Kirin Kiki

Who is Kirin Kiki?

Kirin Kiki (樹木 希林 Kiki Kirin?) (born 15 January 1943) is a Japanese actress known for her work in cinema and television.

Kiki was born in the Kanda area of Tokyo as the daughter of a master of the biwa lute.[1] 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 (悠木千帆).[2] 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.[2] 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."[1]

While battling various ailments, including a detached retina in 2003 and breast cancer in 2005,[3] Kiki has continued to act and has won several awards, including the best actress Japan Academy Prize for Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad in 2008,[4] the best supporting actress award from the Yokohama Film Festival for her work in Kamikaze Girls and Half a Confession in 2004,[5] and the best supporting actress Blue Ribbon Award for Still Walking in 2008.[6]

Kiki married fellow Bungakuza actor Shin Kishida, but they divorced in 1968. She is currently married to the rock musician Yuya Uchida.[1] Her daughter, Yayako Uchida, is an essayist and musician; notably, Uchida 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,[1] who was adopted into the Uchida family as a mukoyōshi.[7]