Uraji Yamakawa

Uraji Yamakawa (山川 浦路, Yamakawa Uraji; 15 November 1885 – 30 November 1947) was a Japanese actress, also credited as Ura Mita.

Uraji Yamakawa
山川 浦 路
Yamakawa in 1919
Born	Uraji Yamakawa / 山川 浦 路 (1885-11-15)15 November 1885 Japan
Died	30 November 1947(1947-11-30) (aged 62)
Other names	Ura Mita
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	Sōjin Kamiyama
Children	1

Career

A poster from a 1916 production of Macbeth in Tokyo, featuring Uraji Yamakawa as Lady Macbeth

In 1912, she and her actor husband were co-founders of the Modern Theatre Society (Kindaigeki Kyokai) in Tokyo, formed to bring new Western works to Japanese audiences.^[1][2] In 1914, Yamakawa was considered one of "the foremost interpreters of roles in Western translations" among Japanese actresses.^[3][4] Among her notable roles were Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler,^[5] Gretchen in Goethe's Faust,^[3] and Lady Macbeth, in which role she gave "a most remarkably untraditional sleep-walking scene".^[6] The Modern Theatre Society ended in 1919, when the founders moved to the United States.^[1][7]

She had small roles in two films during her time in America: The Devil Dancer (1927, now lost; a silent film directed by Fred Niblo) and Wu Li Chang (1930, a Spanish-language production).^[8]

Personal life

Uraji Yamakawa was married to fellow Japanese actor Sōjin Kamiyama; they lived in California while Sōjin was appearing in American films.^[9] After they separated, Yamakawa took bit parts, sold makeup, and cared for her adult son, Edward, who had tuberculosis. During this period, she was friends with novelist Toshiko Tamura.^[10] However, during World War II she was relocated along with other Japanese-Americans, while her son was not sent together because of his illness (his subsequent fate is unknown). Yamakawa died in 1947, aged 62 years.