko
  41. 1955Mune yori mune niHarue Kawazoe
  42. 1955Tomorrow I'll Be a Fire-TreeReiko
  43. 1955Taira Clan SagaTokiko
  44. 1955Bride in the Kitchen
  45. 1955If Indeed One LovesYumiko (segment 3)
  46. 1955Beautiful DaysSakurako
  47. 1955Tomorrow's HappinessTomiko
  48. 1954Brotherly Love
  49. 1954Somewhere Beneath the Wide SkyHiroko, Ryoichi's wife
  50. 1954A BillionaireSute Kagami
  51. 1954The Pleasures of ViceYasuyo Uematsu
  52. 1954The Woman in the RumorYukiko Mabuchi
  53. 1954The Garden of WomenAkiko Hayashino
  54. 1954Autumn InterludeSetsuko Fushimi
  55. 1954Shinzōyaburi no oka
  56. 1953Love LetterMichiko Kubota
  57. 1953An Inlet of Muddy Water
  58. 1953To the Ends of the Earth
  59. 1953Brother and SisterSan
  60. 1953Reunion
  61. 1953Yōsei wa hana no nioi gasuru
  62. 1952This Way, That Way
  63. 1952The Paths of Two Maidens
  64. 1952Byakuran kōran
  65. 1952I'll Not Forget the Song of Nagasaki
  66. 1952Gunrō no machi宇和島見奈子
  67. 1951Honoo no hada
  68. 1951Dorei no machi
  69. 1951The BitchYukiko
  70. 1951Enoshima Elegy
  71. 1951The IdiotAyako
  72. 1951Kyūjō hiroba
  73. 1950Golden BeastKozue Takenaka
  74. 1950Portrait of Madame YukiHamako Abe
  75. 1950Escape Between Midnight and Dawn
  76. 1950Guntō nanban-sen
  77. 1950The Angry Street
  78. 1950Till We Meet AgainKeiko Ono
  79. 1950Tsuki no shussen荻原静江
  80. 1949RinchiKuwako
  81. 1949Akireta musumetachi
  82. 1949Hakuchō wa kanashikarazuya
  83. 1949Jakoman and TetsuGirl at church
  84. 1949Delinquent Girl
  85. 1948My Love on the Other Side of the MountainShizu
  86. 1948Drunken AngelSchoolgirl
  87. 1947Spring AwakensKumiko Hirobe
  88. 1947Four Love Stories