
Kimiko Yo
Known for Acting · 232 credits
- Born
- 1956-05-12 (age 70)
- Place of birth
- Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
Biography
Kimiko Yo was born in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father on the 12th of May 1956. Her cousin was actress Bunjaku Han. She became active in front of the camera in 1987 and has been a feature of Japanese television and cinema ever since. She had begun acting on the theatre stage in 1976. Audiences may mostly know her for her supporting role in Shin Gojira, as a sympathetic colleague in the 2008 films Departures, which won an Oscar, and kind wife and waitress in Ramen Girl, but she has almost 200 credits to her name. These include an abnormal neighbour in The Drugstore girl and serene presence in Café Lumière where she was directed by a Taiwanese director in Japan. Dear Doctor (2009) propelled her name forward in Japan and was an award winner. She has several Japan Academy prizes to her name. Like most celebrities she pushes products and has done commercials for telephone companies, shampoos and cosmetics manufacturers. Yo is married to a man who at the time was a NHK employee in 2006 and is managed by the Alpha Agency.
Known For
TV Shows (79)

The Naked Director
2019
as Kozue Muranishi

The Files of the Young Kindaichi
1995
as Hiruko Kirigoe

Atsuhime
2008
as Hisa-hime

Mr. Housekeeper, Mitazono
2016
as Yoriko Musubi

Churasan
2001
as Shibata Yoko

Half Blue Sky
2018
as Kimika Okada

Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories
2016
as Chieko Tachibana

Back of Father
2014
as Togawa Yasuko

Kazama Kimichika: Kyojo Zero
2023

The Files of Young Kindaichi
2022
as Hiruko Kirigoe

Straight to Hell
2026

Dangerous Detective
1986
as Yuko / Hiromi Nagisa

dele
2018

Sanctuary
2023

Into the White Night
2006
as Taniguchi Mafumi

Trillion Game
2023
as Mitsuzono Shizuku

Hakusen Nagashi
1996
as Masako Ozawa

Usotoki Rhetoric
2024

Shinjuku Field Hospital
2024
as Ritsuko Nishi Freeman

The Secret Lives of Kyoto Folk
2015

Re: Revenge - At the End of Desire
2024
as Tendo Ichiko

Please Don't Chant Buddhist Prayers in the Hospital Room
2020
as Shibusawa Wakako

Say You Love Me
1995
as Kaoru Kanzaki

Kao
2003
as Kyoko Higuchi(樋口 京子)

Shrink: Psychiatrist Yowai
2024
as 高橋文世

Taro no Tō
2011

Bambino!
2007

Dear Father
2007
as Fortune Teller

Affectionate Time
2005
as Kujo Tomoko

Death Office
2019
as Shingu

Tokumei! Keiji Dongame
2006

Be with You
2005
as Hongo Naomi

Drop-out Teacher Returns to School
2003
as Yukiko Ando

Karyuu No Utage
2011
as Miyagi Yoko

Love Story
2001

Izakaya Fuji
2017

Daisuki!!
2008
as Setsuko Kachigawa

The Gift of Your Heart
2024
as Yukino Aihara

Concerto
1996

The Public Enemy
2017
as Akiko Kawarada

Goodbye Mr Ozu
2001

And Then There Were None
2017
as Erika Konami

REPLAY&DESTROY
2015
as fortune-teller woman

Just One Love
2006
as Akiko Kanzaki

Hello, I Love You
2016
as Machi Domoto

The Kind-Hearted Cat
2023
as Matsuko

California Dreamin'
2002
as Kyoko Yamazaki

Innocent Days
2018
as Michiko Tanaka

Virgin Road
1997
as Michi

Toubousha
2020

Sugu Shinun Dakara
2020
as Mori Kaoru

Live
1999

Dream Team
2021
as Yoshie Andou

Night Hero NAOTO
2016
as 権田薫子

My Happy Divorced Life
2023

Dangerous Relationship
1999
as Ayako Tsuzuki

Evil People
2007
as Chise Fujishima

A Dangerous Woman
1998

横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)
2002
Kurenai
1998
Movies (153)

Shin Godzilla
2016
as Reiko Hanamori : Minister of Defense

Sheep in the Box
2026
as Nobuyo Nishimura

Worst by Chance
2003
as Hatsuko Kim

Departures
2008
as Yuriko Kamimura

Suicide Club
2001

Yamato
2005

Parasyte: Part 1
2014
as Izumi Nobuko

Midnight Diner 2
2016
as Chieko

Star Watching Dog
2011
as Innkeeper

Parasyte: Part 2
2015
as Izumi Nobuko

To Every You I've Loved Before
2022
as Kazune Takigawa (old woman) (voice)

Shield of Straw
2013

To Me, the One Who Loved You
2022
as Kazune Takigawa (old woman) (voice)

The Ramen Girl
2008
as Reiko

Nobody's Perfect
2013

Black Widow Business
2016
as Eiko Segawa

Air Doll
2009
as Receptionist Yoshiko

Gonin 2
1996
as Ran

Red
2020
as Ogata Yoko

Dearest
2012
as Tamiko Hamasaki

Solomon's Perjury 1: Suspicion
2015
as Motoko Ueno

Noise
2022
as Hanae Shoji

Hiruko the Goblin
1991
as Reiko's Mother

Bread of Happiness
2012
as Yoko

A Story of Yonosuke
2013
as Taeko Yokomichi

Ace Attorney
2012
as Maiko Ayasato (Misty Fey)

