---
name: "Setsuko Hara"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/setsuko-hara"
fi1m_id: "setsuko-hara"
imdb_id: "nm0361697"
tmdb_id: 95504
wikidata_id: "Q236129"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "17 June 1920"
died: "5 September 2015"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 92
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T17:22:53.547592+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Setsuko Hara

## Identity

Setsuko Hara

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/setsuko-hara
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** setsuko-hara
- **IMDb ID:** nm0361697
- **TMDB ID:** 95504
- **Wikidata ID:** Q236129
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsuko_Hara, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236129, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0361697/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/95504

Actor. Born 17 June 1920 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Died 5 September 2015.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 17 June 1920, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
- **Died:** 5 September 2015
- **Active:** 1949–1953
- **Also known as:** 原 節子, Masae Aida, ستسوکو هارا
- **Frequently works with:** [Chishū Ryū](https://film.one/person/chishu-ryu.md), [Haruko Sugimura](https://film.one/person/haruko-sugimura.md), [Kōgo Noda](https://film.one/person/kogo-noda.md), [Takeshi Yamamoto](https://film.one/person/takeshi-yamamoto.md), [Yasujirō Ozu](https://film.one/person/yasujiro-ozu.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 92, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 92 (1), 1950s 92 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setsuko_Hara, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q236129, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0361697/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/95504

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Tokyo Story*](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md) (92), [*Late Spring*](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md) (92)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Setsuko Hara

> Setsuko Hara makes kindness interesting without making it saintly. We value the small gestures and polite smiles through which her daughters and widows reveal feelings that their good manners will not let them state.

In *Tokyo Story* (1953), Setsuko Hara’s Noriko gives her visiting parents-in-law the attention their own children struggle to spare. There is no need for a grand display of generosity; Hara makes the care look ordinary. We were moved by that attention, and a little embarrassed that such modest kindness should feel like a relief. Her performance is a reason to persist if Yasujirō Ozu’s deliberate pace takes some getting used to. She gives us someone to care about while he asks us to look carefully at behaviour we usually excuse.

Her post-war prominence came with Akira Kurosawa’s *No Regrets for Our Youth* (1946), before *Late Spring* (1949) began her six-film partnership with Ozu. In *Late Spring*, the daughter reluctant to marry helped fix her association with women expected to put their families first. But Mikio Naruse gave her the part of a discontented wife in *Repast* (1951), a useful corrective to the idea that she only played contented, self-sacrificing women. By *Late Autumn* (1960), she was playing a widow whose daughter faced similar pressures.

A polite smile in Hara’s work need not mean that someone is happy; it can be a way of keeping sadness out of a conversation. Ozu and co-writer Kōgo Noda give that restraint a purpose in *Tokyo Story*, where the children’s neglect is mild enough for us to recognise our own excuses. Hara’s widowed daughter-in-law provides the uncomfortable comparison without seeming to have been sent in to deliver a moral lesson. Hara gives Noriko enough individuality for us to remain interested in her beyond the help she offers.

The reservation is how often the roles ask her to be self-effacing, particularly across the films with Ozu and Naruse. It is worth looking beyond that familiar casting, rather than assuming dutifulness is all she can offer. The dissatisfied wife in *Repast* gives us a reason to do so. Start with *Tokyo Story*, though, and allow its quiet exchanges the time they need.

## Biography

Setsuko Hara (原 節子), also credited as Masae Aida, was a Japanese actress. She was born on 17 June 1920 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan, and died on 5 September 2015. She appeared in six films directed by Yasujirō Ozu, including the Noriko trilogy of *Late Spring* (1949), *Early Summer* (1951) and *Tokyo Story* (1953), in which she played Noriko Hirayama.

