Kirin Kiki


Kirin Kiki was a Japanese actress for Japanese cinema and television.

Biography

Kiki was born in the Kanda area of Tokyo as the daughter of a master of the biwa lute. After graduating from high school, she started her acting career in the early 1960s as a member of the Bungakuza theater troupe using the stage name Chiho Yūki. She eventually gained fame for performing uniquely comedic and eccentric roles on such television shows as Jikan desu yo and Terauchi Kantarō ikka and in television commercials. She changed her name to "Kirin Kiki" when, after being asked on a television show to auction off something of hers, she ended up selling her first stage name, claiming she had "nothing else to sell."
While battling various ailments, including a detached retina in 2003 and breast cancer in 2005, Kiki continued to act and won several awards, including the best actress Japan Academy Prize for in 2008, the best supporting actress award from the Yokohama Film Festival for her work in Kamikaze Girls and Half a Confession in 2004, and the best supporting actress Blue Ribbon Award for Still Walking in 2008.

Personal life

Kiki married fellow Bungakuza actor Shin Kishida. They separated in 1968. She married musician Yuya Uchida in 1973, and remained legally married to him though they separated in 1975. Their daughter, Yayako Uchida, is an essayist and musician, and portrayed the younger self of Kiki's character in the film Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad. Yayako Uchida is married to the actor Masahiro Motoki, who was adopted into the Uchida family as a mukoyōshi. Kirin's granddaughter Kyara Uchida has appeared with her in two films, I Wish and Sweet Bean.
Kiki was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and underwent a mastectomy. She died of cancer, and related illnesses, on 15 September 2018.

Selected filmography

Film