Chieko Takehisa

Birthday: 1912-03-06
Deathday: 2006-09-14
Birthplace: Nakakawaguchi, Akita, Japan
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

Chieko Takehisa (March 6, 1912 – September 14, 2006) was a Japanese actress from Akita Prefecture. At 15, she dropped out of high school to join the movie industry. She then starred in many films and plays from the 1930s to the 1940s, becoming popular as an actress in "moga" (modern girl) roles.

In 1935, Takehisa met American journalist Clarke Kawakami at a Christmas party. They soon fell in love, but America's Japanese exclusion laws created great difficulty in securing a visa for Takehisa. In 1941, she finally arrived in the United States on a student visa, marrying Kawakami in August of that year. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Takehisa returned to Japan, resuming her film career, and the two lost contact. In 1945, Kawakami learned that Takehisa had survived the war. Hoping to find her, he returned to Japan and joined General Douglas MacArthur's staff in charge of the U.S. occupation. There, he was reunited with Takehisa, who was astonished to see him. The couple would have three children in the following years, and Takehisa effectively retired from the film industry by the late 1940s. Takehisa moved to Hawaii in 1950 with her family, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Credits

Year Title Character
1959-11-22 The Bride from Japan Taro's mother
1949-02-22 Kaze no ko
1946-05-02 Those Who Make Tomorrow Kin Okamoto, Mother
1945-11-22 Uta e! Taiyō
1945-07-26 To Love and Swear Shiraishi's wife
1944-06-08 Harbor of Life
1943-01-03 Kantaro of Ina
1941-03-11 Horse Saku Onoda, Ine's mother
1940-11-06 The Monkey King Witch
1940-03-06 Wife of a Lily
1940-01-18 Hikari to kage (Zenpen)
1940-01-18 Hikari to kage (Kōhen)
1939-08-10 Enoken's Mori no Ishimatsu
1939-01-11 Blizzard Ronin
1938-02-01 Subterranean Heat Okayo
1937-12-18 Learn from Experience, Part Two Yurie
1937-10-01 Learn from Experience, Part One Yurie
1937-08-11 Nangoku taiheiki Fujiharu
1937-05-21 Japanese Women's Textbook (Volume 1)
1937-05-11 Yoru no hato Okiyo
1936-06-21 Brother and Sister
1935-03-14 Botchan Kosuzu, the geisha
1934-01-05 Tadano Bonji: Jinsei Benkyô