Otowa Nobuko

Otowa Nobuko (born Kaji Nobuko) was a Japanese actress. She joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1937 at the age of twelve, and made her stage debut with her classmates in 1939.

Otowa remained in the Takarazuka company until 1950, when she resigned and joined the Daiei movie studio. She made her film debut in Shojohou (1950), which was based on a screenplay by Shindô Kaneto. The following year, she starred in Shindô’s first directorial effort, Story of a Beloved Wife (1951). From then on, she appeared regularly in Shindô’s films, most notably The Naked Island (1960), which won international acclaim at the Moscow International Film Festival.

Shindô Kaneto and Otowa were married in 1978, following the death of Shindô’s first wife. The couple continued to collaborate for decades, up until A Last Note (1995).

Otowa died from liver cirrhosis in 1994, during the productio of A Last Note. Following her death, her ashes were scattered on Sukune Island, the filming location of The Naked Island. Years later, in 2000, Shindô released By Player, which included a posthumous role for Otowa, recorded before her passing.