Momoko Kōchi: Difference between revisions

MomokoKōchi's paternal grandfather was Viscount [[Masatoshi Ōkōchi]], the third director of [[RIKEN]]; her father, a painter, was the second son of Masatoshi.<ref>Saitō, Ken. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4VczAQAAIAAJ&q=%E5%A4%A7%E6%B2%B3%E5%86%85+%E6%A1%83%E5%AD%90&dq=%E5%A4%A7%E6%B2%B3%E5%86%85+%E6%A1%83%E5%AD%90&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZt8S_npjMAhUEKCYKHRb3CXcQ6AEIHDAA 大河内正敏: 科学・技術に生涯をかけた男]. 日本経済評論社, 2009. Retrieved 18 April 2016. {{ja-icon}}</ref><ref>[http://reichsarchiv.jp/家系リスト/大河内松平家（吉田藩）#masatosi952 大河内松平家（吉田藩）]. Reichsarchiv. Retrieved December 2015. {{ja icon}}</ref><ref>[http://omugio.exblog.jp/17469263/ 大河内子爵家 吉田藩主]. 直球感想文 和館. Retrieved 14 February 2016. {{ja icon}}</ref> Her husband, television producer Sadataka Hisamatsu, with whom she had a daughter,<ref>[http://www.kisseido.co.jp/kura/loverinthos/letter/letter2.html メッセージありがとうございました]. Retrieved 14 July 2016. {{ja-icon}}</ref> was descended from the [[Matsudaira clan#Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan|Hisamatsu-Matsudaira clan]] who ruled over the [[Imabari Domain]].<ref>[http://reichsarchiv.jp/家系リスト/久松松平氏（御家門・伊予今治藩家系）#sadataka935 久松松平氏（御家門・伊予今治藩家系）]. Reichsarchiv. Retrieved December 2015. {{ja icon}}</ref>

After graduating from [[Japan Women's University]]'s affiliated high school, MomokoKōchi worked as an [[office lady]],<ref>Kikuchi, Hiroshi. [https://books.google.com/books?id=-qsQAQAAMAAJ&q=%E4%B9%85%E6%9D%BE+%E6%A1%83%E5%AD%90&dq=%E4%B9%85%E6%9D%BE+%E6%A1%83%E5%AD%90&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMvv_okpjMAhVESCYKHRZ5CWUQ6AEIHTAA 文藝春秋 - Volume 77]. 1999. Retrieved 18 April 2016. {{ja-icon}}</ref> but she joined [[Toho]] through their "New Face" program in April 1953,<ref>Lentz, Harris M. [https://books.google.com/books?id=E5sHAQAAMAAJ&q=Momoko+Kochi&dq=Momoko+Kochi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjCtPO9wrDKAhVM2SwKHSToA7s4ChDoAQhgMAk Obituaries in the Performing Arts]. McFarland & Company, 1998. Retrieved 14 April 2016.</ref> along with [[Akira Takarada]], [[Kenji Sahara]], [[Yū Fujiki]], and [[Masumi Okada]] (who later moved to [[Nikkatsu]]). Her first role was in {{nihongo|''A Woman's Heart Released''|女心はひと筋に|Onna gokoro wa hitosuji ni}} as Yaeko. One year later, she acted in movies directed by [[Kajirō Yamamoto]].

It was in one of Yamamoto's movies that his protégé, [[Ishirō Honda]], saw MomokoKōchi while he was making a science fiction film, ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]'', with a topical storyline. Honda chose her to play the main female role of Emiko Yamane. While her role served as the center of the movie's romantic [[subplot]], it provided the purpose for the resolution of the main story. Even though she was inexperienced as an actress at the time, her role was excellent as she hoped for, and she did very well in it.

After her success in ''Godzilla'', MomokoKōchi was typecast in other science fiction and kaiju films, including ''[[Half Human]]'' and ''[[The Mysterians]]''. She left Toho in 1958 to pursue her formal study of acting, which she did not receive upon early discovery in 1953.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

One year after leaving Toho, MomokoKōchi did her formal study of acting with [[Tsutomu Yamazaki]] and [[Kumi Mizuno]] and joined the troupe. She then debuted as a stage actress in [[William Shakespeare]]'s [[Twelfth Night]]. Her subsequent movie appearances have been reduced as a result and she mostly performed on stage (including [[The Merchant of Venice]] and [[Macbeth]]), while occasionally performing in television commercials as well as [[Drama (genre)|drama]] (including her role as Shōko Tsunashi in {{nihongo|''Thank You''|ありがとう|Arigatō}} from 1972 to 1973 with co-star [[Kiyoshi Kodama]]).{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

