Michiko Maeda
Michiko Maeda |
|
---|---|
Personal | |
Born | February 27, 1934[1] Osaka, Japan |
Ethnicity | Asian |
Nationality | Japanese |
Body | |
Measurements | 34-23-34(in)[2] |
Boobs | Natural |
Height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)[2] |
Weight | 110 lb (50 kg)[2] |
Blood group | A |
Michiko Maeda (前田通子 - Maeda Michiko) is a Japanese film and television actress. After becoming known as the first Japanese actress to appear in a nude scene in a mainstream film, Maeda was banned from the Japanese cinema after an incident in which she refused to obey a director, and did not return to the Japanese screen until 42 years later.
Life and career
Michiko Maeda was born in Osaka on February 27, 1934. She was working in a department store in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo when she began working as an actress at the Shintōhō studio in 1955. Her film debut was in director Hiromasa Nomura's Santōshain to Onna Hisho (三等社員と女秘書), released in August 1955. Maeda's minor role as a striptease dancer in director Seiichiro Uchikawa's Eikō to Bakusō Ō (栄光と驀走王, 1956) brought her to public attention through her voluptuous figure. In their The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, Anderson and Richie described Maeda as "a star who consisted almost entirely of mammary glands."[3]
Shintōhō took advantage of Maeda's popularity to cast her in more roles in which she could display her famous figure. Other film studios reportedly engaged in a nation-wide search to discover their own buxom models to compete with Maeda.[3] Later in 1957, she was given the starring role in Revenge of the Pearl Queen (女真珠王の復讐 - Onna Shinjū Ō no Fukushū), a melodramatic thriller set on an isolated island about a woman seeking revenge for her dead lover. Maeda became notorious for playing the first nude scene in a Japanese film.[1]
For Shintōhō, Maeda appeared in string of female pearl-diver films which exploited similar nude scenes, concluding with Woman Diver's Terror (海女の戦慄 - Ama no Senritsu) (1957). While acting in the film Konpira Riseiken (金比羅利生剣), 1957) for director Goro Katano, Maeda refused to do a scene in which she was to lift her slip for the camera. The resulting scandal became known as the "Tuck up incident" (裾まくり事件 - Suso makuri jiken), and made headlines in international news.[4][5] As a result of her refusal to obey the director, Maeda was dismissed from Shintōhō and banned from the film industry. Her exile from Japanese cinema lasted for four decades.
Maeda was invited to appear in two films in Taiwan in 1963. She returned to Japanese media with the 1972 Nippon Television soap opera, Dakuryū no Onna (渓流の女), and appeared on television and on the stage until her retirement in 1976.
After 42 years of exile from the Japanese film world pink film pioneer Satoru Kobayashi and cult film director Teruo Ishii persuaded her to appear in Ishii's 1999 remake of Nobuo Nakagawa's Jigoku (1960). Maeda played the role of Enma Daio, the Judge of Hell.[1]
Filmography
Video title[6] | Release date | Director | Role/Notes | Poster/DVD cover |
---|---|---|---|---|
三等社員と女秘書 Santou shain to onna hisho |
August 18, 1955 | Hiromasa Nomura | . | |
息子一人に嫁八人 | December 6, 1955 | Hideo Shimura | Ohan | |
Two Mothers 母ふたり Haha Futari |
December 13, 1955 | Hiromasa Nomura | . | |
黒猫館に消えた男 | February 12, 1956 | 毛利正樹 | Lily Yamano | |
栄光と驀走王 Eiko to Bakuso-ou |
April 11, 1956 | Seiichiro Uchikawa | Maeda's role as a stripper brought to public attention | |
Revenge of the Pearl Queen 女真珠王の復讐 Onna Shinjuou no Fukushuu |
July 5, 1956 | Hideo Shimura | 香川夏岐 Maeda's first starring role First nude scene in Japanese cinema |
|
君ひとすじに 完結篇 | August 8, 1956 | Hideo Shimura | 大崎京子 | |
新妻鏡 | September 26, 1956 | Hideo Shimura | . | |
金語楼の天晴運転手物語 | October 21, 1956 | 斎藤寅次郎 | 大下蝶子 | |
軍神山本元帥と連合艦隊 | October 31, 1956 | Hideo Shimura | 河合千代 | |
波止場の王者 | November 14, 1956 | Seiichiro Uchikawa | Sally | |
'Queen of Keirin Racing 女競輪王 Onna Keirin-ou |
November 21, 1956 | Shiro Kobayashi | Miki (椎野美樹) | |
海の三等兵 | January 13, 1957 | Hideo Shimura | 染太郎 | |
関八州大利根の対決 | January 27, 1957 | Hideo Shimura | Ofuji | |
Dry Wives and Ruling Husbands ドライ夫人と亭主関白 Dry Fujin to Teishu Kanpaku |
March 20, 1957 | 近江俊郎 | . | |
死刑囚の勝利 | April 3, 1957 | Hideo Shimura | 麻耶 | |
剣聖暁の三十六人斬り | April 30, 1957 | 山田達雄 | 姉みね | |
怒濤の兄弟 | June 5, 1957 | Hideo Shimura | . | |
Woman Diver's Terror 海女の戦慄 Ama no Senritsu |
June 23, 1957 | Hideo Shimura | Yoshi Miyagawa | |
Japanese Hell 地獄 Jigoku |
November 20, 1999 | Teruo Ishii | Enma Daio, the Judge of Hell |
Bibliography
- 地獄: キャスト (Hell: Cast-- < Enma Daio, the Judge of Hell > Michiko Maeda) (Japanese & English). Jigoku Homepage. Archived from the original on 2000-08-19. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- 前田通子 (Maeda Michiko) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- MICHIKO MAEDA (English). The Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- Richie, Donald; Joseph Anderson (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (English), Expanded Edition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 266-267.
- 新東宝の女優 (Shintoho Actresses) (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- "Actress Will Take Off Clothes If Part Is Right" (August 29, 1957) Anderson Daily Bulletin (Anderson, Indiana). p. 3.
- "Japanese Actress Refuses to Pose Nude, Fined $1,500" (August 30, 1957) The Daily Courier (Connellsville, Pennsylvania). p. 4.
- "PEOPLE... Fine Actress For Not Shedding Clothes" (August 26, 1957). El Paso Herald-Post (El Paso, Texas). p. 12.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 地獄: キャスト (Hell: Cast-- < Enma Daio, the Judge of Hell > Michiko Maeda) (Japanese & English). Jigoku Homepage. Archived from the original on 2000-08-19. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Actress Will Take Off Clothes If Part Is Right" (August 29, 1957) Anderson Daily Bulletin (Anderson, Indiana). p. 3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Anderson, Joseph L. (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (Expanded Edition). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp.266-267. ISBN 0691007926.
- ↑ "WONT LIFT SLIP" (English), Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, August 21, 1957. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ↑ "Actress Won't Shoot Scene In The Nude" (English), The Lima News, August 2, 1957. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- ↑ Filmography based on 前田通子 (Maeda Michiko) (Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved on March 4, 2008.