A Portrait of the Dream of Purity: Yuriko Hoshi and the Showa Gaze (1960s-1970s)

A Portrait of the Dream of Purity: Yuriko Hoshi and the Showa Gaze (1960s-1970s)

Yuriko Hoshi (1943-2018) was a representative of the purist actresses who symbolized Japanese cinema in the 1960s and 1960s. She appeared on the silver screen at a time when the film industry was still being pushed by television, when major film companies were nurturing their stars, and when she was the sole focus of the audience's admiration.

At the end of the 1950s, Japan was in the midst of its rapid economic growth. Urbanization was progressing, the number of middle-class families was increasing, and people's lives and culture were changing along with home electrification. In such an environment, audiences sought films that symbolized "purity" and "happiness," which were the opposite of the postwar devastation. Yuriko Hoshi was exactly what they were looking for.

In 1960, she entered the film industry as a new face in Toho's 6th generation, and in 1961, she attracted attention when she played the role of Yuzo Kayama's lover in "The Young General of the University". Since then, through the Wakadaisho series, she has been established as the "good family girl," the "neat and tidy lover," and the ideal image sought by the times. On screen, she was seen as a flower blooming in a peaceful home, combining a smile and intelligence.

The "Wakadaisho" series is a symbolic work that reflects the affluence and hope of the postwar era, and in it, Hoshi embodies the image of a "woman living positively in the postwar era. At a time when the entire country believed in the future and was full of upward mobility, Hoshi became a presence that made audiences wish that they could be more like her.

In the late 1960s, however, television rapidly spread and the film industry began to decline. Audiences shifted from movie theaters to the living room, and movie stars also moved into the world of TV dramas. Yuriko Hoshi also expanded her career as an actress in home dramas and suspense dramas.

Even amidst the changing media environment, Hoshi's "dignity" remained intact. Her innocent, intelligent, and nostalgic appearance shone as brightly as ever on television.

Her trajectory overlaps with that of the era when Japan dreamed of affluence and stability. In a Japanese society that had emerged from the shadow of war and held out hope for the future, Yuriko Hoshi was the embodiment of a dream, a "visionary purity" that the eyes of the times kept staring at.