Chôko Iida(1897-1972)
- Actress
Chouko Iida was born in 1897, in the old downtown of Tokyo,
Asakusa.After dropping out of high school and working as a clerk at the
Matsuzakaya Department Store, she joined the Nakamura Matsugoro Acting
Company. In 1922, Iida entered Shochiku Kamata Productions. Her acting
was soon recognized by a director at Shouchiku and she went on to debut
in Shinyuku Tsuma (The Dying Wife). She then appeared in Gamaguchi (A
Purse) and Goikenmuyo (Useless Opinions) in collaboration with Jun
Arai. After her marriage to Hideaki Mohara, a cameraman, she played the
principal role in a number of films of Godokoro Hiranosuke: Okame (The
Turtle), Ukiyoeburo (The Bath of the Floating World), Onna to
Umaretakaranya (Because I Was Born to Be a Woman). She later co-starred
with Takeshi Sakamoto in Dekigokoro (Acting on Impulse), Ukigusa
Monogatari and Tokyo no yado (A Japanese Inn in Tokyo) the successful
series of films by Yasujiro Ozu. Iida received the Jujo Murasaki award
in 1963, and the Tanho award fourth prize in 1967. She died in 1972, of
lung cancer at the age of 75.
