{{short description|Japanese actress (born 1941)}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Shima Iwashita | image = Iwashita-Shima-1965-2.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Iwashita in the April 1965 edition of ''Eiga Jōhō'' | birthname = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|1|3|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Ginza, Tokyo]], Japan | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | height = | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1958–present | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[Masahiro Shinoda]]|1967|2025|end=died}}}} | website = }}
{{Nihongo|'''Shima Iwashita'''|岩下志麻|Iwashita Shima|born 3 January 1941|lead=yes}} is a Japanese stage and film actress who has appeared in films of [[Yasujirō Ozu]], [[Keisuke Kinoshita]], [[Masaki Kobayashi]] and most frequently of [[Masahiro Shinoda]], her husband.<ref name="Kinenote">{{cite web|url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/person.aspx?person_id=87698 |title=岩下志麻 |website=Kinenote |language=ja |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="Kotobank">{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B2%A9%E4%B8%8B%E5%BF%97%E9%BA%BB-1056790 |title=岩下志麻 |website=Kotobank |language=ja |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref><ref name="jmdb">{{cite web|url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0068700.htm |title=岩下志麻 |website=Japanese Movie Database |language=ja |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref> She is best known for starring in the ''[[Yakuza Wives]]'' series of [[yakuza film]]s between 1986 and 1998.<ref name="aera">{{cite web|title=岩下志麻が告白「自分の中の母性と女優の間でうつっぽくなった時期も…」|url=https://dot.asahi.com/articles/-/114157?page=3|work=AERA dot.|publisher=[[Asahi Shimbun]]|language=Japanese|date=2018-03-31|accessdate=2025-03-09}}</ref><ref name="schilling">{{cite book |last=Schilling |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Schilling |title=The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films |publisher=[[Stone Bridge Press]] |year=2003 |pages=35–36|isbn=1-880656-76-0}}</ref> In 2000, Iwashita ranked tenth on ''[[Kinema Junpo]]''{{'}}s readers' poll of the top female movie stars of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book|chapter=20世紀の映画スター<女優篇>|title=[[Kinema Junpo]]|publisher=Kinema Junposha|date=June 2000|pages=15–94}}</ref> In 2025, she was ranked fourth in a poll conducted by ''[[Sankei Shimbun]]'' on the top actresses of the [[Shōwa era]].<ref>{{cite web|title=読者2800人が選んだ昭和の名優―女性部門ベスト50を発表|url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20250301-OG4UGOCJW5F4VFPLZ3Y2I6MMJ4/3/|work=[[Sankei Shimbun]]|language=Japanese|date=2025-03-01|accessdate=2025-03-11}}</ref>
==Biography== Iwashita was born in [[Tokyo]], Japan, as the eldest daughter of Kiyoshi Nonomura and Miyoko Yamagishi, both stage actors.<ref name="Kinenote" /> In 1958, while still attending high school, she made her first television appearance in the [[NHK]] series ''Basu Tōri Ura''.<ref name="Kinenote" /> The following year, she entered the literature department of [[Seijo University]],<ref name="Kinenote" /> which she left without a degree.<ref name="Kotobank" /> She joined the [[Shochiku]] film studio the same year (1960) and gave her debut in Keisuke Kinoshita's ''[[The River Fuefuki]]'', but due to the film's long production time, it was her next film, Masahiro Shinoda's ''Dry Lake'', which was released first.<ref name="Kinenote" /> In 1961, she received the [[Blue Ribbon Awards|Blue Ribbon]] Newcomer Award.<ref name="Kinenote" />
