Chieko Takehisa

Biography

Chieko Takehisa (March 6, 1912 – September 14, 2006) was a Japanese actress from Akita Prefecture. At 15, she dropped out of high school to join the movie industry. She then starred in many films and plays from the 1930s to the 1940s, becoming popular as an actress in "moga" (modern girl) roles.

In 1935, Takehisa met American journalist Clarke Kawakami at a Christmas party. They soon fell in love, but America's Japanese exclusion laws created great difficulty in securing a visa for Takehisa. In 1941, she finally arrived in the United States on a student visa, marrying Kawakami in August of that year. After the Pearl Harbor attack, Takehisa returned to Japan, resuming her film career, and th...