Kirin Kiki

Kirin Kiki
(15 January 1943 – 15 September 2018) was a Japanese actress for Japanese cinema and television.
Biography
Kiki was born on January 15, 1943, in Kanda, Tokyo. Her father was a master of the biwa lute and a former police officer. Her mother owned a cafe in Jinbōchō, Tokyo and a restaurant in Noge, Yokohama, the latter being Kiki's maternal parents' home. Her mother was seven years senior to her father and had a child from both her two previous marriages.
After graduating from high school, she started her acting career in the early 1960s as a member of the Bungakuza theater troupe using the stage name Chiho Yūki (悠木千帆). She eventually gained fame for performing uniquely comedic and eccentric roles on such television shows as Jikan desu yo and Terauchi Kantarō ikka and in television commercials. She changed her name to "Kirin Kiki" when, after being asked on a television show to auction off something of hers, she ended up selling her first stage name, claiming she had "nothing else to sell."
While battling various ailments, including a detached retina in 2003 and breast cancer in 2005, Kiki continued to act and won several awards, including the best actress Japan Academy Prize for Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad in 2008, the best supporting actress award from the Yokohama Film Festival for her work in Kamikaze Girls and Half a Confession in 2004, and the best supporting actress Blue Ribbon Award for Still Walking in 2008.
Personal life
Kiki married fellow Bungakuza actor Shin Kishida. They separated in 1968. She married musician Yuya Uchida in 1973, and remained legally married to him though they separated in 1975. Their daughter, Yayako Uchida, is an essayist and musician, and portrayed the younger self of Kiki's character in the film Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad. Yayako Uchida is married to the actor Masahiro Motoki, who was adopted into the Uchida family as a mukoyōshi. Kirin's granddaughter Kyara Uchida has appeared with her in two films, I Wish and Sweet Bean.
Kiki was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and underwent a mastectomy. She died of cancer, and related illnesses, on 15 September 2018.
Selected filmography
Film
Zoku Yoidore hakase (1966) - Fumiko
Lake of Tears (1966) - Kayo Sugumo
Tonogata goyôjin (1966)
Tabiji (1967) - Chie
Aniki no koibito (1968) - Sanae
Kamisama no koibito (1968) - Aiko Yamagami
Dai bakuhatsu (1969)
Tora-san, His Tender Love (1970) - Maid in Shinshû
Aka chôchin (1974)
Akumyo: shima arashi (1974) - Oshige
Jack and the Beanstalk (1974) - Madam Noir (voice)
Honô no shôzô (1974)
Abayo dachikô (1974)
Mamushi to aodaishô (1975) - Kiku Matsukawa
Za.Dorifutazu no kamo da!! Goyo da!! (1975) - tomiko
Eden no umi (1976) - Orittsan
Sachiko no sachi (1976) - Momoe
Onna kyôshi (1977) - Yuriko Yokoyama
Ballad of Orin (1977) - Tama Ichise
Wani to oum to ottosei (1977) - Mary
Taro the Dragon Boy (1979) - Yamanba (voice)
Sochô no kubi (1979) - Okonomiyaki Manager
Kindaichi Kosuke no boken (1979) - Tane
Kamisamaga kureta akanbô (1979) - Woman who brought a boy
Zigeunerweisen (1980) - Kimi
Otake shinobu no a! Kono ai nakuba ganbasseyo Kuni-chan (1980)
Tosa No Ipponzuri (1980) - Fuki
Nogiku no haka (1981) - Omasu
Tenkōsei (1982) - Naoko Saitoh
Keiji monogatari (1982) - Sumi Yashiro
Santô kôkôsei (1982)
Amagi goe (1983) - Ryosaku's Wife
Hometown (1983) - Yoshi
Capone Cries a Lot (1985) - Sene Tachikawa
Lonely Heart (1985) - Terue Amano
Yumechiyo nikki (1985) - Kikuyakko
Kyôshû (1988) - Mine Kamioka
Tsuru (1988) - Yura
Daidokoro No Seijo (1988) - Hisajo Sugita
Kaze no Matasaburô - Garasu no manto (1989) - Otane
Donmai (1990) - Hanako
Rainbow Kids (1991) - Kura Nakamura
Sensou to seishun (1991) - Etsuko Onoki
Za Chugaku kyoshi (1992)
The Triple Cross (1992)
Yearning (1993) - Omatsu
Rampo (1994) - House wife / Head of maid
Toki no kagayaki (1995) - Nagashima
Rintaro (輝け！隣太郎, Kagayake! Rintaro) (1995, she also sang the title song (with Toshiaki Karasawa))
Oishinbo (1996)
Koi to hanabi to kanransha (1997) - Sanae Mita
Hissatsu shimatsunin (1997) - Otora
Ashita heno kakehashi (1997)
39 keihô dai sanjûkyû jô (1997) - Defence Counsel Shigure Nagamura
Zawa-zawa Shimo-Kitazawa (2000) - Fan of Kyushiro
Drug (2001) - Yoshie Hirakawa
Tôkyô Marîgôrudo (2001) - Ritsuko Sakai
Pistol Opera (2001) - Rin
Danbôru hausu gâru (2001)
Inochi (2002) - Mother
Returner (2002) - Xie
Yoru o kakete (2002)
Hotaru no hoshi (2003) - Headmistress
Half a Confession (2004) - Yasuko Shimamura
Kamikaze Girls (2004) - Momoko's Grandmother
Izo (2004)
Chekeraccho!! (2006) - Chisa Haebaru
Brave Story (2006) - Onba (voice)
Akai kujira to shiroi hebi (2006) - Midori Ohara
Tôkyô tawâ: Okan to boku to, tokidoki, oton (2007) - Eiko Nakagawa
Saido kâ ni inu (2007) - Granny Tome
Still Walking (2008) - Toshiko Yokoyama
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (2008)
Miyagino (2008) - Madam
The Borrower Arrietty (2010) - Haru (voice)
Villain (2010) - Fusae Shimizu
Ghost: In Your Arms Again (2010)
Ôki-ke no tanoshii ryokô: Shinkon jigoku-hen (2011)
Hanezu (2011) - Takumi's Mother
I Wish (2011) - Hideko (Grandmother)
Chronicle of My Mother (2011) - Yae
Tsunagu (2012) - Aiko
Yakusoku: Nabari dokubudôshu jiken shikeishû no shôgai (2013) - Iatsuno okunishi
Like Father, Like Son (2013) - Riko Ishizeki
Sweet Bean (2015; Best Performance by an Actress, Asia Pacific Screen Awards 2015) - Tokue
Our Little Sister (2015) - Fumiyo Kikuchi
Kakekomi onna to kakedashi otoko (2015) - Genbee
After the Storm (2016) – Yoshiko
Mori, The Artist's Habitat (2018) - Hideko Kumagai
Shoplifters (2018) - Hatsue Shibata
Every Day A Good Day (2018) - Ms. Takeda
Cherry Blossoms and Demons (2019) - Großmutter von Yu
Erica 38 (2019) - Erica's mother (final film role)
Television
Shadow Warriors (1980-1986) - Orin
Hanekonma (1986) - Yae (Hanekonma's mother)
Tobu ga Gotoku (1990) - Ikushima
Kimi no Na wa (1991)
Aoi (2000) - Lady Kasuga
Honours
Medal with Purple Ribbon (2008)
Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette (2014)
References
External links
1943 births
2018 deaths
20th-century Japanese actresses
21st-century Japanese actresses
Actresses from Tokyo
Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon
Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class
Deaths from cancer in Japan
Deaths from breast cancer
Asia Pacific Screen Award winners
People from Chiyoda, Tokyo