Yumeko Aizome

Yumeko Aizome (born Yachiyo Yokoyama on December 25, 1915) grew up in the rural town of Inawashiro, Fukushima after the tragic loss of both parents—her father died when she was six months old and her mother when she was ten. Orphaned, she was taken in by an uncle and relocated to Tokyo with her older brother, where she attended elementary school before pursuing a career in the performing arts. In July 1930, she abandoned her high school studies to join the renowned Shochiku Kagekidan musical theatre revue, debuting as a pirate in the production Merry‑Go‑Round. Her early stage experience quickly translated to the silver screen, where she made her film debut in Mikio Naruse’s 1932 lost work Moth‑eaten Spring. Within a year she appeared in Yasujirō Ozu’s Dragnet Girl and soon after portrayed the prostitute Masumi in Hiroshi Shimizu’s Japanese Girls at the Harbor, establishing herself as a versatile talent capable of both dramatic and light‑hearted roles. Aizome continued to collaborate with celebrated directors such as Ozu, Naruse, Shimizu and Heinosuke Gosho throughout the 1930s and 1940s, starring in Our Neighbor, Miss Yae (1934) as the spirited Yaeko and delivering a memorable performance as Akiko Anjō in A Ball at the Anjo House (1947). In the post‑war period she took a minor part in Epitome (1953) before briefly retiring in 1955; however, she returned for a final screen appearance a decade later in Yoji Yamada’s Kiri no Hata (1965). Personal life intertwined with sport when she married Olympic gold‑medalist swimmer Masanori Yusa in 1942, taking the married name Yachiyo Yusa. Their daughter, Makoto Yusa (born February 28, 1942), later pursued acting under the stage name Naoko Yusa. Aizome remained a respected figure in Japanese cinema, participating in a 1985 interview alongside her Our Neighbor, Miss Yae co‑star Sanae Takasugi and providing source material for a 2002 publication on modernist Japanese film, marking the lasting impact of her storied career.