Sayoko Yamaguchi

{{Short description|Japanese model and actress (1949–2007)}} {{Infobox model | image = Sayoko Yamaguchi.jpg | caption = Sayoko Yamaguchi | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1949|9|19}} | birth_place = [[Yokohama]], [[Japan]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|8|14|1949|9|19}} |death_place = [[Tokyo]], Japan | occupation = Model, actress }} '''Sayoko Yamaguchi''' ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]: 山口小夜子, September 19, 1949 – August 14, 2007) was a Japanese model and actress. She was known for her black hair, distinctive makeup, white skin, red lip makeup and for her clothes inspired by Japanese culture. == Early life == Yamaguchi was born in Yokohama and graduated from [[Sugino Gakuen]]'s Dressmaker Gakuin design school in Tokyo.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2007-08-21 |title=Renowned model Yamaguchi dies |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/08/21/national/renowned-model-yamaguchi-dies/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529020108/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/08/21/national/renowned-model-yamaguchi-dies/ |archive-date=29 May 2016 |access-date=2020-07-30 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Career == Yamaguchi broke into the international modeling industry in the 1970s.<ref name="rte">{{cite news |date=2007-08-20 |title=Japanese supermodel dies, aged 57 |url=http://www.rte.ie/arts/2007/0820/yamaguchis.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418011620/http://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2007/0820/410881-yamaguchis/ |archive-date=18 April 2017 |access-date=2007-08-20 |work=[[RTÉ]]}}</ref> She was one of the first Asian models to be featured in the world's top fashion shows and magazines. She made her debut in Paris in 1972,<ref name="rte" /> and went on to work in New York City and other international cities.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In 1977, [[Newsweek Magazine|''Newsweek'']] named her one of the world's top six fashion models.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="rte" /> Also that year, she was featured on the cover of [[Steely Dan]]'s ''[[Aja (album)|Aja]]'' album, photographed by [[Hideki Fujii]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sweet |first=Brian |title=Steely Dan: Reelin' In the Years |publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] |year=2015 |isbn=9781783056231 |location=London |pages=179}}</ref>

Yamaguchi went on to continue her career as a film and theater actress, as well as a costume designer.<ref name=rte/>

==Death== Yamaguchi died aged 57, on August 14, 2007, of acute [[pneumonia]].<ref name=rte/> In 2015, she was the subject of a posthumous documentary, ''Kōri no hanabi Sayoko Yamaguchi'' (Ice Fireworks Sayoko Yamaguchi).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ice Fireworks Sayoko Yamaguchi |url=https://www.artscouncil-tokyo.jp/ja/what-we-do/support/program/7660/ |access-date=24 September 2023 |website=Arts Council Tokyo}}</ref>

==Filmography== * ''Carol'' (1974, documentary) – Self * ''ピーターソンの鳥'' (''Peterson's Bird'') (1976) – Keiko * ''杳子'' (''Yuko'') (1977) – Sayako *''Lost Love'' (1978) – Asuka Yamazaki * ''四季の追想'' (''Reminiscences of the Four Seasons'') (1979, short) * ''Fashion'' (1980, TV), "Kansai in New York" – Self *''[[Fruits of Passion]]'' (1981) – Sakuya *''[[Rikyu (film)|Rikyū]]'' (1989) – Chacha *''石の花'' (''Stone Flowers'') (1989, documentary short) – Self *''T-CITY'' (1993, video short) – Woman *''[[Pistol Opera]]'' (2001) – Sayoko Uekyo *''Soundtrack'' (2002) – Red monster *''[[Matouqin Nocturne]]'' (2007) – Zarome *''Kōri no hanabi Sayoko Yamaguchi'' (Ice Fireworks Sayoko Yamaguchi) (2015, posthumous documentary) – Self

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [[:ja:%E5%B1%B1%E5%8F%A3%E5%B0%8F%E5%A4%9C%E5%AD%90|Japanese Wikipedia page for Sayoko Yamaguchi ]] *[http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2007/0820/410881-yamaguchis/ RTE: Japanese supermodel dies, aged 57] *{{IMDb name|0945351}} * [http://yamaguchisayoko.com/ Kōri no hanabi Sayoko Yamaguchi] (in Japanese)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yamaguchi, Sayoko}} [[Category:Japanese women fashion designers]] [[Category:Models from Tokyo]] [[Category:Actresses from Tokyo]] [[Category:Models from Yokohama]] [[Category:People of the Shōwa era]] [[Category:1949 births]] [[Category:2007 deaths]] [[Category:Japanese female models]]