Tokuko Sugiyama
Also Known As: 杉山徳子
Biography: Tokuko Sugiyama (杉山 とく子), also known by her birth name and former stage name Tokuko Sugiyama (杉山 徳子), was a Japanese actress born on August 16, 1926, in Tokyo. She is renowned for her notable roles in the film "The Town with a View of the Capsule" (キューポラのある街) and the TV dramas "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" (男はつらいよ) and "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari Series" (渡る世間は鬼ばかりシリーズ). After completing her education at Jissen Women's Academy Second High School, Sugiyama initially worked as a nursery school teacher and in Chiba Newspaper's advertising department. Her journey into the entertainment industry began when she applied to Toho's New Face audition and later joined the Bungakuza theater company in 1946. Following two years of training, she became a part of the Haiyūza theater company in 1948 and marked her stage debut with "Tooku e no Hitsuji Goya" (遠くへの羊飼い) the same year. Sugiyama's film debut occurred in 1949 with "Shiratori wa Kanashikarazu ya" (白鳥は悲しからずや). She played significant supporting roles throughout her career. Notably, in the TV drama "Otoko wa Tsurai yo," she portrayed Tora-san's sister, Tsune, and featured in various roles in the film series. From 1990 onward, she portrayed Hanako Noda, the mother-in-law of the main character, in the TV drama "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari." Even at the age of 66 in 1992, she continued her acting career from a nursing home in Saitama Prefecture. Sugiyama retired from the entertainment industry in 2005, with her final appearance in the 7th series of "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari." She passed away on August 28, 2014, at the age of 88 due to liver cancer. Throughout her career, Sugiyama often collaborated with Kunio Yamazaki, Aiko Nagayama, and Akiko Matsuda. She was a recurring cast member in films directed by Yoji Yamada. (Translated from Wikipedia Japan "杉山とく子")
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Japan
Birthday: August 16, 1926
Deathday: August 28, 2014
Adult: No
Gender: Female
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Known For:
Village of Dreams
Overview: Tells of the childhood of two nine-year-old twins in a rural village in Japan after World War 2. Includes the boys relationships with their schoolteacher mother, civil servant father, elderly landlord, a rough new boy at the school, and three mysterious spirits in the form of old women.
Genres: Family Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1996-07-13
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Foundry Town
Overview: Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families and one girl's dreams of higher education.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1962-04-08
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Flower Season
Overview: Kitamori Yuki was particular about her promise to her mother-in-law Hana. The promise is that, as the daughter-in-law of Koichi, the eldest son of the Kitamori family, Hana entrusts everything to Yuki, but wants her entire family to come see her on her birthday. At that time, her second son Keisuke's daughter Megumi, who is her private taxi driver, made a mistake, and she was overwhelmed and approached Yuki for advice. Eventually, her mother Kayo of Megumi learned about this, but a period was quietly struck by her women coming to a conclusion that should be the food for Megumi's growth.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-02-27
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Keishichō monogatari iryū-hin nashi
Overview:
Genres: Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-09-15
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The Wild Swans
Overview: A young girl must spend six years making sweatshirts out of poison ivy in order to save her six brothers which have been turned into swans by an evil sorceress.
Genres: Drama Family Animation
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-03-19
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War and Flowers
Overview: Japanese Drama film about the female experience during the war years.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-05-11
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The Forest Is Alive
Overview: Film adaptation of the stage version of Samuil Marshak's "Twelve Months"
Genres: Family Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1956-10-08
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It's Tough Being a Man (Television Drama DVD Edit Edition)
Overview: This is the DVD version of the TV show, which consists of a single video that plays the first and last episodes of the tv show bridged by an edit recapping the major events of the lost middle episodes.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-10-03
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Twelve Months
Overview: A young queen requests a bouquet of snowdrop flowers for New Year's Day in exchange for a reward. One greedy woman sends her stepdaughter, whom she does not like, to look for the flowers in a cold forest, knowing the task will be impossible for her. The girl almost freezes to death in the forest, but she is rescued by the spirits of the Twelve Months, who create spring around her. The girl is able to deliver the bouquet to the queen, but others want a share of the reward.
Genres: Fantasy Animation Adventure Family
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-03-15
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Kobayashi Takiji
Overview: A tribute to proletarian author Takiji Kobayashi (1903-1933)
Genres: History Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1974-02-20
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The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
Overview: After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labor chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts, and moves to Manchuria with his newly-wed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.
Genres: War Drama History
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1959-01-15
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Horus: Prince of the Sun
Overview: Young Horus lives in a mythical Scandinavia of the Iron Age. Recovering the stolen Sword of the Sun from a rock giant, he learns he must travel to the lands of his ancestors, encountering the beautiful but enigmatic Hilda as his journey leads to a series of adventures.
