From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Ayako Wakao 若尾 文子 Wakao Ayako November 8 1933 in Tokyo Japan is a Japanese actress who was one of the countrys biggest stars of the 20th century Wakao began her career contracted to Daiei Studios in 1951 as part of the fifth New Face group She has gone on to appear in over 100 feature films plus numerous television movies and series She was a favorite actress of director Yasuzo Masumura starring in 20 of his films In addition to her many collaborations with Masumura she was a favorite of Kon Ichikawa having starred or costarred in seven of the directors works She appeared in Kenji Mizoguchis A Geisha and Street of Shame She also appeared in Yasujirō Ozus Floating Weeds Description above from the Wikipedia article Ayako Wakao licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia