12 Facts About Setsuko Hara

Setsuko Hara is widely considered to be one of the greatest Japanese actresses of all time.

Setsuko Hara was born Masae Aida in what is Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama in a family with three sons and five daughters.

Setsuko Hara came to prominence as an actress in the 1937 German-Japanese co-production Die Tochter des Samurai, known in Japan as Atarashiki Tsuchi, directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami.

Setsuko Hara continued to portray tragic heroines in many of her films until the end of World War II, like The Suicide Troops of the Watchtower and The Green Mountains, directed by Tadashi Imai, and Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky, directed by Kunio Watanabe.

Setsuko Hara remained in Japan after 1945 and continued making films.

Setsuko Hara starred in Akira Kurosawa's first postwar film, No Regrets for Our Youth.

Setsuko Hara worked with director Kimisaburo Yoshimura in A Ball at the Anjo House and Keisuke Kinoshita in Here's to the Girls.

Setsuko Hara, who never married, is nicknamed "the Eternal Virgin" in Japan and is a symbol of the golden era of Japanese cinema of the 1950s.

Setsuko Hara quit acting in 1963, and subsequently led a secluded life in Kamakura, where many of her films with Ozu were made, refusing to be interviewed or photographed.

Setsuko Hara herself confessed during her final press conference that she never really enjoyed acting and was only using it as a means to support her family; however, many people continued to speculate over her possible romantic involvement with Ozu, or the possibility of failing eyesight.

Setsuko Hara is considered by many critics and filmmakers to be the greatest Japanese actress of all time.

In 2000, Setsuko Hara was selected by celebrities as the greatest Japanese actress in Kinema Jumpo's list of the greatest 20th-century movie actors and actresses.