My Take
Izumi Ashikawa, born Sachiko Itō in Tokyo in 1935, was marketed in her day as Japan's Audrey Hepburn, a label that says as much about 1950s publicity as it does about her. The plainer facts are the ones I like. Scouted by the director Yuzo Kawashima in 1953, she debuted for Shochiku in Tokyo Madam and Osaka Wife, then moved to Nikkatsu in 1955 and became a genuine star there. What stays with me is the way it ended. She married and stepped away from the screen while audiences still wanted her, which almost nobody manages to do. There is no long tail of shrinking roles, no comeback cycle, just a body of work from one particular stretch of Japanese cinema, sealed off and intact. The films kept her exactly as she was, and I suspect that was the point.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Izumi Ashikawa
- Name (Japanese)
- 芦川いづみ
- Born
- October 6, 1935 (age 90)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Boar
- Origin
- Tokyo, Japan
- Occupation
- actor
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%A6%E5%B7%9D%E3%81%84%E3%81%A5%E3%81%BF
Frequently asked questions
When was Izumi Ashikawa born?
Born October 6, 1935 (age 90).
Where is Izumi Ashikawa from?
Izumi Ashikawa is from Tokyo, Japan.
What does Izumi Ashikawa do?
Izumi Ashikawa works as actor.
Actor — see all → · More people from Japan →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-07-27
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.