Tokuko Sugiyama

Born: 1926-08-16

Tokuko Sugiyama (杉山 とく子), also known by her birth name and former stage name Tokuko Sugiyama (杉山 徳子), was a Japanese actress born on August 16, 1926, in Tokyo. She is renowned for her notable roles in the film "The Town with a View of the Capsule" (キューポラのある街) and the TV dramas "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" (男はつらいよ) and "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari Series" (渡る世間は鬼ばかりシリーズ). After completing her education at Jissen Women's Academy Second High School, Sugiyama initially worked as a nursery school teacher and in Chiba Newspaper's advertising department. Her journey into the entertainment industry began when she applied to Toho's New Face audition and later joined the Bungakuza theater company in 1946. Following two years of training, she became a part of the Haiyūza theater company in 1948 and marked her stage debut with "Tooku e no Hitsuji Goya" (遠くへの羊飼い) the same year. Sugiyama's film debut occurred in 1949 with "Shiratori wa Kanashikarazu ya" (白鳥は悲しからずや). She played significant supporting roles throughout her career. Notably, in the TV drama "Otoko wa Tsurai yo," she portrayed Tora-san's sister, Tsune, and featured in various roles in the film series. From 1990 onward, she portrayed Hanako Noda, the mother-in-law of the main character, in the TV drama "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari." Even at the age of 66 in 1992, she continued her acting career from a nursing home in Saitama Prefecture. Sugiyama retired from the entertainment industry in 2005, with her final appearance in the 7th series of "Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari." She passed away on August 28, 2014, at the age of 88 due to liver cancer. Throughout her career, Sugiyama often collaborated with Kunio Yamazaki, Aiko Nagayama, and Akiko Matsuda. She was a recurring cast member in films directed by Yoji Yamada. (Translated from Wikipedia Japan "杉山とく子")


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Horus: Prince of the Sun

as Chahal (voice)
Released: 1968-07-24

Young Horus lives in a mythical Scandinavia of the Iron Age. Recovering the stolen Sword of the...

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The Human Condition I: No Greater Love

as (uncredited)
Released: 1959-01-15

After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post...

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The Wild Swans

as Witch (voice)
Released: 1977-03-19

A young girl must spend six years making sweatshirts out of poison ivy in order to save her six...

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A Taxing Woman

as Grocery Store Owner's Wife
Released: 1987-02-07

Intrepid tax investigator Ryoko Itakura sets her sights on the mysterious and philandering...

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Tales of a Golden Geisha

as uncredited
Released: 1990-06-02

The film stars two of Itami's regular actors, Nobuko Miyamoto as a geisha who brings luck to the...

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Twelve Months

as Stepmother
Released: 1980-03-15

A young queen requests a bouquet of snowdrop flowers for New Year's Day in exchange for a...

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Metamorphosis

as uncredited
Released: 1986-10-10

A sensuous movie based on a literary work. Hitomi Kuroki stars as the film’s heroine.

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Great Jailbreak

as uncredited
Released: 1975-04-05

A group of prisoners attempts to break the Abashiri prison. This film can be considered a...

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A Distant Cry from Spring

as Housewife Next Door
Released: 1980-03-15

The quiet life of a mother and her young son living on a farm in Hokkaido is changed by the...

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Stage-Struck Tora-san

as uncredited
Released: 1978-08-05

Tora-san leaves Shibamata once again after an argument with his family and finds himself at an...

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Village of Dreams

as Grandmother
Released: 1996-07-13

Tells of the childhood of two nine-year-old twins in a rural village in Japan after World War 2....

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War and Flowers

as uncredited
Released: 1989-05-11

Japanese Drama film about the female experience during the war years.

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Tora-san, the Go-Between

as Koharu
Released: 1985-08-03

In Nagasaki, Tora-san and an acquaintance help an old woman who has fallen and injured herself....

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Hearts and Flowers for Tora-san

as Kagari's mother
Released: 1982-08-07

During his travels, Tora-san gets drunk with an old man in Kyoto. Though Tora-san never fully...

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Tora-san's Runaway

as uncredited
Released: 1970-08-26

After an encounter with a dying yakuza's son and at his sister Sakura's urging, Torajiro...

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Keishichō monogatari iryū-hin nashi

as uncredited
Released: 1959-09-15

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Foundry Town

as Tomi (Jun's mother)
Released: 1962-04-08

Set in Kawaguchi in the early 60s, this simple story chronicles the lives of foundry families...

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Bungakusho Satsujin Jiken: Oinaru Jyoso

as Takashi Ōgaki
Released: 1989-01-28

A young doujinshi writer doesn't win the literary prize award, and ends up killing the selection...

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The Empty Table

as uncredited
Released: 1985-11-01

One year has passed since the Kidojis' eldest son Otohiko was arrested for his part in a...

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Foster Daddy, Tora!

as uncredited
Released: 1980-12-27

After a friend and business colleague dies, Tora-san visits the man's daughter, then takes her...

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Tora-san's Promise

as uncredited
Released: 1981-12-28

Tora-san returns to his family's home to attend an elementary school class reunion. After he...

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The Village

as uncredited
Released: 1976-04-12

This appears to be a labor of love. Its about a village which is given the opportunity to put on...

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Mofuku no niau hitozuma futari

as Shizue
Released: 1986-08-09

Yuki Kimura, a company president's secretary, agrees to marry his son Yutaka on the president's...

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Flower Season

as uncredited
Released: 1990-02-27

Kitamori Yuki was particular about her promise to her mother-in-law Hana. The promise is that,...

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Tora-san Plays Cupid

as uncredited
Released: 1977-12-24

Tora-san becomes friends with Toraya's newest tenant, a pachinko-playing electrician that goes...

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The Forest Is Alive

as uncredited
Released: 1956-10-08

Film adaptation of the stage version of Samuil Marshak's "Twelve Months"

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It's Tough Being a Man (Television Drama DVD Edit Edition)

as uncredited
Released: 1968-10-03

This is the DVD version of the TV show, which consists of a single video that plays the first...

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Kobayashi Takiji

as uncredited
Released: 1974-02-20

A tribute to proletarian author Takiji Kobayashi (1903-1933)

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Making It Through

as uncredited
First aired: 1990-10-11

Sugako Hashida Drama Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari is a Japanese television drama series that first...

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It's Tough Being a Man

as uncredited
First aired: 1968-10-03

The original TV Drama series the famous Tora film series was based on.

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