Etsuko Ichihara

was a Japanese actress. She began acting in 1957 when she joined the Haiyuza theatre troupe. She was Shigeko Shizuma in "Black Rain" and Hihoha Miyamizu in "Your Name". She appeared in more than one hundred movies since 1957.
Ichihara was born in Chiba, Chiba Prefecture in Japan. The first movie she was in was "Rikō na oyomesan". After she won an award at the 1959 Geijutsusai because of acting in "Chidori", she became the star of Haiyuza. She left the group in 1971. In 1990, she won the Japan Academy Prize for being the "best supporting actress". This is because of her acting in "Black Rain". Her husband was Satoshi Shiomi, who was a movie director. Shiomi died in 2014.
Ichihara was hospitalised in early December 2018. This was because she had issues with her cecum. She got better and appeared on a Japanese talk show on 21 December 2018. She left the hospital on 30 December 2018. She was hospitalised again on 5 January 2019. She died on 12 January 2019 from heart failure at the age of 82. This was in a Tokyo hospital.