Meiko Kaji

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Meiko Kaji was born Masako Ōta in the Kanda area of Tokyo and graduated from the Yakumo Academy high school in Meguro, Tokyo. She began to work in the film industry under her real name at Nikkatsu studio in 1965 after graduating from high school. Her first supporting film role was in 1968 in Retaliation. In 1969 she appeared in Nihon Zankyoden, one of a series of films directed by Masahiro Makino, who recognized her acting ability and provided her with the stage name of Meiko Kaji. In 1970 she had a starring role in Blind Woman's Curse directed by Teruo Ishii, and from 1970 to 1971 she appeared in the Noraneko Rokku (Stray cat/Alleycat Rock) series of films about delinquent and rebellious young people and gangs, appearing in all five films in different character roles.

In 1971, Nikkatsu would move more towards production in the pink film business, which were more overtly sexual; and to avoid roles in such films, Kaji moved to the Toei Company. There she starred in the four-part Female Convict 701: Scorpion series of women in prison revenge films as Nami Matsushima/"Matsu the Scorpion", a woman sent to prison for seeking revenge and her attempts to escape, and in 1972 she first starred in the Wandering Ginza Butterfly yakuza/gangster series as Higuchi Nami.

In 1973 she starred in Lady Snowblood directed by Toshiya Fujita and distributed by Toho, a revenge film set in late 1800s Japan based on the manga of the same name, where she played the deadly assassin Yuki. It is considered by many critics to be her most famous role, particularly outside of Japan, and would later go on to inspire other media, including Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films. A year later she reprised her role as Yuki in the sequel Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance in 1974. She went on to appear in several of Kinji Fukasaku's films, such as Yakuza Graveyard in 1976 and in 1978 starred in Sonezaki Shinjū, where she earned nominations for Best Actress at five different award shows, winning four of them.

By the end of the 1970s, Kaji left major film roles following a combination of overwork amidst rampant production schedules and underpayment, but had occasional film roles in the 1980s and 2010s, including Under the Open Sky in 2020. She worked in television since the 1980s. In 1989 she portrayed the informant Omasa in the television drama Onihei Hankachō, the Shochiku–Fuji Television version starring kabuki actor Nakamura Kichiemon II.

During her acting career Kaji received acting offers from non-Japanese film studios, including those from Hollywood, but declined them, as she felt she could not give a good performance in a language other than Japanese.

Kaji is also a singer. She sang the theme song to Lady Snowblood, "Shura no Hana" (修羅の花), and the theme song of the Female Convict Scorpion series, "Urami Bushi" (怨み節). When both these songs were used in the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill, there was a revival of interest in Kaji's music that encouraged her to resume her musical career. In 2009, she released a single, Onna wa yametai. In 2011, Kaji released her first new album in 31 years, Aitsu no suki-so-na burūsu (あいつの好きそなブルース) with songs written by Ryudo Uzaki and Yoko Aki.

In May 2020, Kaji launched her own channel on YouTube, as a way to both celebrate her work with fans all over the world, and to give back to everyone who had supported her.

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