Momoko Kōchi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Momoko Kōchi
河内桃子
Kōchi in 1954
Born	Momoko Ōkōchi (1932-03-07)7 March 1932 Taitō, Tokyo, Japan
Died	5 November 1998(1998-11-05) (aged 66) Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
Resting place	Yanaka Cemetery, Taitō
Nationality	Japanese
Other names	Momoko Hisamatsu
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1953–1998
Spouse(s)	Sadataka Hisamatsu ​ ​ (m. 1961; died 1998)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Nobuhiro Ōkōchi Chieko Ōkōchi

Momoko Kōchi (河内 桃子, Kōchi Momoko) (born March 7, 1932 – died November 5, 1998) was a famous Japanese actress. Her birth name was Momoko Ōkōchi. She acted in movies, on stage, and on television.

Momoko Kōchi is most famous for playing Emiko Yamane in the first Godzilla movie in 1954. She played this role again in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah in 1995. She also starred as Hiroko Iwamoto in the movie The Mysterians.

About Her Family Life

Momoko Kōchi came from an important family. Her grandfather, Viscount Masatoshi Ōkōchi, was a director at a big research company called Riken. Her father was a painter.

She was married to Sadataka Hisamatsu, who worked as a television producer. They had one daughter together.

Her Acting Career

Kōchi in Godzilla

After finishing high school, Momoko Kōchi worked in an office. But in 1953, she joined a movie studio called Toho through their "New Face" program. This program helped new actors get started. Other famous actors like Akira Takarada also joined at the same time.

Her very first acting job was in a movie called A Woman's Heart Released. A year later, she worked on movies directed by Kajirō Yamamoto.

Becoming a Star in Godzilla

One day, a director named Ishirō Honda saw Momoko Kōchi. He was making a science fiction movie called Godzilla. This movie had a story that was very important at the time. Honda chose her to play the main female character, Emiko Yamane.

Even though she was new to acting, she did a great job in Godzilla. Her role was very important to the movie's story.

After Godzilla

Because Godzilla was so successful, Momoko Kōchi often got roles in other science fiction and monster movies. These included Half Human and The Mysterians.

In 1958, she left Toho studio. She wanted to study acting more formally. She hadn't had much training when she first started.

Stage and TV Work

After leaving Toho, Momoko Kōchi studied acting with other talented actors. She then joined the Haiyuza Theatre Company. She started acting on stage in plays like William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

She mostly performed in plays after this, including The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth. She also appeared in TV commercials and TV dramas. One of her well-known TV roles was Shōko Tsunashi in Thank You from 1972 to 1973.

Later in her career, she appeared in TV specials and dramas. She played Toshiko Takahashi, a woman with Alzheimer's disease, in the show Wataru Seken wa Oni Bakari.

Returning to Godzilla

In 1995, director Takao Okawara asked Momoko Kōchi to play Emiko Yamane again in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Even though the director usually worked with younger actors, he was very impressed by her acting skills. She finished all her scenes in just one day! Her short appearance in the movie was very popular across Japan.

She later talked about her return to Godzilla in an interview. She said that when she was younger, people would point at her and say "Godzilla, Godzilla!" and she didn't like it. But 41 years later, she watched the first movie again. She realized how important it was because of its message against nuclear weapons.

Her Final Years

Momoko Kōchi's last movie, Ryōkan, was released in July 1997. Two days later, she made a guest appearance in a TV drama special.

Later that year, she went on a tour with her theater company. She started feeling unwell during the tour. In January 1998, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. The cancer spread quickly.

Momoko Kōchi passed away on November 5, 1998, at the age of 66. A week before she died, she became a Roman Catholic. Her funeral was held at St. Ignatius Church. She is buried at Yanaka Cemetery in Taitō.

Momoko Kōchi also worked on Catholic radio programs. Because of this, Pope John Paul II honored her with two awards in 1996.

Interesting Facts

• When she was a child, Momoko Kōchi had a photo called "My Lover." It showed her with her grandfather, Masatoshi.
• In 1957, Momoko Kōchi traveled to São Paulo, Brazil, for the opening of a Toho movie studio branch. She then went to New York City to take part in a Japanese cinema event. At that time, traveling around the world was not as common as it is today, so her trips were very special.

Movies and TV Shows

Movies

TV Series

Images for kids

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  Kōchi in 1954

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  Kōchi in Godzilla