Natto Wada (和田 夏十, Wada Natto, 13 September 1920 – 18 February 1983),[1] also known as Natsuto Wada, was a Japanese script writer and film columnist.[2]

Natto Wada
Wada in 1954
Born13 September 1920
Died18 February 1983(1983-02-18) (aged 62)
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, columnist
Spouse
(m. 1948)

Career

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Wada graduated with an English degree from Tokyo Women's College in 1946.[3] She started her career at the Fujimoto Cinema Production company, where she met her husband, Kon Ichikawa, a filmmaker who promoted her script work to colleagues and collaborated with her on several films.[3] She began writing, or co-writing, scripts in 1951, and continued until 1965.[3]

Films

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Wada's scripts included the 1953 film Puu-san, a satirical comedy based on the manga of Yokoyama Taizo; the 1956 film Shokei no Heya, based on a novel by Ishihara Shintaro.[3] That year, Wada also wrote Nihonbashi, based on a novel by Izumi Kyoka, which documented the rivalry of two geisha in a male-dominated culture. Kuroi Junin no Onna (Ten Dark Women) was a 1961 film that satirized an egotistical male's reliance on his wife to stay out of trouble.[3] Also that year, Wada wrote Hakai (The Broken Commandment) a film adaptation of Shimizaki Toson's eponymous 1906 novel, which examined the life of a social outcast. Wada's adaptation was notable for strengthening the role of the female protagonist.[3]

Other film scripts by Wada or with collaborators include Biruma no Tategoto (Harp of Burma, 1956), based on the eponymous 1946 novel by Takayama Michio; Enjō (Conflagration, 1959) based on Mishima Yukio's 1956 novel, The Temple of the Golden Pavilion.[3]

Columnist

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Wada was also known for her work as an advice columnist during the 1960s. Her column, "Personal Life Consultation," ran in the Asahi Shimbun.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Nelmes, Jill; Selbo, Jule (29 September 2015). Women Screenwriters: An International Guide. Springer. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-137-31237-2.
  2. ^ Wispelwey, compiled by Bearbeitet von Berend (2004). Japanese biographical index = Japanischer Biographischer Index. Walter de Gruyter. p. 996. ISBN 3-11-094798-6.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Mulhern, ed. by Chieko I. (1994). Japanese women writers : a bio-critical sourcebook (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn. u.a.: Greenwood Press. pp. 448–450. ISBN 0-313-25486-9. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
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