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Setsuko Hara
The star of Late Spring and Tokyo Story, central to some of Japanese cinema’s most enduring family dramas.
Late Spring · Tokyo Story
- Born
- 17 June 1920
- Birthplace
- Japan
- Died
- 5 September 2015
More people
Setsuko Hara
Setsuko Hara worked with Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse and Akira Kurosawa. Small changes of expression made her performances convey feelings that her characters could not easily say aloud.
Early life
Yokohama childhood
Born Masae Aida into a large family.
Studio entry
Her filmmaker brother-in-law helped introduce her to cinema.
Career
- 1935
Screen debut
Joined Nikkatsu and began acting as a teenager.
- 1946
Postwar roles
Starred in Kurosawa’s No Regrets for Our Youth.
- 1949
Ozu collaboration
Made the first of her six films with Yasujirō Ozu.
- 1962
Final films
Completed her screen career before withdrawing from public life.
Selected work
Late Spring
A daughter faces pressure to leave her father and marry.
Tokyo Story
Plays a widowed daughter-in-law who welcomes an elderly couple.
Sound of the Mountain
Stars in Mikio Naruse’s troubled-family drama.
Beyond work
Private retirement
Lived away from publicity for decades after leaving acting.
Kamakura
The coastal city became her home in later life.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗BFI: Late Spring ↗BFI: Tokyo Story, anatomy of a classic ↗Photo: Unknown photographer. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
