is a Japanese stage and film actress who has appeared in films of Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi and most frequently of Masahiro Shinoda, her husband. She is best known for starring in the Yakuza Wives series of yakuza films between 1986 and 1998. In 2000, Iwashita ranked tenth on Kinema Junpos readers' poll of the top female movie stars of the 20th century. In 2025, she was ranked fourth in a poll conducted by Sankei Shimbun on the top actresses of the Shōwa era.
Biography Iwashita was born in Tokyo, Japan, as the eldest daughter of Kiyoshi Nonomura and Miyoko Yamagishi, both stage actors. In 1958, while still attending high school, she made her first television appearance in the NHK series Basu Tōri Ura. The following year, she entered the literature department of Seijo University, which she left without a degree. She joined the Shochiku film studio the same year (1960) and gave her debut in Keisuke Kinoshita's The River Fuefuki, but due to the film's long production time, it was her next film, Masahiro Shinoda's Dry Lake, which was released first. In 1961, she received the Blue Ribbon Newcomer Award.
Iwashita subsequently appeared in Yasujirō Ozu's last film, An Autumn Afternoon, Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri (both 1962), Noboru Nakamura's Twin Sisters of Kyoto (1963), in which she played a dual role, and many films by her husband Masahiro Shinoda like Assassination (1964) and Double Suicide (1969), in which she again played a dual role. Also in 1969, she appeared on stage in the role of Desdemona in Othello.
Iwashita is best known for starring in the Yakuza Wives series of female-led yakuza films, which are based on a book of interviews with the wives and girlfriends of real gangsters. Beginning with the first installment in 1986, she appeared in eight of the ten theatrical films, ending with 1998's Yakuza Wives: Decision.
In addition to her film work, she kept appearing on television and on stage, receiving numerous awards like the Blue Ribbon Award, the Kinema Junpo Award and the Mainichi Award for Best Actress.
Filmography (selected) Film YearFilmRoleNotesRef.1960Dry LakeThe River FuefukiUmeLate Autumnwoman at reception desk1961Enraptured1962HarakiriMiho Tsugumo An Autumn AfternoonMichiko Hirayama1963Twin Sisters of KyotoChieko / Naeko Lead roleA Legend or Was It?Koeko SonobeLead role1964AssassinationOren1965Sword of the BeastTaka1966The Kii River1967Portrait of ChiekoChieko TakamuraLead role1969Double SuicideKoharu / OsanRed LionTomi1971SilenceKiku1974HimikoHimikoLead role1977Ballad of OrinOrinLead role1978The DemonOumeLead roleBandits vs. Samurai SquadronChiyo1982SuspicionRitsuko SaharaLead roleOnimasaUta Kiryuin1984MacArthur's ChildrenTomeFireflies in the NorthYu Nakamura1985 The Empty Table Kiwa Nakahara1986Gonza the SpearmanOsaiYakuza WivesTamaki AwazuLead role1990Childhood DaysShizue Kazama1993 Kozure Ōkami: Sono Chiisaki Te ni Oharu1995SharakuTroupe Leader1997Moonlight SerenadeFuji1999Owls' CastleKita no Mandokoro2003Spy SorgeMrs. Konoe
Television YearTitleRoleNotesRef.1979Kusa MoeruHōjō MasakoLead role; Taiga drama1983The Women of Osaka CastleYodo-donoLead role; television film1987Dokuganryū MasamuneYoshihimeTaiga drama2000AoiOgōTaiga drama
Awards and honours (selected) 1961: Blue Ribbon Newcomer Award 1969–70: Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress for Double Suicide 1977–78: Blue Ribbon Award, Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress in Ballad of Orin 1988: Kinuyo Tanaka Award (1988) 2004: Medal with Purple Ribbon 2012: Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette
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