Nijiko Kiyokawa

Honestly, the moment I see a name like Nijiko Kiyokawa my whole posture changes, because we're talking about someone born back in 1912 who kept making people laugh from the prewar years clear through the postwar boom, and that's just a staggering amount of history to carry. I love that she wasn't boxed into one lane either, bouncing between acting, voice work, and straight-up comedy with the kind of fearless physicality that only the old-school greats had. She got the Order of the Sacred Treasure, which tells me she wasn't just a funny face but a craftswoman with real backbone. I can't rattle off her signature roles, but I deeply respect that performers like her built the foundation modern Japanese comedy stands on. She passed in 2002, and frankly you don't see this breed of unflappable comic anymore.

Nijiko Kiyokawa (1912–2002) was a Japanese actress, voice actress, and comedian born in Chiba Prefecture. Active across multiple performing arts disciplines from the prewar era through the postwar decades, she built a long career spanning stage, screen, and voice work. She was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class, in recognition of her contributions to the performing arts. She passed away on May 24, 2002.

Name (English)

Nijiko Kiyokawa

Name (Japanese)

清川虹子

Reading

きよかわ にじこ

Born

November 24, 1912 – May 24, 2002

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Rat (子)

Origin

Chiba Prefecture, Japan

Occupation

Actress / Voice Actress / Comedian

Awards & achievements

• Order of the Sacred Treasure, Fourth Class (year unknown)

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B8%85%E5%B7%9D%E8%99%B9%E5%AD%90

Tags

• From Chiba Prefecture
• Actress
• Voice Actress
• Comedian

Last updated

2026-06-02

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.