MomokoKōchi made some appearances on [[TBS Television|TBS]] drama specials produced by [[Fukuko Ishii]] and written by [[Sugako Hashida]]. During her later years, she appeared as Toshiko Takahashi, a woman with [[Alzheimer's disease]], in ''{{nihongo||渡る世間は鬼ばかり|[[Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari]]}}'', with [[Kunihiko Mitamura]].{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} She also made some appearances in two-hour dramas such as {{nihongo||土曜ワイド劇場|Doyō waido gekijō}}.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}}

In 1995, [[Takao Okawara]] offered MomokoKōchi the chance to reprise her role as Emiko Yamane in ''[[Godzilla vs. Destoroyah]]''. Although Otawara was used to working with younger actors, he was impressed by MomokoKōchi's complete training and concentration. All of her scenes were completed in one day, and her cameo appearance attracted the public throughout Japan. She later recounted her appearance in an interview with [[CNN]]: "After the first Godzilla movie people pointed at me saying, 'Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla.' As a young woman I hated Godzilla, so I thought, 'no more Godzilla for me.' But 41 years later I watched the film again and realized how great it was for its anti-nuclear theme."<ref>Ryfle, Steve. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cqSOkywWeX4C&pg=PA312&dq=Momoko+Kochi&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi0u-PevrDKAhWGwHIKHYIFCZgQ6AEIPTAD#v=onepage&q=Momoko%20Kochi&f=false Japan's Favorite Mon-star: The Unauthorized Biography of "The Big G"]. Toronto: ECW Press, 1998. Retrieved 14 April 2016.</ref>

On 19 July 1997, MomokoKōchi's last film, {{nihongo||良寛|Ryōkan}}, was released. Two days later, on 21 July, she made a guest appearance in a TBS Monday Drama Special, {{nihongo||演歌・唱太郎の人情事件日誌|Enka Shōtarō no ninjō jiken nisshi}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

Later in the same year, MomokoKōchi toured the [[Tōhoku region]] with the troupe for performances of {{nihongo||ゆの暖簾|Yu no noren}}. During the tour, she complained about her poor health, and she was diagnosed with [[colorectal cancer]] in January 1998. Her cancer spread rapidly, and she did not undergo surgery at the time of diagnosis. One year earlier, on 15 December, her final performance was in [[Tsuruoka, Yamagata]].{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

MomokoKōchi continued to perform on stage until she died on 5 November 1998 at the [[Japanese Red Cross]] Medical Center in [[Hiroo, Shibuya]] from colorectal cancer at the age of 66.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=B4QQAQAAMAAJ&q=%E4%B9%85%E6%9D%BE+%E6%A1%83%E5%AD%90&dq=%E4%B9%85%E6%9D%BE+%E6%A1%83%E5%AD%90&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjK_JWLlZjMAhXEOiYKHf6uCy0Q6AEIJDAB Gekkan shinbun daijesuto - Volume 33]. 1999. Retrieved 18 April 2016. {{ja-icon}}</ref> On 29 October, a week before her death, she was baptised into the Roman Catholic Church under her baptismal name of "Maria" by Father Masahiro Kondō of the [[Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer]].{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} Her grave is at [[Yanaka Cemetery]] in [[Taitō]].<ref>[http://ya-na-ka.sakura.ne.jp/kouchiMomoko.htm 河内桃子]. 谷中・桜木・上野公園裏路地ツアー. Retrieved 14 February 2016. {{ja icon}}</ref>

Due to MomokoKōchi's roles in Catholic religious programs, she was congratulated by [[Pope John Paul II]] with some awards in 1996.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

* Since childhood, MomokoKōchi showed off her photograph, "My Lover," in which she was depicted with her grandfather Masatoshi.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

* On 31 December 1957, MomokoKōchi visited [[São Paulo]] for the opening of Toho's branch in [[Brazil]] with another Toho actress, [[Machiko Kitagawa]] (who would later become the wife of Kiyoshi Kodama). They then went to [[New York City]] in the [[United States]] to participate in the Japanese cinema exhibition. On 12 February 1958, they returned to Japan. At the time, worldwide travel liberalisation was still underway, and their visits to São Paulo and New York City became very valuable.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}