Machiko Kyō

Motoko Yano, better known as Machiko Kyō (京 マチ子, Kyō Machiko; March 25, 1924 – May 12, 2019), was a Japanese actress who was active primarily in the 1950s. Considered one of Japan's first sex symbols and one of its greatest screen actresses, Kyō is best known for her critically acclaimed work with directors Akira Kurosawa, Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Kon Ichikawa, Teinosuke Kinugasa, Kōzaburō Yoshimura, Shirō Toyoda and Hiroshi Teshigahara, appearing in films such as Rashomon, Ugetsu, Gate of Hell, Street of Shame, Floating Weeds, Odd Obsession and The Face of Another.

Kyō received the Lifetime Achievement Japan Academy Film Prize in 1995. For her contributions to the arts, she received the Japanese government's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Precious Crown (4th Class).