Tomoko Naraoka

Actress

December 1, 1929 (93 years)

† March 23, 2023

Komagome, Hongo Ward, Tokyo City, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

Biography

Tomoko Naraoka (奈良岡朋子 Naraoka Tomoko, born December 1, 1929) is a Japanese actress and narrator. The daughter of a painter, she was born in Komagome, Hongō (present-day Bunkyo), in the city of Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from Joshibi University of Art and Design. Naraoka debuted as a cinema actress in the 1949 film Chijin no Ai, based on the novel Naomi. In 1981 she appeared in Rengō Kantai (lit. "Combined Fleet", United States title: The Imperial Navy). She also appeared in Torajirō Sarada Ki…

Filmography

7.8

Ponyo

Yoshie (voice)

When Sosuke, a young boy who lives on a clifftop overlooking the sea, rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo, he discovers more than he bargained for. Ponyo is a curious, energetic young creature who yearns to be human, but even as she causes chaos around the house, her father, a powerful sorcerer, schemes to return Ponyo to the sea.

7.0

Life of a Flower

Osei

The story chronicles the life of Ii Naosuke.

8.3

Antarctica

Narrator (voice)

Set in the 1950's, a Japanese Antarctic research exploration team and 19 dogs that accompanied the team are stationed at the Showa Base in Antarctica. After a year, the exploration team is ordered to withdraw from the Antarctic station due to severe weather conditions. The dogs have to be left behind. The following year, the next team arrives at the Showa Base station and a miraculous reunion occurs between a dog handler accompanying the new tean and two dogs, Taro and Shiro, that are brothers.

N/A

Haru no Sakamichi

Nene

The story chronicles the life of Yagyū Munenori.

N/A

May Love Be Restored

Masa Kunugida

A tragic love story between a prostitute and a young trainee monk.

N/A

ありがとう

鶴田清子

No description available

7.1

Dodes'ka-den

Ochô

On a Tokyo dump’s shantytown edge, interwoven vignettes follow residents scraping by: a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a homeless father and son designing a dream house, a young woman brutalized at home, drunks, schemers, and saints of small kindnesses. Kurosawa crafts a ragged mosaic of hardship, fantasy, and flickers of grace that keep people moving forward.

N/A

Julie the Wild Rose

Narration

Eleven-year-old Julie Braun lives in the lush green mountain pastures of Austria's Southern Tyrol. Her parents are killed by Italian soldiers, and she is sent to Vienna to live with her relatives, the Clementes. She befriends cousins Johan and Tanya but has trouble adjusting to life with Uncle Karl and Aunt Klara. As Austria is plunged into World War I, Karl is fired from his job at a glass factory, and Julie's new family is forced into a life of hardship.

7.6

Demon

Matsuko

Shuji was once a feared member of the Yakuza crime syndicate, but he's reformed his ways, abandoned his old life and left the city for a small coastal fishing town where he's become an honest fisherman.

N/A

The Autumn in Tokyo

A unique drama that contrasts the lives of a family of elite salarymen in Tokyo and a family of landowners in Tokorozawa, Saitama, while exploring the timeless themes of drama such as human happiness, love and marriage in their everyday lives, told in a straightforward narrative style.

7.8

My Sons

Tetsuo is a young man living in Tokyo, who falls in love with a deaf-mute factory girl. He has always felt jealous of his college-educated brother, but ultimately wins both the girl and his father's acceptance and support in a touching and refreshing way.

7.3

Spring Bell

Katsuko Naganuma

Rokuheita Narumi is fascinated by oriental art and works as the director of the Saho Art Museum in Nara. His wife, Noriko, is unable to leave Tokyo, despite his wishes, and the two live separately. Feeling lonely and neglected by her husband, she immerses herself in the depraved life of the city and continues to have a loveless relationship with a doctor, Katsumori. One day, Narumi arrives in Tokyo and learns of Noriko's affair, but he cannot divorce her for the sake of their child, so he devotes himself to his work.

7.1

Railroad Man

Mune Kato

A railway stationmaster at a dying end-of-the-line village in Hokkaido is haunted by memories of his dead wife and daughter. When the railroad line is scheduled to be closed, he is offered a job at a hotel, but he is emotionally unable to part with his career as a railroader. His life takes a turn when he meets a young woman with an interest in trains who resembles his daughter.

6.6

The Imperial Navy

Utako Hongo

A lavish retelling of the true story of the final voyage and ultimate destruction and sinking of the battleship Yamato, Japan's greatest flagship during the Second World War.

7.1

Pigs and Battleships

Hotel Cherry's Wife

In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko, both involved with yakuza, brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together.

7.1

Ballad of Orin

Teruyo

A blind traveling musician is abused and oppressed wherever she goes, even as the modern world imposes change around her.

6.4

Disconcerto

Kikuko Soneda

Set within the fictional city of Mahoro, Keisuke Tada runs a "benriya" - a general problem solver for hire. His assistant is his former high school classmate Haruhiko Gyoten. A big crisis then occurs for them.

6.7

Tatara Samurai

Mizuho

In 16th century Japan, a young man has to choose between becoming a master steel maker like his father and grandfather before him, or becoming a samurai so that he can help protect his village from attacks by the various clans which want the high-quality steel made there.

8.0

Free and Easy 16

Hama-chan meets a friendly US soldier on a trip to Nagasaki with Su-san. Su-san returns to Tokyo and is informed that Hama-chan has gone missing.

N/A

Twenty-Four Eyes

Narrator (voice)

TV adaptation of the novel "Twenty-Four Eyes", combining animation with a few live-action scenes.