Y?ko Shimada is a Japanese actress. She is best known to Western audiences for her portrayal of Mariko in the 1980 miniseries Sh?gun. She was the only female member of Sh?gun's massive cast of Japanese actors shown speaking English, for which she relied on a dialogue coach, as she was not fluent in the language at the time. Her English improved greatly during the production, however, allowing her to work in a few English language films during the 1980s and 1990s. In 1981 Yoko won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series-Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy award for her work on Sh?gun. 

May 17th, 1953 in Kumamoto  /  Died:   Jul 25th, 2022