is a Japanese actress with a long history of performing in Okinawan theatre. She is chiefly active as an actress, narrator, dialect coach

Dialect coach

A dialect coach assists an actor in assuming a certain regional or foreign accent to perform convincingly in radio, theatrical or film productions. Dialect coaches are skilled in pronunciation and phonetics , and do not necessarily have to have the accent that they are teaching, though it may be...

 and in other capacities in shows and films taking place in Okinawa and in projects otherwise representing the region, as well as working more directly and officially with the Okinawa Tourist Bureau in promoting the island prefecture

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

.

Acting both on stage and in films for many years, her first notable role in films was that of the title role of Nabbie, the grandmother in the 1999 film "Nabbie no koi

Nabbie's Love

is a 1999 film written and directed by Yuji Nakae about a grandmother named Nabbie Agarikinjo, played by Tomi Taira. The film score is by Kenichiro Isoda and Michael Nyman, working separately. The film tied with Rituparno Ghosh's Bariwali for the Netpac Award at the Berlin International Film...

."

Life and career

Tomi Taira was born on November 5, 1928. At the age of thirteen, after graduating from Ishigaki

Ishigaki, Okinawa

Ishigaki is an island west of Okinawa Hontō and the second-largest island of the Yaeyama Island group. It is within the City of Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture. The city functions as the business and transport center of the archipelago...

 Elementary School, she joined the "Ōchō Kojirō Ichiza" ("Old Man Kojirō's Troupe"), where she met her future husband, Susumu Taira. Years later, in 1956, she joined the troupe "Tokiwa-za" led by Chōshū Makishi.

Taira Tomi frequently performs alongside her husband both on stage and in films, and the two are active together in other ventures. The two founded an Okinawan theatrical troupe, "Shio" (潮, lit. "The Tide") in 1971; among his many acting roles, Susumu played Tomi's chief love interest, Sun Ra, in Nabbie no koi.

Since the release of "Nabbie no koi," Taira has narrated and acted in a number of Japanese television dramas, including "Sushi Ōji" (lit. "Prince [of] Sushi"), along with films such as "Nada Sou Sou" and a Japanese version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...

", entitled "Manatsu no yo no yume".

She has received a number of awards over the course of her career, including being named Best Supporting Actress at the 30th Japanese Television Drama Academy Awards for her performance in the 2001 television drama "Churasan," and receiving the Tokyo Sports Film Award

Tokyo Sports Film Award

The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by the Tokyo Sports. President of the Jury is Takeshi Kitano.- 2008 winners :*Best Film: Aruitemo Aruitemo*Best Director: Takeshi Kitano *Best Actor: Masahiro Motoki...

, for which one of the chief judges is Japanese director/screenwriter/actor Takeshi Kitano

Takeshi Kitano

is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...

. In 1998, she was officially designated by Okinawa Prefecture a Protector of Intangible Cultural Properties, Ryukyuan Song and Drama (沖縄県指定無形文化財琉球歌劇保持者).

Film

• Paradise View (1985)
• Umi sora sango no ii tsutae (1991)
• Nabbie no koi
  Nabbie's Love
  is a 1999 film written and directed by Yuji Nakae about a grandmother named Nabbie Agarikinjo, played by Tomi Taira. The film score is by Kenichiro Isoda and Michael Nyman, working separately. The film tied with Rituparno Ghosh's Bariwali for the Netpac Award at the Berlin International Film...
  
  (1999) - Nabbie
• Hotel Hibiscus (2002)
• Nada sou sou (2006)
• Koishikute
  Koishikute
  Koishikute is the eleventh single was released on 10th September 2008. Despite being a freestanding single, its Oricon top #200 weekly peak is #2, selling a total of 52k copies in its first week.- CD :# # # - Personnel :* TAKUYA∞ - vocals,programming...
  
  (2007)
• Ginmaku ban Sushi Ōji!: Nyūyōku e iku ("Sushi Ōji the Movie: Sushi Ōji Goes to New York!", 2008)
• Manatsu no yo no yume (2009)

Television

• Churasan (2001) - Kohagura Hana (Grandmother, "Oba")
• Koi Seyo Otome (2002)
• Shinri bunseki sôsakan Sakiyama Tomoko (2002)
• Churasan 2 (2003)
• Motto Koi Seyo Otome (2004)
• Churasan 3 (2004)
• Churasan 4 (2007)
• Sushi Ōji (2007) - Martial arts master Purusu Riri

External links

• Taira Tomi at JDorama.com
• Taira Tomi at Japanese Movie Database (Japanese)