Hara began her career in 1935 and worked with directors including Akira Kurosawa and Mikio Naruse. Her other notable films include *No Regrets for Our Youth* (1946), *Tokyo Twilight* (1957), *Late Autumn* (1960) and *The End of Summer* (1961). She retired from acting in 1963 and thereafter lived privately in Kamakura.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Tokyo Story* (1953), Fi1m 92, as Noriko Hirayama — [page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md)
- *Late Spring* (1949), Fi1m 92, as Noriko Somiya — [page](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md)

## Complete filmography (90)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Noriko Setsuko 2* (2023), as Noriko Setsuko
- *Noriko Setsuko* (2023), as Noriko Setsuko
- *Untitled # 7 : Rare* (2021), Actor
- *Chûshingura* (1962), as Riku Oishi
- *Musume to watashi* (1962), Actor
- *The End of Summer* (1961), as Akiko
- *Love and Fascination* (1961), Actor
- *The Wayside Pebble* (1960), as Oren Aikawa
- *Late Autumn* (1960), as Akiko Miwa
- *Life of a Country Doctor* (1960), Actor
- *Daughters, Wives and a Mother* (1960), as Sanae Soga
- *The Three Treasures* (1959), as Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess
- *A Woman's Heart* (1959), Actor
- *Oban kanketsu hen* (1958), as Kanako Arishima
- *Holiday in Tokyo* (1958), Actor
- *Woman Unveiled* (1958), Actor
- *Zokuzoku Ôban: Dotô hen* (1957), as Kanako Arishima
- *The Last Escape* (1957), as Tomiko
- *Zoku Ôban: Fûun hen* (1957), as Kanako Arishima
- *The Chieko Story* (1957), as Chieko Takamura
- *Tokyo Twilight* (1957), as Takako Numata
- *Ôban* (1957), as Kanako Mori
- *A Brother and His Sister* (1956), as Akiko Mamiya
- *Women in Prison* (1956), as Prison Officer
- *Three Youngmen and a Dream Girl* (1956), as Designer Matsukawa
- *Settlement of Love* (1956), as Katsuko
- *Sudden Rain* (1956), as Fumiko Namiki
- *Image of Mother* (1955), Actor
- *Nobuko Rides on a Cloud* (1955), as Mom
- *Sound of the Mountain* (1954), as Ogata Kikuko
- *Tokyo Story* (1953), as Noriko Hirayama — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md)
- *White Fish* (1953), as Sachiko
- *Toki no teizo: Sōshūban* (1952), Actor
- *Tokyo Sweetheart* (1952), as Yuki
- *Kin no tamago: Golden Girl* (1952), Actor
- *The Wind Blows Twice* (1952), as Kanae Hisamatsu
- *Repast* (1951), as Michiyo Okamoto
- *Early Summer* (1951), as Noriko Mamiya
- *The Idiot* (1951), as Taeko Nasu
- *The Rainbow-Colored Flower* (1950), as Teruko
- *Alps Story: The Wild* (1950), Actor
- *A Female Doctor's Examination Room* (1950), as Fumiko Tajima
- *Shirayuki sensei to kodomo tachi* (1950), Actor
- *Late Spring* (1949), as Noriko Somiya — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md)
- *The Blue Mountains: Part II* (1949), as Yukiko Shimazaki
- *The Blue Mountains: Part I* (1949), as Yukiko Shimazaki
- *Here's to the Young Lady* (1949), as Yasuko Ikeda
- *Kōfuku no genkai* (1948), Actor
- *A Woman in the Typhoon Area* (1948), as Kuriko Sato
- *Fujisancho* (1948), Actor
- *Temptation* (1948), as Takako
- *Three-Fingered Detective* (1947), Actor
- *Onna dake no yoru* (1947), Actor
- *The Ball at the Anjo House* (1947), as Atsuko Anjo
- *The Age of Beginnings* (1947), as Miyako Tomoda
- *No Regrets for Our Youth* (1946), as Yukie Yagihara
- *Beauty* (1946), as Keiko
- *Three Women of the North* (1945), Actor
- *Until Victory Day* (1945), Actor
- *The Cruel Sea* (1944), Actor
- *Searing Wind* (1943), as Kumiko Takagi
- *Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky* (1943), Actor
- *Suicide Troops of the Watchtower* (1943), as Yoshiko
- *The Opium War* (1943), Actor
- *The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya* (1942), as Kikuko
- *Green Earth* (1942), Actor
- *Young Teacher* (1942), as Tomiko Hirayama
- *Currents of Youth* (1942), as Makiko Yuijima
- *Sky of Hope* (1942), as Chizuko
- *Story of Leadership* (1941), as Kuniko
- *The Sisters' Agreement* (1940), as Sachiko
- *A World of Two* (1940), Actor
- *The Snake Princess* (1940), as Koto Hime
- *Wedding Day* (1940), as Yoshiko
- *Travels to the East* (1940), as Showa Kinema Actress
- *Hikari to kage (Kōhen)* (1940), Actor
- *Hikari to kage (Zenpen)* (1940), Actor
- *Women in Tokyo* (1939), as 君塚節子
- *The Town* (1939), as Sonomi Kihara
- *Shanghai Landing Party* (1939), as Mingzhu - Chinese girl
- *Beautiful Departure* (1939), Actor
- *Winter Inn* (1938), Actor
- *Pastoral Symphony* (1938), Actor
- *The Giant* (1938), Actor
- *The Woman Aiming for the Shogun* (1937), Actor
- *Mother's Melody* (1937), as Keiko
- *The Daughter of the Samurai* (1937), as Misuko Yamato
- *The Crown of Life* (1936), Actor
- *Priest of Darkness* (1936), as Onami
- *Throwing the Soul Away* (1935), as Student

