Masako Natsume

Masako Natsume (夏目 雅子, Natsume Masako, December 17, 1957 - September 11, 1985) (family name: Nishiyama) was a Japanese model and actress from Tokyo. Widely popular in Japan she gained worldwide recognition for her portrayal of Tripitaka in the TV series Monkey which is now considered a cult classic.

Biography

Masako was born Masako Odate in Roppongi, Tokyo, the only daughter of Sue and Kazu Odate. Raised in Naka-ku, Yokohama, while in junior college in 1976 she auditioned for the lead in Nihon TV's Ai Ga Miemasu Ka?. Chosen from 4,000 applicants, she dropped out of school to pursue an acting career, playing the part under her real name Masako Odate. Masako's mother initially objected to her choice of career and requested that she not use the Odate family name if she gained further work. In 1977, she changed her name to Natsume.

In 1977, she was chosen to represent Kanebo Cosmetics, achieving great popularity after appearing topless as the "Kooky Face" girl in an ad for sunscreen. This popularity led to her recording a song later that year called "Oh! Cookie Face". Many bit parts and a few leads in movies followed but she continued in television.

In 1978-79, she played the male part of Tripitaka (Sanzō-hōshi, Japanese translation of Sanzang-fashi) in the 1970s Japanese TV program Saiyūki, which proved popular in many English-speaking countries in the 1980s, when dubbed by the BBC and titled Monkey. Masako won the part as she had matched contemporary descriptions of Sanzō-hōshi's appearance more closely than male actors who auditioned.

Masako made her stage debut with the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theater Company in 1980 in the play "Kikaishi Naporeon No Taishoku".

Specialising as well-bred but shy heroines in her movies, she was regularly criticized by the public and media for her poor acting. However, this changed in 1982 after appearing as an ambitious and immoral woman in the TV drama "Shousha" and as the daughter of a Yakuza leader in the movie "Onimasa". One of her lines from this movie "Don't you shit with me!" became a very popular catchphrase in Japan.

She won the award for best actress at the 8th Hochi Film Award for The Catch and Time and Tide.^[1]

Death

She died from acute leukemia at the age of 27 in 1985 and is buried in Hōfu, Yamaguchi under the name Masako Nishiyama.

Legacy

In 1997, Canon produced a television commercial for a copy machine, featuring her photocopied images, which offered 100 free compilations of the images in a book. Canon received 230,000 applications. Masako Natsume picture books and calendars are still popular in Japan today.

In 2007, TBS broadcast a documentary on Masako's life titled "Himawari - Masako Natsume 27 - sai no Shougai to Haha no Ai" based on the book "Futari no Masako" written by her mother, Sue Odate. The documentary stars Yagi Yūki as Natsume in her childhood and Nakama Yukie as a grown Natsume.

Filmography

Television

• Kaze no Hayato (1979)
• The Shousha (1980) - Maki Matsuyama
• Downtown monogatari (1981)
• Nonomurabyouin monogatari (1981) - Noriko Kitami
• Onna Taikōki (1981) - Oichi
• Dokkiri Tenma-sensei 2 (1983)
• Tokugawa Ieyasu (1983) - Yodo-dono

Television in a starring role

• Ai Ga Meimasu Ka (Can you see love?)
• Akum no Temariuta (Devil)
• Ougon no Hibi (Platinum Age)
• Y no Higeki (Tragedy of Y)
  This television drama was the first Japanese drama based on an Ellery Queen novel.
• Saiyuki (Monkey)
• Nijiko no Boukan (Adventures of Nijiko)

Films

• Ore no Sora (My Sky) 1977
• Truck Yaro: Otoko Ippiki Momojiro {translation required} 1977
• Nihyakusan Kochi (Port Arthur) 1980
  A Russo-Japanese War Drama about the Siege of Port Arthur. Masako plays the role of an Imperial Japanese Army officer's girlfriend who stays in Japan.
• Masho no Natsu (The Summer of Evil Spirits) 1981
• Onimasa Kiryuin Hanako no Shogai (The life of Hanako Kiryuin) 1982 Renamed Onimasa for foreign distribution.
  It was Japan's submission to the 55th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film but was not accepted as a nominee.
• Dai Nihon Teikoku ( The Great Japanese Empire) 1982
  A WW2 drama where Masako plays two roles. A terminally ill Japanese student striving to become a painter and a Filipino woman.
• Future War 198X 1982
  An animated film with Masako providing the voice for a pilot in the United States Airforce.
• Jidai-ya no Nyobo (A wife of Jidai-ya) 1983 Renamed Time and Tide for foreign distribution.
  Jidai-ya is the name of a shop. Masako plays two roles. The wife of the shops owner who walks out on him and the customer he falls in love with because she looks like his wife.
• Shosetsu Yoshida Gakkou (Yoshida School) 1983 - Kazuko Asō
• Nankyoku Monogatari (South Pole Story) 1983
  Released in the United States under the title "Antarctica". This movie is the second most successful film in Japan after Steven Spielbergs E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
• Gyoei no Mure (A Group of Fish) 1983. Renamed The Catch for foreign distribution.
• Setouchi Shonen Yakyu Dan (Setouchi Boys Baseball Team) 1984. Renamed MacArthur's Children for foreign distribution.
  Released posthumously.

Notes

Both of Masako's brothers, Kazuo and Toshiaki Odate are professional golfers. Toshiaki won the 1993 Woodone Open and the 2001 JCB Classic. Masako's sister-in-law, Yoshiko Odate, an actress and former member of the popular 1970s pop group The Candies died on April 21, 2011 of breast cancer.^[2]

Mawaru-Penguindrum, a 2011 Japanese anime series produced by Brain's Base has a character named Masako Natsume.

References

External links

• Biography of Natsume
• Burial monument (Japanese)
• The Sunflower Foundation, a cancer organization dedicated to Natsume (Japanese)