Chôko Iida

Biography

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.