
Chieko Takehisa
Acting
Biography
Chieko Takehisa (March 6, 1912 – September 14, 2006) was a Japanese actress from Akita Prefecture. At 15, she dropped out of high school to join the movie industry. She then starred in many films and plays from the 1930s to the 1940s, becoming popular as an actress in "moga" (modern girl) roles. In 1935, Takehisa met American journalist Clarke Kawakami at a Christmas party. They soon fell in love, but America's Japanese exclusion laws created great difficulty in securing a visa for Takehisa. In 1941, she finally arrived in the United States on a student visa, marrying Kawakami in August of that year. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Takehisa returned to Japan, resuming her film career, and the two lost contact. In 1945, Kawakami learned that Takehisa had survived the war. Hoping to find her, he returned to Japan and joined General Douglas MacArthur's staff in charge of the U.S. occupation. There, he was reunited with Takehisa, who was astonished to see him. The couple would have three children in the following years, and Takehisa effectively retired from the film industry by the late 1940s. Takehisa moved to Hawaii in 1950 with her family, where she lived for the rest of her life.
Known For

In postwar Japan, two sisters—a film studio script girl and a revue dancer—become swept up in the growing labor movement when workers around them strike for better conditions. As their conservative father opposes their activism, his own dismissal forces him to confront the realities of class struggle and join their fight for a fairer future. Now considered a lost film, Those Who Make Tomorrow was produced by Toho to promote unionization during Japan’s Allied Occupation.
Those Who Make Tomorrow

A legendary pre-war comedy operetta starring Enomoto Kenichi, Hideko Takamine and Li Xianglan. The Sanzo Ikkou continues its westward journey, on a mission to prevent a demonic resurrection. As Genjo Sanzo, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo, and Son Goku (Kenichi Enomoto) fight their way to their goal, their path is fraught with internal strife.
The Monkey King
1935 P.C.L. adaptation of Natsume's novel.
Botchan

No description available.
Subterranean Heat

Ine Onoda, the eldest daughter of a poor family of farmers, raises a colt from birth and comes to love the horse dearly. When the horse is grown, the government orders it auctioned and sold to the army. Ine struggles to prevent the sale.
Horse

Wealthy young Toyomi and Shintaro are in love. However, Shintaro’s father is arranging for him to marry Yurie, the scion of an even wealthier family. The two lovers flee to Tokyo, but when Shintaro returns to proclaim his intent to marry Toyomi, his father browbeats him into attending the marriage meeting with Yurie. Part one of a two-part romance based on a story by noted author Kikuchi Kan.
Learn from Experience, Part One

Toyomi is pregnant -- and while Shintaro and Yurie are on their extended honeymoon, she bears his child, a girl named Kiyoko. She is supported in adversity by close friend Michiko and her mother but also, surprisingly, Shintaro's mother and siblings. Even moreso, Toyomi and Yurie become friends. Part two of a two-part romance based on a story by noted author Kikuchi Kan.
Learn from Experience, Part Two

A young Japanese-American comes from California looking for a bride, going on blind dates with three candidates from Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagoya.
The Bride from Japan

The film tells about the life of the former vassal of the Ako clan - Fuwa Katsuemon Masatane.
Blizzard Ronin

After facing hard times, an orphan Korean boy gets adopted to Japanese society. He meets several Japanese people who are kind to him, and grows up wanting to repay his debt to Japan, by becoming a kamikaze pilot.
To Love and Swear

Part two of two.
Hikari to kage (Kōhen)
Japanese film.
Nangoku taiheiki

Part one of two.
Hikari to kage (Zenpen)

No description available.
Japanese Women's Textbook

Okiyo runs a restaurant in Asakusa. She struggles with the times and the relationships around her.
Yoru no hato

1945 Japanese movie
Uta e! Taiyō

Ino tries to control Mon’s every move, but she becomes a fallen woman, having an affair with a student, Obata whereas her sister San remains a “good girl.” The mother is very supportive of her daughters, but, the father, Akaza, who is the stonecutter foreman on the damn, lacks control of his family.
Brother and Sister
Government-sponsored film set during the Pacific War, depicting the lives of people working as stevedores.
Harbor of Life

War-time jidaigeki by Eisuke Takizawa.
Kantaro of Ina
A typically modern take on the well-known Naniwabushi character (and real life 19th-century gangster) Mori no Ishimatsu, whose proverbial stupidity Enoken takes to farcical extremes.