is a Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 actress. Her credits include film, television, and radio dramas, stage, commercials, and voice roles. She married Shigesato Itoi

Shigesato Itoi

is one of the most influential cultural figures in Japan, known for his copywriting, essays, lyrics, Nintendo game creation, and as editor-in-chief of his popular website “Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun.” He is best known outside of Japan as a game designer for his work on Nintendo's EarthBound...

 in 1993 and has a dog named Bouillon.

Born in Kamo, Niigata

Kamo, Niigata

is a city located in Niigata, Japan, roughly halfway between the two larger cities of Nagaoka and Niigata.As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 32,422 and the density of 242.55 persons per km². The total area is 133.67 km². It was founded on March 10, 1954.Kamo is a popular...

, she played her first lead at age 20 in the television drama Kōrogi-bashi.

Kanako's film credits include Hokusai Manga

Hokusai

was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...

, Bedtime Eyes, Zatoichi

Zatoichi

is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...

(1989), Casshern

Casshern

is a 2004 Japanese tokusatsu film adaptation of the anime series of the same name. It was written and directed by Kazuaki Kiriya. It stars Yusuke Iseya as Tetsuya Azuma/Casshern, Kumiko Aso as Luna Kozuki, Toshiaki Karasawa as Burai, Mayumi Sada as Saguree, and Jun Kaname as Barashin.-Plot:A...

, Memories of Tomorrow

Memories of Tomorrow

is a 2006 Japanese drama film starring Ken Watanabe, Higuchi Kanako and directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The film is based on a novel of the same title published by Hiroshi Ogiwara in 2004.-Plot:...

, and Ashura no Jō Blood Gets In Your Eyes. Among her television roles are Lady Yodo

Yodo-Dono

or was a prominently-placed figure in late-Sengoku period. She was a concubine and second wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was then the most powerful man in Japan. She also became the mother of his son and successor, Hideyori. She was also known as Lady Chacha...

 in the 1987 NHK

NHK

NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....

 Taiga drama

Taiga drama

is the name NHK gives to the annual, year-long historical fiction television series it broadcasts in Japan. Beginning in 1963 with the black-and-white Hana no Shōgai, starring kabuki actor Onoe Shōroku and Takarazuka star Awashima Chikage, the network has hired a producer, director, writer, music...

 Dokuganryū Masamune and Hanayasha in the 1991 Taiga drama Taiheiki. She has represented the cosmetics firms Kosé

Köse

Köse is a town and district of Gümüşhane Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 7,265 of which 3,162 live in the town of Köse...

 and Kao

Kao Corp.

is a chemical and cosmetics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.Kao began as a domestic toiletry soap manufacturing company in 1887 by Tomiro Nagase...

.

She won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 15th Hochi Film Awards for Rōningai

Roningai

are respectively 1928 and 1929 black and white Japanese silent films with directed by Masahiro Makino. Serving as parts of a 3 part series, the first and second installments are representative films directed by Masahiro Makino, the son of Shozo Makino . These films lent status to ensemble casts...

.

Filmography

• Manji
  Manji (film)
  卍 is the title of several Japanese films based on the Japanese novel Quicksand written by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki in 1928.The theme is homosexuality between women. It was filmed in 1964, 1983, 1998 and 2006 in Japan.-Story:...
  
  (1983)
• Hokusai Manga
  Hokusai
  was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. He was influenced by such painters as Sesshu, and other styles of Chinese painting...
  
  
• Bedtime Eyes
• Zatoichi
  Zatoichi
  is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...
  
  (1989)
• Rōningai
  Roningai
  are respectively 1928 and 1929 black and white Japanese silent films with directed by Masahiro Makino. Serving as parts of a 3 part series, the first and second installments are representative films directed by Masahiro Makino, the son of Shozo Makino . These films lent status to ensemble casts...
  
  (1990)
• Shara
  Shara (film)
  Shara , is a 2003 Japanese drama film directed by Naomi Kawase. It was entered into the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Kōhei Fukunaga as Shun* Yuka Hyōdō as Yu* Naomi Kawase as Reiko* Katsuhisa Namase as Taku* Kanako Higuchi as Shouko...
  
  (2003)
• Casshern
  Casshern
  is a 2004 Japanese tokusatsu film adaptation of the anime series of the same name. It was written and directed by Kazuaki Kiriya. It stars Yusuke Iseya as Tetsuya Azuma/Casshern, Kumiko Aso as Luna Kozuki, Toshiaki Karasawa as Burai, Mayumi Sada as Saguree, and Jun Kaname as Barashin.-Plot:A...
  
  (2004)
• Sharasoyju (2005)
• Ashurajou no Hitomi (2005)
• Memories of Tomorrow
  Memories of Tomorrow
  is a 2006 Japanese drama film starring Ken Watanabe, Higuchi Kanako and directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi. The film is based on a novel of the same title published by Hiroshi Ogiwara in 2004.-Plot:...
  
  (2006)
• The Invitation from Cinema Orion (2007)
• Achilles and the Tortoise
  Achilles and the Tortoise (film)
  is a 2008 Japanese film written, directed, edited by Takeshi Kitano. The film is the third and final part of Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy, starting with Takeshis and continuing with Glory to the Filmmaker!....
  
  (2008)

External links

• Humanite (agency) (in Japanese)
• Kanako Higuchi at IMDB
• http://www.nipponcinema.com/tag/kanako-higuchi at Nippon Cinema