Isuzu Yamada

Seven decades on stage and screen. Isuzu Yamada, born in Osaka in 1917 and died in 2012 at ninety-five, had a career long enough that it spans nearly the entire history of Japanese cinema as an art form — from the prewar years through the postwar golden age and into the television era. What strikes me is not the length but the range. She won the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress twice, in 1953 and 1957, and for Best Supporting Actress in 1956. Actors who can win in both categories are telling you something: they are not coasting on star presence, they are actually working inside the film. She was named a Person of Cultural Merit in 1993 and received the Order of Culture, Japan's highest honour for artistic achievement, in 2000. Surviving that many industry upheavals — studios collapsing, audiences migrating to television — required rebuilding her place over and over. For international viewers meeting her through classic Japanese cinema, she is worth treating as a landmark rather than a footnote.

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Name (English)

Isuzu Yamada

Name (Japanese)

山田五十鈴

Reading

やまだ いすず

Born

February 5, 1917 – July 9, 2012

Origin

Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Occupation

seiyū / stage actor / film actor / actor

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Aquarius / Snake

Blood type

A

Active years

1930 - 2002

Awards & achievements

• 2000 Order of Culture
• 1993 Person of Cultural Merit
• 1953 Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actress
• 1957 Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actress
• 1956 Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Supporting Actress
• Kikuta Kazuo engeki shō
• Mainichi Film Award for Best Actress

Works summary

Appearances

247 (1950–2001)

By year (titles with a known year)

1950: 1, 1951: 6, 1952: 6, 1953: 8, 1954: 5, 1955: 8, 1956: 7, 1957: 15, 1958: 9, 1959: 2, 1960: 5, 1961: 5, 1962: 3, 1963: 2, 1964: 3, 1965: 2, 1966: 4, 1967: 4, 1968: 1, 1969: 3, 1970: 3, 1971: 3, 1973: 2, 1974: 1, 1975: 2, 1976: 3, 1977: 5, 1978: 5, 1979: 4, 1980: 3, 1981: 1, 1982: 3, 1983: 4, 1984: 1, 1985: 2, 1986: 1, 1987: 1, 1990: 4, 1993: 2, 1994: 1, 1995: 1, 1996: 1, 1999: 1, 2000: 2, 2001: 1, year unknown: 91

Debut work

殺陣師段平

Filmography / notable works

• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu%20Yamada
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E7%94%B0%E4%BA%94%E5%8D%81%E9%88%B4
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q453584

Tags

• Osaka Prefecture
• seiyū
• stage actor
• film actor

Last updated

September 24, 2026

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Works and profile fields sourced from Wikipedia reflect content as of 2026-08-26. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.