## Gallery

- ![Setsuko Hara](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-c46fe764d4a1.jpg) Setsuko Hara — Shōchiku, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Setsuko_Hara_in_Tokyo_Story_%281953%29.jpg/1280px-Setsuko_Hara_in_Tokyo_Story_%281953%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Ruth Eweler and Setsuko Hara in Atarashiki tsuchi (新しき土) aka Die Tochter des Samurai - 1937](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-43494bf4898e.jpg) Ruth Eweler and Setsuko Hara in Atarashiki tsuchi (新しき土) aka Die Tochter des Samurai - 1937 — J.O. Studios and Dr. Arnold Fanck-Film, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Atarashiki_Tsuchi_01_%281937%29.jpg/1280px-Atarashiki_Tsuchi_01_%281937%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Isamu Kosugi and Setsuko Hara in Atarashiki tsuchi (新しき土) aka Die Tochter des Samurai - 1937](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-288e3c0c4b5a.jpg) Isamu Kosugi and Setsuko Hara in Atarashiki tsuchi (新しき土) aka Die Tochter des Samurai - 1937 — J.O. Studios and Dr. Arnold Fanck-Film, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Atarashiki_Tsuchi_02_%281937%29.jpg/1280px-Atarashiki_Tsuchi_02_%281937%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Setsuko Hara in Atarashiki tsuchi (新しき土) aka Die Tochter des Samurai, 1937](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-c2ef751daa59.jpg) Setsuko Hara in Atarashiki tsuchi (新しき土) aka Die Tochter des Samurai, 1937 — J.O. Studios and Dr. Arnold Fanck-Film, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Atarashiki_Tsuchi_03_%281937%29.jpg/1280px-Atarashiki_Tsuchi_03_%281937%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Setsuko Hara](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-633df4fa5f18.jpg) Setsuko Hara — Image via TMDB
- ![Setsuko Hara](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-82437a67416a.jpg) Setsuko Hara — Image via TMDB
- ![Setsuko Hara](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-d12709d59168.jpg) Setsuko Hara — Image via TMDB
- ![Setsuko Hara (Noriko Mamiya), Chikage Awashima (Aya Tamura), Matsuko Shiga (Mari Takanashi), Kuniko Igawa (Takako) in Bakushū (麦秋) directed by Yasujirō Ozu - 19 (1951)](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-1ea2d7d6ca36.jpg) Setsuko Hara (Noriko Mamiya), Chikage Awashima (Aya Tamura), Matsuko Shiga (Mari Takanashi), Kuniko Igawa (Takako) in Bakushū (麦秋) directed by Yasujirō Ozu - 19 (1951) — Shōchiku, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Bakushu.jpg/1280px-Bakushu.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Scene from Bakushū (麦秋) directed by Yasujirō Ozu, 1951. Front row from left to right: Isao Shirosawa (城沢勇夫), Chieko Higashiyama, Ichirō Sugai and Zen Murase. Se](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-ef427104da72.jpg) Scene from Bakushū (麦秋) directed by Yasujirō Ozu, 1951. Front row from left to right: Isao Shirosawa (城沢勇夫), Chieko Higashiyama, Ichirō Sugai and Zen Murase. Se — Shōchiku, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Bakushu_2.jpg/1280px-Bakushu_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Setsuko Hara](https://film.one/media/person/59926/gallery-d8c61091c26c.jpg) Setsuko Hara — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actress 1952: Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Actress (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/setsuko-hara