Iwashita subsequently appeared in Yasujirō Ozu's last film, ''[[An Autumn Afternoon]]'', Masaki Kobayashi's ''[[Harakiri (1962 film)|Harakiri]]'' (both 1962), [[Noboru Nakamura]]'s ''[[Twin Sisters of Kyoto]]'' (1963), in which she played a dual role, and many films by her husband Masahiro Shinoda like ''[[Assassination (1964 film)|Assassination]]'' (1964) and ''[[Double Suicide]]'' (1969), in which she again played a dual role.<ref name="Kinenote" /> Also in 1969, she appeared on stage in the role of Desdemona in ''Othello''.<ref name="Kinenote" />
Iwashita is best known for starring in the ''[[Yakuza Wives]]'' series of female-led [[yakuza film]]s, which are based on a book of interviews with the wives and girlfriends of real gangsters.<ref name="aera"/><ref name="schilling"/> Beginning with the first installment in 1986, she appeared in eight of the ten theatrical films, ending with 1998's ''Yakuza Wives: Decision''.<ref name="schilling"/>
In addition to her film work, she kept appearing on television and on stage,<ref name="Kinenote" /><ref name="Kotobank" /> receiving numerous awards like the Blue Ribbon Award, the [[Kinema Junpo]] Award and the [[Mainichi Film Award for Best Actress|Mainichi Award for Best Actress.]]<ref name="Kinenote" />
==Filmography (selected)== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Notes ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Ref. |- | rowspan="3"|1960 | ''Dry Lake'' | | | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/yukeru201906-6/|title= 乾いた湖|access-date= 21 April 2025|website= National Film Archive of Japan|date= 29 June 2019|language=ja}}</ref> |- | ''[[The River Fuefuki]]'' | Ume | | |- | ''[[Late Autumn (1960 film)|Late Autumn]]'' | woman at reception desk | | |- | 1961 | ''Enraptured'' | | | |- | rowspan="2"| 1962 | ''[[Harakiri (1962 film)|Harakiri]]'' | Miho Tsugumo | | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://eiga.com/movie/37462/|title= 切腹|access-date= 29 April 2025|website= eiga.com|language=ja}}</ref> |- | ''[[An Autumn Afternoon]]'' | Michiko Hirayama | | |- | rowspan="2"| 1963 | ''[[Twin Sisters of Kyoto]]'' | Chieko / Naeko | Lead role | |- | ''[[A Legend or Was It?]]'' | Koeko Sonobe | Lead role | |- | 1964 | ''[[Assassination (1964 film)|Assassination]]'' | Oren | | |- | 1965 | ''[[Sword of the Beast]]'' | Taka | | |- | 1966 | ''[[The Kii River]]'' | | | |- | 1967 | ''[[Portrait of Chieko]]'' | Chieko Takamura | Lead role | |- |rowspan="2"| 1969 | ''[[Double Suicide]]'' | Koharu / Osan | | |- | ''[[Red Lion (film)|Red Lion]]'' | Tomi | | |- | 1971 | ''[[Silence (1971 film)|Silence]]'' | Kiku | | |- | 1974 | ''[[Himiko (film)|Himiko]]'' | [[Himiko]] | Lead role | |- | 1977 | ''[[Ballad of Orin]]'' | Orin | Lead role | |- | rowspan="2" | 1978 | ''[[The Demon (1978 film)|The Demon]]'' | Oume | Lead role | |- | ''[[Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron]]'' | Chiyo | | |- | rowspan="2" | 1982 | ''[[Suspicion (1982 film)|Suspicion]]'' | Ritsuko Sahara | Lead role | |- | ''[[Onimasa]]'' | Uta Kiryuin | | |- | rowspan="2" | 1984 | ''[[MacArthur's Children]]'' | Tome | | |- | ''[[Fireflies in the North]]'' | Yu Nakamura | | |- | rowspan="2" | 1986 | ''[[Gonza the Spearman]]'' | Osai | | |- | ''[[Yakuza Wives]]'' | Tamaki Awazu | Lead role | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://eiga.com/movie/36446/|title= 極道の妻たち|access-date= 29 April 2025|website= eiga.com|language=ja}}</ref> |- | 1990 | ''[[Childhood Days]]'' | Shizue Kazama | | |- | 1993 | ''[[Kozure Ōkami: Sono Chiisaki Te ni]]'' | Oharu | | |- | 1995 | ''[[Sharaku (film)|Sharaku]]'' | Troupe Leader | | |- | 1997 | ''[[Moonlight Serenade (1997 film)|Moonlight