Tokyo Tower
2005

Uta Monogatari: Cinema Fighters Project
2018
as Cafe's manager (segment "Our Birthday")

A Night in Nude
1993
as Nami Tsuchiya

Aging Police / Resurrection Special
2019

52-Hertz Whales
2024
as Noriko Okada

Dear Doctor
2009
as Akemi Ohtake

ドラマスペシャル 松本清張 鬼畜
2017

Immoral Affairs
1997

Yumeji
1991
as Jiro

Midnight Diner
2014
as Chieko Hanawa

An Artist of the Floating World
2019
as Mrs. Saito

The City That Never Sleeps: Shinjuku Shark
1993

My SO Has Got Depression
2011
as Satoko Kurita

A Tale of Samurai Cooking
2013
as Mitsuru Funaki

AI Amok
2020
as Eiko Tanaka

Café Lumière
2004
as Yoko's Stepmother

Haunted School
1995
as Yukawa

300 Million Yen Robbery
2014
as Ryoko Nakaoka

Hotel Royal
2020
as Miko Noshiro

The Blue Hearts
2017
as (segment “Hammer”)

A Lone Scalpel
2010
as Shizuka Takei

Galileo XX
2013
as Yoriko Takasaki

Villain
2010
as Yoriko Shimizu

We Shall Overcome Someday
2005

Baian the Assassin
1990

The Heartbreak Yakuza
1987

The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses
1991

For Love's Sake
2012
as Toyo Taiga

Solomon's Perjury 2: Judgment
2015
as Motoko Ueno

Asako in Ruby Shoes
2000
as Aya's Mother

Where The Legend Lives
2008

Another Battle
2000

Rebirth
2011
as Angel

Any Crybabies Around?
2020
as Setsuko Goto

Higuchi Ichiyo Monogatari
2004

Sharaku
1995

A Class to Remember III: The New Voyage
1998
as Kuramoto

Step
2020
as Michiyo Muramatsu

Soup Opera
2010
as Yasuko Tanaka

Tokyo Rhapsody
2007

Show Me the Way to the Station
2019

Wait and See
1998
as Wife of Hiroshi's Brother

Love Bites Back
1988
as Sanae Ebino

Rinco's Restaurant
2010
as Ruriko

Farewell, Kuro
2003
as Eri Yuki

Virgin Snow
2007
as Mayumi Sasaki

Alone in the Night
1994

An Angel with Many Scars
1997

Dog Star
2002

Winter Rose
2022
as Michiko Wataguchi

Everything Will Be Owlright!
2022
as Minoyama

Amagi Pass
1998

Giwaku
2019

A Stitch of Life
2015
as Hiroe Minami

Onna no naka no futatsu no kao
2004

Akechi Kogoro vs. Kindaichi Kosuke
2005
as Tezuka Yukino

Moonlight Serenade
1997

Memories of the Womb: You Are Here
2007

Peaceful Death
2020

My Little Sweet Pea
2013
as Ayako Akaike

Time Leap
1997

Chacha: The Princess of Heaven
2007
as Kita no mandokoro

Aiki
2002

The Exam
1999
as Midori Chiaki

The Murder of Kuroido
2018

Drugstore Girl
2004
as Hideko Mukai

The Lonely Affair of the Heart
2002

Free and Easy 11
2000

Fireflies: River of Light
2004

First Gentleman
2021

The Legend of the Sea, Sky and Coral
1991

Zen and Bones
2016
as Kô Mittwer

Oh My God
2002

The Brutal Insanity of Love
1993
as Nami Muraki

Perfect Revolution
2017
as Akiko

Passion
1992

Orchids Under the Moon
1991

Dirty Hearts
2012
as Naomi

Enokida Trading Co.
2018
as Yoko Shima

Omotenashi
2018
as Mitsuko

The Housekeeper
2012
as Haruko Inamura

Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai's Daughter
2017
as Koto

Happy-Go-Lucky
1997
as Man's Lover in TV Drama

Nōhime: Wife of a Samurai
2012

Hysteric
2000

Sinsin and the Mouse
2026

Hotel Hibiscus
2002
as Mieko's Mother

A Class to Remember IV: Fifteen
2000

Chicken Is Barefoot
2004

20th Century Nostalgia
1997
as Anzu's Mother

Solitary Gourmet Summer trip to Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan
2016

Oka wo koete
2008

The Ice Ruts
2016
as 요네자와 사유리

Can you collect it? Complete
1994
About Kimiko Yo
Kimiko Yo was born in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father on the 12th of May 1956. Her cousin was actress Bunjaku Han. She became active in front of the camera in 1987 and has been a feature of Japanese television and cinema ever since. She had begun acting on the theatre stage in 1976. Audiences may mostly know her for her supporting role in Shin Gojira, as a sympathetic colleague in the 2008 films Departures, which won an Oscar, and kind wife and waitress in Ramen Girl, but she has almost 200 credit… With 232 credits spanning from 1986 to 2026, Kimiko Yo has appeared in 153 films and 79 TV shows.
Fans searching for Kimiko Yo movies, Kimiko Yo filmography, or the latest projects starring Kimiko Yo can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Kimiko Yo Movies
- Shin Godzilla (2016) — as Reiko Hanamori : Minister of Defense
- Sheep in the Box (2026) — as Nobuyo Nishimura
- Worst by Chance (2003) — as Hatsuko Kim
- Departures (2008) — as Yuriko Kamimura
- Suicide Club (2001)
Where to Watch Kimiko Yo Films
Most Kimiko Yo movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Kimiko Yo, check our movies catalogue and browse page.