Chikage Awashima - The Flower of the Popular School that Blossomed in the Burned-Out Area (Late 1940s - 1960s)

Chikage Awashima - The Flower of the Popular School that Blossomed in the Burned-Out Area (Late 1940s - 1960s)

Chikage Awashima (1924-2012) joined Shochiku from the Takarazuka Revue, and was a popular and elegant presence in the early postwar Japanese film industry. Japan was in the process of rebuilding after the defeat of World War II, and audiences were looking for familiar and cheerful heroines. In the 1950s, the golden age of cinema began, and Awashima played a woman of sorrow in "Nigorie" (1953) and, with Hisaya Morishige, portrayed the joys and sorrows of ordinary people in "Zenya and Hisaya Morishige's Married Couple" (1955). In "Married Couple Zenzai" (1955), he portrayed the sorrows and joys of ordinary people with Hisaya Morishige. In "Ekimae Series" (1955), she portrayed laughter and a sense of daily life rooted in everyday life, and her status as an actress for the common people remained unshakeable. Her rounded, friendly face and lively expressions gave audiences life-sized sympathy. While her contemporary Setsuko Hara embodied a chaste idealistic image, and Hideko Takam
ine's combination of intelligence and commonness won her national support, Awashima symbolized a sense of intimacy, like a woman next door. During the period of postwar reconstruction and rapid economic growth, she shone as a heroine of the common people who carried hope and sympathy, and left a solid mark on Japanese film history.