Dancer, Doctor, Maiden, Mother: Tanaka Kinuyo's Early Star Image

In this chapter, I will be tracing the elements that made up what could be called Tanaka’s early star image. Richard Dyer has pointed out that ‘Stars embody social types, but star images are always more complex and specific than types. Types are, as it were, the ground on which a particular star’s image is constructed’ (1998: 68). It should be added that the notion of star image neces- sitates the merging of various types in order for it to be produced in the first place, and within Japanese cinema Tanaka represents an instructive case of how success in moulding a star is related to versatility in casting roles. First, after providing some context to her stardom, I will examine the gestural characteristics of Tanaka’s acting style by drawing on the work of Chika Kinoshita (2001) and introducing the notion of ‘idiogest’. The second half of the chapter focuses on the various contradictory types Tanaka played in a number of key films from the 1930s, while also looking at how such roles reflected contemporary shifts in femininity.