Etsuko Ichihara, a veteran Japanese actress best known for her role in a popular long-running TV drama series, has died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital, her office said Sunday. She was 82.
The native of Chiba Prefecture was best known for her leading part in the drama series "Kaseifu wa Mita" (It was Witnessed by the Housemaid).
Having joined a theater troop in 1957, she appeared in a number of plays and movies.
She won the Japan Academy Prize for best supporting actress for her role in late director Shohei Imamura's film "Kuroi Ame" (Black Rain) based on the novel of the same name by Masuji Ibuse, which depicted the aftermath of the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
