Biography
Kumamoto City-born Shimada Yoko is best known in the west as Mariko from the 1980 mini-series Shogun. The lady-in-waiting role created an interest in Japan and its culture overseas and introduced Japanese history to foreign audiences. She won the Golden Globe For Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama category and was nominated for a Prime-time Emmy Award for her work on the serial in 1981. Shimada, who spoke some English for the serial, had been acting for years prior to Shogun however. She began learning ballet since age three and wanted to become a ballerina until her high high school days. Her family had moved to Tokyo when she was eight. She obtained an agent and began acting while in junior high school. The TV serial Zoku Hyouten made her famous beginning 1970. She released a nude photo book, called Kir Royal, in 1992. She was 39 and the photo book became a bestseller shifting half a million copies. At 57 she starred in an 'AV' pornography video called Mikkai in 2011. This was a tribute to her body even at that age. Shimada has a reservation for a space burial.
Also known as
Yôko Shimada · 島田洋子 · 岛田洋子 · Yōko Shimada · 島田楊子 · یوکو شیمادا
Photos
Profile images from TMDB · click to enlarge
7 images
Roles across career
Titles counted once; a person can act and direct on the same film (roles merged).
47
Acting credits
0
Directing
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Writing
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Other crew
Most critically rated
Highest TMDB score (min 100 votes)
Most commercially successful
Highest TMDB vote count (attention / reach proxy; not box office)
Career timeline
By release / first air year · movie & TV merged
