Kanagawa Prefecture born, Sachiko Hara, 55, is one of a rare few Japanese performers working in German-speaking professional theater today. Despite the multicultural makeup of German, Austrian and Swiss cities, Hara was the first non-native German speaker to become an ensemble member at the Burgtheater, Vienna in 2004. Since then, she has established herself as an accomplished actress with an intense stage presence.
Born shortly after the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Hara grew up in the midst of Japan's postwar economic boom. Always living up to the expectations of her parents and grandparents, she was encouraged to go to St. Margaret's, an all-girls' mission school in Tokyo. Somewhat jokingly, she says, "I had always been a good girl, that is until I got into university."
After developing an interest in Cold War politics as a teenager, Hara wanted to study Russian, but her parents, who were afraid of the communist influence, talked her out of it. Instead, she joined the German studies department at Tokyo's Sophia University in 1983.