Genres: Adventure Drama Animation Fantasy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1968-07-24
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The Village
Overview: This appears to be a labor of love. Its about a village which is given the opportunity to put on a musical. They would have to pay the overhead and, being that they are farmers and always busy and not rich, question the wisdom and feasibility of such an idea. A spokesperson for the acting troupe Ms. Kono lays out the whole thing and they must decide. You get little slices of rural life in Japan far, at least in sentiment, from Tokyo. The best thing about this film is that it has heart. The acting is good, but it is really about the simple storyline of outing on a show. Films rarely get made with such simplistic plots these days. Enjoy this little slice of what city people call “the simple life”.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1976-04-12
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A Distant Cry from Spring
Overview: The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the arrival of a man who ignites flames of romance in the heart of the mother and shows her boy the importance of grit and kindness, but then he leaves with the autumn wind.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-03-15
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Mofuku no niau hitozuma futari
Overview: Yuki Kimura, a company president's secretary, agrees to marry his son Yutaka on the president's recommendation. When Yutaka breaks up with his lover, a hostess, she implies she's going to commit suicide. In a panic to get to her quickly, Yutaka punches a man at a taxi stand. The next day, when Yutaka's lover hears the news about a man dying and realizes it was the man Yutaka punched, she demands money...
Genres: Drama Mystery
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-08-09
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Tales of a Golden Geisha
Overview: The film stars two of Itami's regular actors, Nobuko Miyamoto as a geisha who brings luck to the men with whom she sleeps, and Masahiko Tsugawa as her unfaithful, sometimes partner. As well as showing her relationships with the man she loves and the men who employ her, it satirizes corruption and the influence of money in Japanese politics.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1990-06-02
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Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san
Overview: During his travels, Tora-san gets drunk with an old man in Kyoto. Though Tora-san never fully comprehends his importance, the old man is a Living National Treasure ceramist. At his home, Tora-san makes a good impression on the old man's maid, who apparently falls in love with Tora-san.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1982-08-07
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A Taxing Woman
Overview: Intrepid tax investigator Ryoko Itakura sets her sights on the mysterious and philandering Hideki Gondo, a suspected millionaire and proprietor of a thriving chain of seedy hourly hotels, who has for years succeeded at hiding the true extent of his assets from the Japanese authorities. Itakura and Gondo soon find themselves engaged in a complicated, satirical battle of wits.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1987-02-07
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Foster Daddy, Tora!
Overview: After a friend and business colleague dies, Tora-san visits the man's daughter, then takes her to Tokyo so she can study for a night school exam.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1980-12-27
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Tora-san's Promise
Overview: Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he embarrasses himself by getting drunk and insulting all his ex-classmates, he resumes his travels. In Kyushu he meets an outspoken 18-year-old girl who becomes enamored of Tora-san and follows him around. One of Tora-san's old friends is terminally ill and makes Tora-san promise him to marry his wife once he is gone.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-12-28
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Tora-san's Runaway
Overview: After an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro attempts to change his vagrant lifestyle and become an honest worker with a steady job.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1970-08-26
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Tora-san Plays Cupid
Overview: Tora-san becomes friends with Toraya's newest tenant, a pachinko-playing electrician that goes by the nickname Watt. Tora attempts to match Watt with a young waitress.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1977-12-24
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Stage-Struck Tora-san
Overview: Tora-san leaves Shibamata once again after an argument with his family and finds himself at an inn where he meets Tomekichi, a young man who looks up to Tora-san.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-08-05
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Bungakusho Satsujin Jiken: Oinaru Jyoso
Overview: A young doujinshi writer doesn't win the literary prize award, and ends up killing the selection committee.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1989-01-28
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Tora-san, the Go-Between
Overview: In Nagasaki, Tora-san and an acquaintance help an old woman who has fallen and injured herself. She invites them to her home where the three share a night of eating and drinking. The old woman's health deteriorates and she dies. At her funeral, Tora-san falls in love with the old woman's daughter, but winds up acting as a go-between for her and a young law student.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-08-03
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Metamorphosis
Overview: A sensuous movie based on a literary work. Hitomi Kuroki stars as the film’s heroine.
Genres: Romance Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1986-10-10
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The Empty Table
Overview: One year has passed since the Kidojis' eldest son Otohiko was arrested for his part in a terrorist kidnapping, which resulted in multiple deaths. Although the parents of all the other perpetrators have either resigned from their professional positions or taken their own lives, Nobuyuki Kidoji tries to remain adamant that he was not responsible for his son's actions.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1985-11-01
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Great Jailbreak
Overview: A group of prisoners attempts to break the Abashiri prison. This film can be considered a sequel to the Abashiri Bangaichi series, written and directed by Ishii Teruo. The friendship between two men on death row, a fleeting love affair with a traveling dancer and a deadly battle with the real culprit who has hunted him down filmed over a long period of time on location in Hokkaido.
Genres: Action Crime
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1975-04-05
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White-haired Demon
Overview:
Genres: Horror
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1978-09-10
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Asshii-tachi no machi
Overview:
Genres: Drama
Original Language: ja
Release Date: 1981-03-28
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