Kimiko Yo was born in Yokohama, a city just south of Tokyo to a Japanese mother and Taiwanese father on the 12th of May 1956. Her cousin was actress Bunjaku Han. She became active in front of the camera in 1987 and has been a feature of Japanese television and cinema ever since. She had begun acting on the theatre stage in 1976. Audiences may mostly know her for her supporting role in Shin Gojira, as a sympathetic colleague in the 2008 films Departures, which won an Oscar, and kind wife and waitress in Ramen Girl, but she has almost 200 credits to her name. These include an abnormal neighbour in The Drugstore girl and serene presence in Café Lumière where she was directed by a Taiwanese director in Japan. Dear Doctor (2009) propelled her name forward in Japan and was an award winner. She has several Japan Academy prizes to her name. Like most celebrities she pushes products and has done commercials for telephone companies, shampoos and cosmetics manufacturers. Yo is married to a man who at the time was a NHK employee in 2006 and is managed by the Alpha Agency.
Movies
Villain
Yoriko Shimizu
Hiruko the Goblin
Reiko's Mother
Worst by Chance
Hatsuko Kim
Departures
Yuriko Kamimura
Gonin 2
Ran
The Ramen Girl
Reiko
The Exam
Midori Chiaki
Virgin Snow
Mayumi Sasaki
Rebirth
Angel
Rinco's Restaurant
Ruriko
For Love's Sake
Toyo Taiga
Star Watching Dog
Innkeeper
Nobody's Perfect
Dearest
Tamiko Hamasaki
Crossroads
Bread of Happiness
Yoko
Dog Star
Orchids Under the Moon
My Little Sweet Pea
Ayako Akaike
An Angel with Many Scars
Shikyû no kioku
My SO Has Got Depression
Satoko Kurita
A Tale of Samurai Cooking
Mitsuru Funaki
Dear Doctor
Akemi Ohtake
The Brutal Insanity of Love
Nami Muraki
Aiki
Café Lumière
Yoko's Stepmother
Kaisha monogatari: Memories of You
Managing Director's Daughter
Happy Go Lucky
Man's Lover in TV Drama
Hysteric
Hotel Hibiscus
Mieko's Mother
The City That Never Sleeps: Shinjuku Shark
Invisible War
Kinu Murozono
Tokyo Tower
Where The Legend Lives
Tokyo Rhapsody
Wait and See
Wife of Hiroshi's Brother
Going against the Grain in Fukushima
Speaker
300 Million Yen Robbery
Ryoko Nakaoka
Alone in the Night
A Night in Nude
Nami Tsuchiya
Black Dawn
Kumi Muramatsu
A Story of Yonosuke
Taeko Yokomichi
Parasyte: Part 2
Izumi Nobuko
Parasyte: Part 1
Izumi Nobuko
Midnight Diner
Chieko Hanawa
Fireflies: River of Light
Maria's Stomach
Moonlight Serenade
Black Widow Business
Eiko Segawa
Shin Godzilla
Reiko Hanamori : Minister of Defense
Midnight Diner 2
Chieko
The Blue Hearts
(segment “Hammer”)
Air Doll
Receptionist Yoshiko
Perfect Revolution
Akiko
Timeless Melody
Chikako's mother
Love Bites Back
Sanae Ebino
Via Okinawa
Omotenashi
Mitsuko
The Heartbreak Yakuza
Kurara: The Dazzling Life of Hokusai's Daughter
Koto
20th Century Nostalgia
Anzu's Mother
Haunted School
Yukawa
Zen and Bones
Kô Mittwer
The Housekeeper
Haruko Inamura
The Ice Ruts
요네자와 사유리
Passion
The President's Christmas Tree
Enokida Trading Co.
