Kirin Kiki
樹木 希林
Kirin Kiki at the 2015 Odesa International Film Festival
Born
Keiko Nakatani (中谷 啓子, Nakatani Keiko)

(1943-01-15)January 15, 1943
Tokyo, Japan
DiedSeptember 15, 2018(2018-09-15) (aged 75)
Tokyo, Japan
Other namesChiho Yūki (悠木千帆, Yūki Chiho) first stage name;
Keiko Uchida (内田 啓子, Uchida Keiko) current legal name
OccupationActress
Years active1961–2018
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1964; div. 1968)​
​
​
(m. 1973; died 2019)​
Children1

Kirin Kiki (樹木 希林, Kiki Kirin) (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.[1][2] Her mother owned a cafe in Jinbōchō, Tokyo and a restaurant in Noge, Yokohama, the latter being Kiki's maternal parents' home.[3] Her mother was seven years senior to her father and had a child from both her two previous marriages.[2]

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).[4] 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.[4] 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."[1]

While battling various ailments, including a detached retina in 2003 and breast cancer in 2005,[5] Kiki continued to act and won several awards, including the best actress Japan Academy Prize for Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad in 2008,[6] the best supporting actress award from the Yokohama Film Festival for her work in Kamikaze Girls and Half a Confession in 2004,[7] and the best supporting actress Blue Ribbon Award for Still Walking in 2008.[8]

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.[9] 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,[1] who was adopted into the Uchida family as a mukoyōshi.[10] 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.[11] She died of cancer, and related illnesses, on 15 September 2018.[12]

Selected filmography

Film

Television

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b c "Kiki Kirin". Tarento meikan (in Japanese). Sponichi Annex. Retrieved 21 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ a b 斎藤明美. "これがはじまり 最終回 樹木希林 『行きがかり上、役者になって、自分にはずっと合っていないなと思いつつ.....。』". キネマ旬報. キネマ旬報社 (2008年12月下旬号): 152–155.
  3. ^ 松井清人『オカン、おふくろ、お母さん』 文藝春秋、2006年、71-73頁
  4. ^ a b "Kiki Kirin". Nihon jinmei daijiten (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  5. ^ "Asahi shinbun shinpojiumu: Gan ni makenai, akiramenai kotsu". Asahi shinbun (in Japanese). 25 March 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Dai 31-kai Nihon Academī Shō yūshū sakuhin" (in Japanese). Nihon Academī Shō kōshiki saito. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Dai 25-kai Yokohama Eigasai: Nihon eiga kojin shō" (in Japanese). Yokohama Eigasai. Archived from the original on 13 February 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  8. ^ "Burū Ribon Shō hisutorī 2008" (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  9. ^ "Japan's grandmother Kirin Kiki has defied conventions throughout her long film career". Japan Times.
  10. ^ "Motoki Masahiro". Nihon jinmei daijiten (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  11. ^ Yoshikawa, Mai (June 28, 2018). "Actress Kirin Kiki wants an ending with no twists". The Japan Times.
  12. ^ "Veteran TV, movie actress Kirin Kiki dies in Tokyo at age 75". The Japan Times. 16 September 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018.
  13. ^ Stuart Galbraith IV (16 May 2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3.
  14. ^ "REX 恐竜物語". eiga.com. Retrieved January 1, 2024.

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