# Mainichi Film Award for Best Actress

The Mainichi Film Award for Best Actress is a film award given at the Mainichi Film Awards.

## Award Winners

| Year | Film | Actress |
| 1947 | The Love of the Actress Sumako Marriage Fushichō | Kinuyo Tanaka |
| 1948 | Women of the Night A Hen in the Wind | Kinuyo Tanaka |
| 1949 | Late Spring Aoi sanmyaku Here's to the Girls | Setsuko Hara |
| 1950 | Rashomon Clothes of Deception | Machiko Kyō |
| 1951 | Repast Early Summer | Setsuko Hara |
| 1952 | Hakone Fūunroku The Moderns | Isuzu Yamada |
| 1953 | A Japanese Tragedy | Yūko Mochizuki |
| 1954 | Twenty-Four Eyes The Garden of Women Somewhere Under the Broad Sky Aku no Yuyushisa | Hideko Takamine |
| 1955 | Floating Clouds | Hideko Takamine |
| 1956 | Flowing A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women Boshizō | Isuzu Yamada |
| 1957 | Untamed Woman Times of Joy and Sorrow | Hideko Takamine |
| 1958 | Summer Clouds Hotarubi | Chikage Awashima |
| 1959 | Kiku to Isamu | Tanie Kitabayashi |
| 1960 | Her Brother | Keiko Kishi |
| 1961 | Immortal Love Happiness of Us Alone | Hideko Takamine |
| 1962 | Akitsu Springs Kotoshi no Koi | Mariko Okada |
| 1963 | The Insect Woman She and He | Sachiko Hidari |
| 1964 | Sweet Sweat | Machiko Kyō |
| 1965 | A Fugitive from the Past | Sachiko Hidari |
| 1966 | The River Kino | Yoko Tsukasa |
| 1967 | Portrait of Chieko Clouds at Sunset | Shima Iwashita |
| 1968 | Operation Negligee Kuroneko | Nobuko Otowa |
| 1969 | Double Suicide The Song from My Heart | Shima Iwashita |
| 1970 | Where Spring Comes Late Tora-san's Runaway | Chieko Baisho |
| 1971 | Red Peony Gambler: Here to Kill You | Sumiko Fuji |
| 1972 | The Long Darkness | Komaki Kurihara |
| 1973 | Seigen-ki | Atsuko Kaku |
| 1974 | Sandakan No. 8 Three Old Ladies | Kinuyo Tanaka |
| 1975 | Tora-san's Rise and Fall | Ruriko Asaoka |
| 1976 | Brother and Sister | Kumiko Akiyoshi |
| 1977 | Ballad of Orin | Shima Iwashita |
| 1978 | The Love Suicides at Sonezaki | Meiko Kaji |
| 1979 | No More Easy Life | Kaori Momoi |
| 1980 | A Distant Cry from Spring | Chieko Baisho |
| 1981 | Station Tora-san's Love in Osaka | Chieko Baisho |
| 1982 | Fall Guy Lovers Lost | Keiko Matsuzaka |
| 1983 | Crossing Mt. Amagi | Yūko Tanaka |
| 1984 | Ohan Station to Heaven | Sayuri Yoshinaga |
| 1985 | Love Letter Ikiteru Uchiga Hana Nanoyo Shin-dara Sore Madeyo Tō Sengen | Mitsuko Baisho |
| 1986 | House on Fire Tokei – Adieu l'hiver | Ayumi Ishida |
| 1987 | River of Fireflies Yogisha Gokudo no onna-tachi 2 | Yukiyo Toake |
| 1988 | Kaitō Ruby | Kyōko Koizumi |
| 1989 | Black Rain Godzilla vs. Biollante | Yoshiko Tanaka |
| 1990 | The Sting of Death | Keiko Matsuzaka |
| 1991 | Rainbow Kids | Tanie Kitabayashi |
| 1992 | The Oil-Hell Murder Netorare Sosuke | Miwako Fujitani |
| 1993 | All Under the Moon | Ruby Moreno |
| 1994 | Turning Point | Sayuri Yoshinaga |
| 1995 | A Last Note | Haruko Sugimura |
| 1996 | Kyoko | Saki Takaoka |
| 1997 | Tokyo Lullaby | Kaori Momoi |
| 1998 | Begging for Love | Mieko Harada |
| 1999 | Will to Live Poppoya The Black House | Shinobu Otake |
| 2000 | Face | Naomi Fujiyama |
| 2001 | Turn | Riho Makise |
| 2002 | The Laughing Frog Man Walking on Snow Utsutsu | Nene Otsuka |
| 2003 | Akame 48 Waterfalls Vibrator | Shinobu Terajima |
| 2004 | Kamikaze Girls | Kyoko Fukada |
| 2005 | Hibi Itsuka dokusho suruhi | Yūko Tanaka |
| 2006 | Memories of Matsuko | Miki Nakatani |
| 2007 | Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms | Kumiko Asō |
| 2008 | The Kiss | Eiko Koike |
| 2009 | Nonchan Noriben | Manami Konishi |
| 2010 | Caterpillar | Shinobu Terajima |
| 2011 | Mainichi Kaasan | Kyōko Koizumi |
| 2012 | The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky | Tomoko Tabata |
| 2013 | Pecoross' Mother and Her Days | Harue Akagi |
| 2014 | 0.5 mm | Sakura Ando |
| 2015 | Our Little Sister | Haruka Ayase |
| 2016 | Harmonium | Mariko Tsutsui |
| 2017 | Before We Vanish | Masami Nagasawa |
| 2018 | Shoplifters | Sakura Ando |
| 2019 | The Journalist | Shim Eun-kyung |
| 2020 | A Beloved Wife | Asami Mizukawa |
| 2021 | A Madder Red | Machiko Ono |
| 2022 | Small, Slow But Steady | Yukino Kishii |
| 2023 | Ichiko | Hana Sugisaki |