# Chieko Naniwa

Chieko Naniwa (浪花 千栄子) (November 19, 1907 – December 22, 1973) was a Japanese actress who was active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She is best known for playing geisha in several films, such as Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha, and the Forest Spirit in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. Her birth name was Kikuno Nanko.

## Early life

Naniwa was born to poultry farmers in what is now Tondabayashi, Osaka, Japan on November 19, 1907. When she was 8 years old she began working at a bento shop in Dotonbori. After that she worked as a waitress in Kyoto until she was 18, when she entered a theater troupe.

## Career

She made her film debut in Itaro Yamagami [ja]'s first film "Kaettekita eiyu". She obtained roles easily after that, working with famous film actors like Utaemon Ichikawa and Ichikawa Momonosuke. However, she cut ties with the film industry after troubles with unpaid wages.
In 1930 she joined Shibuya Tengai II [ja] and Soganoya Jugo [ja]'s Shochiku theater. She married Shibuya that year. In 1948, Shibuya started his own theater called the Shochiku Shinkigeki, where Naniwa was the lead actress. Naniwa left the theater in 1951 after Shibuya had a child with another actress in the company.
Naniwa began performing in radio dramas. She also began appearing in films again, such as in Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha (1953), which won her a Blue Ribbon Award. She also performed with Hisaya Morishige in Meoto Zenzai (1955), in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood (1957) and Yasujiro Ozu's Equinox Flower (1958).
She opened an inn in the Tenryu-ji, a temple in Kyoto's Arashiyama district. Shortly after opening the inn, she let Mizoguchi borrow it to film The Crucified Lovers (1954), and taught the star of the film, Kyoko Kagawa, how to act in a kimono.
Naniwa died of gastrointestinal bleeding on December 22, 1973. After her death she was posthumously awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure.

## Filmography
### Film performances

| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) |
| 1953 | A Geisha | Okimi | Kenji Mizoguchi |
| 1954 | Sansho the Bailiff | Ubatake | Kenji Mizoguchi |
| 1954 | Twenty-Four Eyes | Restaurant owner | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| 1954 | The Crucified Lovers | Oko | Kenji Mizoguchi |
| 1955 | Meoto zenzai | Okin | Shirō Toyoda |
| 1955 | So Young, So Bright | Onobu | Toshio Sugie |
| 1956 | A Cat, Shozo, and Two Women | Orin | Shirō Toyoda |
| 1957 | On Wings of Love | Umeko Yoshioka | Toshio Sugie |
| 1957 | Throne of Blood | Forest Spirit | Akira Kurosawa |
| 1957 | An Osaka Story | Ofude | Kōzaburō Yoshimura |
| 1957 | Snow Country | Otatsu | Shirō Toyoda |
| 1958 | Sazae-san 4 | Chie Nishino | Nobuo Aoyagi |
| 1958 | Equinox Flower | Hatsu Sasaki | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1959 | Sazae-san 5 | Chie Nishino | Nobuo Aoyagi |
| 1959 | Sazae-san 6 | Chie Nishino | Nobuo Aoyagi |
| 1960 | Sazae-san 7 | Chie Nishino | Nobuo Aoyagi |
| 1961 | The End of Summer | Tsune Sasaki | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1961 | Akumyō | Ito Asō | Tokuzō Tanaka |
| 1961 | Zoku Akumyō | Ito Asō | Tokuzō Tanaka |
| 1961 | Girls of the Night | Kameju | Kinuyo Tanaka |
| 1963 | Twin Sisters of Kyoto | Teahouse owner | Noboru Nakamura |
| 1967 | The Doctor's Wife | Tami | Yasuzo Masumura |

### TV performances

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Taikōki | Ōmandokoro | Taiga drama |
| 1966 | Zenigata Heiji | Omine | |
| 1970 | Osaka-jō no Onna | Ōmandokoro | |
| 1973 | Zenigata Heiji | Omasa | |

## Selected bibliography

* Naniwa, Chieko (1965). 水のように [Like water]. 六芸書房.