# Shinobu Otake

Shinobu Otake (大竹 しのぶ, Ōtake Shinobu, born 17 July 1957) is a Japanese actress. She has won three Japanese Academy Awards: the 2000 Best Actress award for Railroad Man, and the 1979 awards for both Best Actress for The Incident, and Best Supporting Actress for Seishoku no ishibumi. She also won the award for best actress at the 12th Hochi Film Award for Eien no 1/2. At the 25th Moscow International Film Festival she won the award for Best Actress for her role in Owl. She has received a total of 12 nominations.
She was the favoured lead actress of director Kaneto Shindo after his previous lead actress, Nobuko Otowa, died in 1994, and featured in four of his films from Will to Live in 1999 to Postcard in 2011.
Otake has also acted on the stage. She performed during the last segment of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Closing Ceremony along Tokyo’s Suginami Children Chorus, singing the song "Hoshimeguri no Uta" (Star Tour Song) composed by Kenji Miyazawa, as the Olympic flame was extinguished. In 2021, Otake took the lead role of Dr. Ruth Wolff in a Japanese stage adaptation of The Doctor.

## Personal life

Otake was born and grew up mostly in Tokyo. In 1982 she married Seiji Hattori, a Tokyo Broadcasting director who died in 1987. One year later, Otake married Akashiya Sanma, but got divorced in 1992. In the early 1990s Otake lived with playwright Hideki Noda.
Otake has two children, Nichika, a son by Hattori and Imaru, a daughter by Sanma. After her divorce she kept custody.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | The Gate of Youth | Orie Maki | |
| 1976 | The Human Revolution 2 | Nobuko | |
| 1977 | The Gate of Youth Part 2 | Orie Maki | |
| 1977 | Tora-san Plays Cupid | | |
| 1978 | The Demon | | |
| 1978 | The Incident | | |
| 1978 | Seishoku no ishibumi | | |
| 1979 | Nomugi Pass | Mine Masai | Lead role |
| 1979 | Oh, My son! | | |
| 1980 | Twelve Months | Anja (voice) | Lead role |
| 1983 | Children of Nagasaki | | |
| 1984 | Mahjong Hōrōki | Mayumi | |
| 1985 | Family Without a Dinner Table | | |
| 1986 | Beyond the Shining Sea | | |
| 1987 | Eien no 1/2 | | Lead role |
| 1992 | Original Sin | Nami Tsuchiya | Lead role |
| 1993 | Rex: A Dinosaur's Story | Naomi Ito | |
| 1996 | Five Women | | |
| 1998 | Gakko III: The New Voyage | | |
| 1999 | Railroad Man | Shizue Satō | |
| 1999 | The Black House | | |
| 1999 | Will to Live | | |
| 2000 | Shiki-Jitsu | | |
| 2001 | Go | | |
| 2003 | Like Asura | | Lead role |
| 2003 | Owl | | Lead role |
| 2004 | Otakus in Love | | |
| 2007 | Kitokito! | | Lead role |
| 2007 | Into the Faraway Sky | | |
| 2007 | Welcome to the Quiet Room | Nishino | |
| 2010 | My Darling is a Foreigner | | |
| 2010 | Arrietty | Homily (voice) | |
| 2010 | Surely Someday | | |
| 2010 | Here Comes the Bride, My Mom! | Yōko Morii | Lead role |
| 2011 | Postcard | | Lead role |
| 2013 | Before the Vigil | | |
| 2013 | Leaving on the 15th Spring | | |
| 2013 | The Wind Rises | Mrs. Kurokawa (voice) | |
| 2015 | The Mourner | | |
| 2015 | Pieta in the Toilet | | |
| 2015 | Our Little Sister | | |
| 2015 | Galaxy Turnpike | | |
| 2016 | Black Widow Business | Sayoko Takeuchi | Lead role |
| 2016 | Sanada 10 Braves | Yodo-dono | |
| 2017 | Mary and the Witch's Flower | Charlotte (voice) | |
| 2018 | Flea-picking Samurai | Osuzu | |
| 2019 | Shadowfall | Naomi Makabe | |
| 2021 | Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko | Nikuko (voice) | Lead role |
| 2021 | The House of the Lost on the Cape | Kiwa (voice) | |
| 2022 | Hell Dogs | Noriko Kinugasa | |
| 2023 | The Boy and the Heron | Aiko (voice) | |
| 2024 | Who Were We? | Kii | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Network |
| 1975 | Mizuiro no Toki | Tomoko Matsumiya | Lead role; Asadora |
| 1977 | Kashin | Osato | Taiga drama |
| 1977 | Taiyō ni Hoero! | Yōko Hamada | Episode 276 |
| 1980 | Shishi no Jidai | Chiyo | Taiga drama |
| 1983 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | Odai no Kata | Taiga drama |
| 1986 | Seven Men and Women, Summer Story | Momoko Kanzaki | |
| 1987 | Seven Men and Women, Autumn Story | Momoko Kanzaki | |
| 1994 | The Misery of Others is as Sweet as Honey | Mayuko Kurebayashi | Lead role |
| 1999 | Genroku Ryōran | Riku | Taiga drama |
| 2011 | Gō | Kōdai-in | Taiga drama |
| 2017 | I'm Sorry, I Love You | Reiko Hyūga | |
| 2019 | Idaten | Ikue Ikebe | Taiga drama |
| 2022 | The 13 Lords of the Shogun | Miko | Taiga drama |
| 2023 | What Will You Do, Ieyasu? | Ōkurakyō no Tsubone | Taiga drama; cameo |

### Dubbing
#### Live-action

* Cats, Old Deuteronomy (Judi Dench)
* West Side Story (1979 TBS edition), Maria (Natalie Wood)

#### Animation

* Inside Out, Sadness
* Inside Out 2, Sadness

## Commercials

In 2012, she became a representative for NTT DoCoMo's "Raku-Raku Smartphone", a smartphone aimed at the over-55s.

## Honours

* Kinuyo Tanaka Award (1992)
* Medal with Purple Ribbon (2011)