Acting
Jun 8, 1964
Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Hiroko Yakushimaru
Acting
Biography
After passing the audition for the film produced by Haruki Kadokawa, she began her acting career. Along with teen idols Tomoyo Harada and Noriko Watanabe who debuted from Kadokawa Haruki Corporation, she was often dubbed as one of "Kadokawa Sannin-musume" in her early career. Yakushimaru made her acting debut in the 1978 movie Never Give Up. In 1981, she came into prominence with Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, the film where she played the leading role. She also recorded the same-titled theme song for the film, which hit No. 1 on Oricon in late 1981, and stayed there until January 18, 1982. Since rising to fame, Yakushimaru has gained success as both an actress and a pop singer, mainly during the 1980s. She had also worked as a prolific recording artist until her marriage with Kōji Tamaki, the leader of the band Anzen Chitai.
Feature Films (67)
An overworked career woman leaves her life in the city for an island vacation only to encounter eccentric local inhabitants.
Glasses
Sōra is a high school student who is basically invisible at school. He is friends with Chūya, who is an unpredictable character that often surprises those around him. Sōra and Chūya both have feelings for the same classmate, Kio Machida. The Machida girl refuses to come to class, because she doesn't want to dye her naturally brown hair black. Their school has unreasonable school rules, especially about uniforms, which include requiring all students to have black hair. Sōra and Chūya decide to stand up to change their school's black school rules so that Machida won’t have to repeat a year of school from missing too many classes.
Black School Rules
Special forces officer Ajisawa leaves his paramilitary group to take care of his newly-adopted daughter, Yoriko: the sole survival of a bloodbath for which he is responsible. Years later, Ajisawa is forced to return to the scene of the tragedy for his new job as a claims adjuster where he is subsequently arrested for his suspected involvement. But the threat of jail time is the least of his worries as his former organization comes gunning for him.
Never Give Up
In 1958 postwar Tokyo, the residents of a humble Third Street neighbourhood struggle, dream, and grow together as rapid modernisation transforms their lives beneath the shadow of the newly rising Tokyo Tower.
Always - Sunset on Third Street
A year has passed in postwar Tokyo, and struggling writer Chagawa enters the Akutagawa Prize competition in hopes of securing a better future for the boy in his care, while the Suzuki family unexpectedly take in a new relative who looks down on their humble way of life.
Always: Sunset on Third Street 2
It's 2007 and the Japanese Ministry of Finance have calculated that the economy will collapse in two years' time. They intend to prevent this by sending home appliance designer Mariko back in time 17 years using a time machine she accidentally invented. However, things don't go as planned and Mariko's daughter, Mayumi, is also sent back to find her mother and save Japan's economy.
Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust
A young girl tries to maintain a long-distance relationship with an aspiring fisherman.
Dogwood Tree
Amechiyo (the banished prince) falls in love with Tanukihime (a princess of raccoon dog disguised as human). This is an operetta which includes comedy, singing and dancing, and a love story.
Princess Raccoon
A drama about a father and his son centered around the Great Hanshin earthquake.
Magnitude: Bridge to Tomorrow
A high-school girl inherits a declining yakuza organization, which seeks to repair its fortunes under her leadership.
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
The evil Hikita clan rises from the dead to fulfill a curse on the Satomi clan by restoring the face of their warlord by using the skin of Princess Shizu. In the process of trying to capture her, the clan murders her entire family, but Princess Shizu escapes their clutches. She enlists the aid of eight samurai warriors, possessors of powerful magic crystal, led by Dosetsu (Sonny Chiba!) to help rescue the remaining members of her court and revenge her family. Along the way, they must fight undead warriors, evil spirits, poisonous beauties and a giant centipede.
Legend of the Eight Samurai
Television & Series (17)
When 21-year-old Kohei learns he has six months to live, he recruits his friends to form a group of cat burglars who steal for the good of the community.
Kisarazu Cat's Eye
1 Rittoru no Namida is a Japanese television drama for Fuji Television about a girl who was diagnosed with an incurable degenerative disease at 15, but was able to continue her life until her death at the age of 25.
1 Litre of Tears
A young yakuza thug apprentices with an indebted comic "rakugo" performer, whose not-so-fashionable son runs a clothes shop in the Harajuku backstreets.
Tiger and Dragon
Rio Sanada is the president of "Sanada Wellness" and an up-and-coming businesswoman who is selected as one of the "100 people in their 30s who will change the world". She is reunited with her former love interest Daiki Miyazaki, who is now a detective, after 15 years as an important witness to a murder case. In Gifu Prefecture in 2006, Rio is a third-year high-school student who wants to go to the University of Tokyo. She took good care of her younger brother in lieu of their busy father. Before Daiki could confess to her, an incident occurs at the dormitory.
Dearest
Aki Amano, a high-school girl from Tokyo moves to the Sanriku Coast in the Tohoku region to become a female diver. She becomes a local idol, then returns to Tokyo to try to become a real idol, and finally returns to Tohoku to help revitalize the area after the Great East Japan earthquake.
