- Daughter of an actor and a geisha, she was trained as a musician on the three-stringed traditional Japanese shamisen. Her acting career began at the age of fourteen. She joined the Nikkatsu studio in Kyoto in 1930, because her mother was a friend of the chief executive. International fame came through her roles in several films by Akira Kurosawa, notably her Lady Macbeth-like character Asaji in 'Throne of Blood' (1957).
- Isuzu Yamada was named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 1993 and seven years later became the first actress to receive the illustrious Order of Culture from the Emperor of Japan.
- Mother of actress Michiko Saga.
- Mother of Michiko Saga.
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