
Ayako Wakao
Actor · b. 1933 · Tokyo, Japan
Ayako Wakao (若尾文子, born November 8, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese actress who was one of the country's biggest stars of the 20th century. Wakao began her career contracted to Daiei Studios in 1951 as part of the fifth "New Face" group. She has gone on to appear in over 100 feature films, plus numerous television movies and series. She was a favorite actress of director Yasuzo Masumura, starring in 20 of his films. In addition to her many collaborations with Masumura, she was a favorite of Kon Ichikawa, having starred or co-starred in seven of the director's works. She appeared in Kenji Mizoguchi's A Geisha and Street of Shame. She also appeared in Yasujirō Ozu's Floating Weeds. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ayako Wakao, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies24
Movie- Movie
An entertainment film set in a movie studio, featuring songs and hidden talents performed by male and female stars.
Movie
MovieKeita, who had been taken along as a cover for his father-in-law’s affair, was discovered by his new wife when she unexpectedly showed up while he was sharing a room with a geisha.
MovieCrime
Movie6.5DramaA Yasuzō Masumura film about a love affair starring Ayako Wakao. The literal title is The Two Who Got Wet.
Movie6.7DramaComedyUtsugi, a seventy-seven-year-old man of refined tastes who is recovering from a stroke, discovers that, while his body is decaying, his libido still rages on -- unwittingly sparked by the gentle, kindly attentions of his daughter-in-law Satsuko, a chic, flashy dancer with a shady past. Pitiful and ridiculous as he is, Utsugi is without a trace of self-pity, and his diary shines with self-effacing good humor.
Movie
MovieChieko Izumi is a reporter for the magazine "Weekly Japanese Women". She had come to Tokyo to stay with her aunt in order to escape her stubborn grandmother in her hometown in Kyushu, who was trying to force her to marry Komori, the local ringleader.
MovieDramaRomance
MovieDrama
Movie6.8CrimeDramaOtsuya, the daughter of a rich merchant, elopes with her lover Shinsuke, an employee of her father's. During their flight, Otsuya's beauty attracts the gaze of Seikichi, a mysterious master tattooist who sees her pristine white skin as the perfect canvas for his art. The image of the large demonic spider that he emblazons across Otsuya's back marks her as the property of another man, radically altering her relationships with all around her as her personality seems to transform under its influence.
Movie7.5DramaA theater troupe master's visit with his old flame unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences.
Movie6.5DramaThe four principals in a love affair collide when jealousy, blackmail and suicide enter the picture.
Movie7.7DramaFollows five sex workers employed at a Japanese brothel while the nation debates the passage of an anti-prostitution law.
Movie6.9DramaShimada is a student of U College. When the college's baseball team wins the day, he and his friend Ito drug two girls they met at the game.
MovieRomanceAfter helping a woman recover her wallet, which had been stolen by a pickpocket, a rough-around-the-edges young man who is a sixth-dan judo practitioner falls in love with a beautiful teacher of traditional folk songs.
MovieRomanceA romantic story about a young medical student and a Japanese dancer who meet while watching a university ice hockey league game, and how they overcome various difficulties to be together.
Movie6.8AdventureActionZatoichi treks to a village that has always been a favorite spot of his, only to discover that it’s become a living hell, plagued by feuding father and son yakuza as well as the younger crime boss’s bodyguard, scruffy, smart-mouthed, cash-hungry Yojimbo of legend.
MovieRomanceA young judo athlete ends up working as a cabaret bouncer.
Movie7.2DocumentaryIn 39 interviews with actors and actresses, writers, producers and staff members, interspersed with film excerpts and stills, Shindō recounts the life and career of his friend and mentor Mizoguchi.
MovieA young engineer and a pure-hearted mountain girl take on the challenges of the Akan primeval forest, where lawlessness and violence run rampant.
Movie7.6WarDramaIn 1939, Sakura Nishi is a young army nurse who is sent to the field hospitals in China during the Sino-Japanese war. She has to assist the surgeon Dr. Okabe with an incredible number of amputations. In the crowded wards, she gives sympathy to some of the soldiers, including sexually servicing one who has lost both arms and has no hope of returning home. She falls in love with Dr. Okabe, and follows him to the front, even though he is impotent from his morphine addiction.
MovieRomanceA literary masterpiece that sharply critiques the ethics of modern romance, featuring a 48-year-old father who burns through the last of his youth with a teenage girl, and a daughter in her twenties who falls in love with a younger man and champions sexual liberation.
Series7
TV8.5ComedySMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games. These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking. Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.
SMAP×SMAP
1996 · 2 votes
TV9.0DramaOhisama is a Japanese television drama that aired on NHK in 2011 in the Asadora time slot. Set in Nagano prefecture, "Ohisama" covers the life of Yoko Sudo (Mao Inoue) through World War II. Yoko Sudo with her smile is able to bring brightness to those around her & she follows her mother's motif to laugh through the hard times. During the onset of WW II, Yoko is a high school student and "Ohisama" follows her as she eventually becomes a teacher and then gets married and has a child. Yoko then opens a soba restaurant with her student. --asianwiki
TV7.5DramaWar & PoliticsThere was a very turbulent time in the warring period in the history, and Takeda Shingen is consider one of the great warlord among many other.
TV10.0DramaThe 37th NHK Taiga Drama is Tokugawa Yoshinobu. The series focuses on the life of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th and final ruler of the Tokugawa period. Born the seventh son of Lord Nariaki of Mito, Yoshinobu is named shogun when he is just 29 years old. With a wisdom and vision beyond his years, he tries to prolong the life of this 200-year-old dynasty which began with Ieyasu. However, he is unable to forestall the winds of revolution as clans in Choshu, Satsuma and Tosa, with the help of the Imperial Court, clamor for change.
TV7.3DramaSet at the end of the 12th century when several wars for control of Japan disrupted a long era of peace, this tale of "Heike" (another name for the Taira clan) focuses on Taira Kiyomori who fights alongside other members of his clan to at first successfully overcome the Minamoto clan and their bid for power. Battles and intrigue abound, as the puppet Emperor and Buddhist monks take sides in the power struggle. At issue is Kiyomori's parentage, not an unusual problem for the nobility in that era where clandestine liaisons among courtiers and the upper classes were common.
TVDrama
TVDramaThe life of Prince Hikaru Genji, who was nicknamed "Shining" by people for his dazzling noble beauty. Based on the novel "The Tale of Genji" by Murasaki Shikibu.