Yoko Shimada

Infobox Actor
name = Yoko Shimada


caption = Yoko Shimada as Mariko (Lady Toda Buntaro) and Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne in the Shogun television miniseries.
birthdate = birth date and age|1953|5|17
location = Kumamoto, Japan
goldenglobeawards =
1981 "Shogun"

nihongo|Yoko Shimada|島田陽子|Shimada Yoko|born May 17, 1953 in Kumamoto, Japan is a Japanese actress. She is best known to Western audiences for her portrayal of Mariko (Lady Toda Buntaro) in the 1980 miniseries, "Shogun" with Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune. She was the only female member of "Shogun"'s massive cast of Japanese actors shown speaking English. She relied on a dialogue coach to get her through the many pages of dialogue since she was not fluent in English at the time. Her English improved greatly during the production, allowing her to work in a few English language films during the 1980s and 1990s without the need of a dialogue coach.

Her film and TV career dates back to the early 1970s, and she continues to appear in Japanese and occasional Western productions. In recent years she's had alcohol and gambling problems. She married and things seemed to calm down for her. Now divorced, she lives in Shinjuku and has a new film that seems to be doing well.

Filmography

* "Hajimete no tabi" (1972)
* "Castle of Sand" (1974)
* "Wagahai wa neko de aru" (1975)
* "Torakku yarô: Hôkyô ichiban hoshi" (1976)
* "Inugamike no ichizoku" (1976)
* "Hakuchyu no shikaku" (1979)
* "Ôgon no inu" (1979)
* "Shogun" (1980) - theatrical/home video edit of mini-series
* "Ritoru champion" (1981)
* "Kyukei no koya" (1981) - made for television
* "Hanazono no meikyu" (1988)
* "The Hunted" (1995)
* "Crying Freeman" (1995)
* "Yingxiong Zheng Chengong" (2000)
* "Shinku" (2005)

Television

* "Kamen Raidâ" (1971)
* "Shogun" (1980)
* "Sanga moyu" (1984)
* "Oka no ue no himawari" (1993)

External links

*
* [http://www.yoko-shimada.com/ Yoko Shimada Official WEB Site] (Japanese)