Nozoe first gained attention in
ingénue roles for
Shochiku in films such as
Kobayashi's Sincerity (1953), eventually joining
Daiei following her appearance in 1955's national "New Faces" studio recruitment drive. In 1960 she married frequent co-star
Hiroshi Kawaguchi, son of writer and Daiei executive
Matsutarō Kawaguchi, and both semi-retired from acting within a few years as Kawaguchi became a businessman and
reality-TV adventurer. Known primarily for demure and innocent roles, Nozoe became a "sensation" following her star-turn in
Masumura's Giants and Toys (1958) as a vivacious
tomboy transformed into an overnight celebrity as a
confectionery spokesmodel. She is also well known in the West for her brief role as a barber's daughter in
Ozu's widely acclaimed Floating Weeds (1959), which
Roger Ebert named as one of the ten greatest films of all time. In 1988, the year after Kawaguchi's death at age 51 following a long illness with
gastric and
esophageal cancer, Nozoe published the memoir
Hiroshi-san, I Did My Best (
浩さん、がんばったね). She continued to write and lecture on the disease, succumbing to
thyroid cancer in 1995 at age 58. ==Selected filmography==