Serenade]]'' | Fuji | | |- | 1999 | ''[[Owls' Castle]]'' | [[Nene (aristocrat)|Kita no Mandokoro]] | | |- | 2003 | ''[[Spy Sorge]]'' | Mrs. Konoe | | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://eiga.com/movie/40733/|title= スパイ・ゾルゲ|access-date= 21 April 2025|website= eiga.com|language=ja}}</ref> |- |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Notes ! style="background:#B0C4DE" | Ref. |- | 1979 | ''[[Kusa Moeru]]'' | [[Hōjō Masako]] | Lead role; [[Taiga drama|''Taiga'' drama]] | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://haiyaku.web.fc2.com/79-taiga.html|title= 草燃える|access-date= 20 April 2025|website= Haiyaku Jiten|language=ja}}</ref> |- | 1987 | ''[[Dokuganryū Masamune]]'' | [[Yoshihime]] | ''Taiga'' drama | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://haiyaku.web.fc2.com/87-taiga.html|title= 独眼竜政宗|access-date= 20 April 2025|website= Haiyaku Jiten|language=ja}}</ref> |- | 2000 | ''[[Aoi (TV series)|Aoi]]'' | [[Oeyo|Ogō]] | ''Taiga'' drama | <ref>{{cite web |url= https://haiyaku.web.fc2.com/00-taiga.html|title= 葵 徳川三代|access-date= 20 April 2025|website= Haiyaku Jiten|language=ja}}</ref> |- |}
==Awards and honours (selected)== * 1961: Blue Ribbon Newcomer Award<ref name="Kinenote" /> * 1969–70: Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress for ''Double Suicide''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mainichi.jp/mfa/history/024.html |title=毎日映画コンクール 第24回（1969年） |website=Mainichi |language=ja |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref> * 1977–78: Blue Ribbon Award, Mainichi Film Award and Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actress in ''[[Ballad of Orin]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/h_award/1977/ |title=報知映画賞ヒストリー |access-date=2010-01-25 |language= ja |publisher= Cinema Hochi |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120306223901/http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/h_award/1977/|archive-date=2012-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mainichi.jp/mfa/history/032.html |title=毎日映画コンクール 第32回（1977年）|website=Mainichi |language=ja |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref> * 1988: Kinuyo Tanaka Award (1988)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kinuyo-bunka.jp/kinuyo/award/kinuyo_award.html |title=Kinuyo Tanaka Award |access-date=2 August 2023 |language=ja |website=下関市立近代先人顕彰館 （田中絹代ぶんか館）}}</ref> * 2004: [[Medals of Honor (Japan)|Medal with Purple Ribbon]] * 2012: [[Order of the Rising Sun|Order of the Rising Sun, 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment/news/2012/04/29/kiji/K20120429003144180.html |title=岩下志麻に旭日小綬章「一筋にやってきたことへのご褒美」 |website=Sponichi |language=ja |date=29 April 2012 |access-date=1 August 2023}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{IMDb name|id=0412615}}
{{Navboxes |title = Awards for Shima Iwashita |list = {{Blue Ribbon Award for Best Actress}} {{Mainichi Film Award for Best Actress}} {{Kinema Junpo Awards for Best Actress}} {{Hochi Film Award for Best Actress}} {{Japan Academy Prize for Best Actress}} {{Nikkan Sports Film Award for Best Actress}} {{Blue Ribbon Award for Best Newcomer}} }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwashita, Shima}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Actresses from Tokyo]] [[Category:20th-century Japanese actresses]] [[Category:21st-century Japanese actresses]] [[Category:People from Chūō, Tokyo]] [[Category:Taiga drama lead actors]] [[Category:Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon]] [[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 4th class]] [[Category:Japanese Buddhists]]