Masako Natsume

Masako Natsume was a Japanese actress from Tokyo who became widely popular in Japan and gained worldwide recognition for her portrayal of Tripitaka in the TV series Monkey, which is now considered a cult classic. She was born as Masako Odate in Shibuya, Tokyo, the only daughter of Sue and Kazu Odate. She was raised in Naka-ku, Yokohama, where she attended junior college until 1976. She auditioned for the lead role in Nihon TV's drama Ai ga miemasu ka (Can you see love?) and was chosen from 4,000 applicants. She dropped out of school to pursue an acting career, playing the part under her real name. Her mother initially objected to her choice of career and requested that she not use the Odate family name if she gained further work. In 1977, she changed her name to Natsume. She was chosen to represent Kanebo Cosmetics, achieving great popularity after appearing topless as the "Kooky Face" girl in an ad for sunscreen. She also recorded a song called "Oh! Cookie Face". She appeared in many bit parts and a few leads in movies, but continued in television. In 1978-79, she played the male part of Tripitaka (Sanzō-hōshi, Japanese translation of Sanzang-fashi) in the 1970s Japanese TV program Saiyūki, which proved popular in many English-speaking countries in the 1980s, when dubbed by the BBC and titled Monkey. She won the part as she had matched contemporary descriptions of Sanzō-hōshi's appearance more closely than male actors who auditioned. She made her stage debut with the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theater Company in 1980 in the play Kikaishi Naporeon No Taishoku. She specialized as well-bred but shy heroines in her movies, but she was regularly criticized by the public and media for her poor acting. However, this changed in 1982 after appearing as an ambitious and immoral woman in the TV drama Shousha and as the daughter of a Yakuza leader in the movie Onimasa. One of her lines from this movie, "Don't you look down on me!" (なめたらいかんぜよ, nametara ikan ze yo), became a very popular catchphrase in Japan. She won the award for best actress at the 8th Hochi Film Award for The Catch and Time and Tide. In 1984, she married Japanese author Tadaki Nishiyama, known under the pen name Shizuka Ijūin. But after only a year, she died from acute leukemia at the age of 27 in 1985, and is buried in Dairakuji Temple in Hōfu, Yamaguchi under the name Masako Nishiyama. Her photocopied images and picture books are still popular in Japan today. In 1997, Canon produced a television commercial for a copy machine, featuring her photocopied images, which offered 100 free compilations of the images in a book. Canon received 230,000 applications. In 2007, TBS broadcast a documentary on Masako's life titled Himawari - Masako Natsume 27 - sai no Shougai to Haha no Ai based on the book Futari no Masako written by her mother, Sue Odate. The documentary stars Yagi Yūki as Natsume in her childhood and Nakama Yukie as a grown Natsume.