Oka wo koete
Onna no naka no futatsu no kao
A Lone Scalpel
Shizuka Takei
Kuroido Goroshi
Amagi Pass
AI Amok
Eiko Tanaka
Chacha: The Princess of Heaven
Kita no mandokoro
Yumeji
Jiro
Immoral Affairs
Oh My God
Dirty Hearts
Naomi
Higuchi Ichiyo Monogatari
Shield of Straw
Asako in Ruby Shoes
Aya's Mother
Free and Easy 11
Yamato
Red
Ogata Yoko
Hotel Royal
Miko Noshiro
Ace Attorney
Maiko Ayasato (Misty Fey)
Giwaku
Uta Monogatari: Cinema Fighters Project
Cafe's manager (segment "Our Birthday")
Any Crybabies Around?
Setsuko Goto
Father of the Bride
Sharaku
Soup Opera
Yasuko Tanaka
Step
Michiyo Muramatsu
Peaceful Death
The Lonely Affair of the Heart
Baian the Assassin
Solomon's Perjury 1: Suspicion
Motoko Ueno
Solomon's Perjury 2: Judgment
Motoko Ueno
The Legend of the Sea, Sky and Coral
An Artist of the Floating World
Mrs. Saito
Sleep in the Shadows
A Class to Remember III: The New Voyage
Kuramoto
A Stitch of Life
Hiroe Minami
Nōhime: Wife of a Samurai
The Yakuza Principal
Show Me the Way to the Station
Noise
Hanae Shoji
Farewell, Kuro
Eri Yuki
Beef tongue set meal with seafood bowl of Onagawa in Sendai
Can you collect it? Complete
Bastard LAST DOWN TEN 2
Ando Gumi Gaiden Genealogy of the Group Wolf 5
Kawachi Zankeiden Shamo Chicken (Shamo)
Keikoku! Nozoki ari.
Another Battle
Music of Remembrance -Gb-
Rume
First Gentleman
Aging Police / Resurrection Special
Sumomo mo momo
Winter Rose
Michiko Wataguchi
ドラマSP 松本清張「鬼畜」
To Me, the One Who Loved You
Kazune Takigawa (old woman) (voice)
To Every You I've Loved Before
Kazune Takigawa (old woman) (voice)
The Dog won't Eat it, but Charlie Laughs
Minoyama
悪女について
Suzuki Tane
First Class 2
Ranko Takigawa
巡査鉄兵の推理日誌
hana –1970, Koza ga moeta hi–
BON-UTA, A Song from Home
(voice)
姑は名探偵芹澤雅子 八丈島南国リゾート殺人事件
Mentai Piriri – Flower of Pansy
Time Leap
The Hitman Blood Smells Like Roses
52-Hertz Whales
Kaiki Senyaichiya Monogatari: Kai no Maki
おもかげ
Two Homelands
Amo Taka
Suicide Club
Shows
Say You Love Me
Kaoru Kanzaki
Churasan
Shibata Yoko
Kurenai
Drop-out Teacher Returns to School
Yukiko Ando
Just One Love
Akiko Kanzaki
Live
Kekkon no Risou to Genjitsu
The Most Important Person
A Dangerous Woman
Evil People
Chise Fujishima
Goodbye Mr Ozu
Dangerous Relationship
Ayako Tsuzuki
Middle-aged Bachelors
Kao
Kyoko Higuchi(樋口 京子)
Into the White Night
Taniguchi Mafumi
Dear Father
Fortune Teller
Replay & Destroy
fortune-teller woman
Daisuki!!
Setsuko Kachigawa
And Then There Were None
Erika Konami
Izakaya Fuji
The Public Enemy
Akiko Kawarada
Be with You
Hongo Naomi
Virgin Road
Michi
Fuyō no hito 〜 Fuji sanchō no tsuma
Nonaka Tomiko
Hello, I Love You
Machi Domoto
Half Blue Sky
Kimika Okada
Innocent Days
Michiko Tanaka
Night Hero NAOTO
権田薫子
Atsuhime
Hisa-hime
The Naked Director
Kozue Muranishi
Hakusen Nagashi
Masako Ozawa
Miss Jikocho-Professor Tenno's Survey File
南雲喜里子
Mr. Housekeeper, Mitazono
Yoriko Musubi
Affectionate Time
Kujo Tomoko
Back of Father
Togawa Yasuko
Tsurukame Josanin: Minami no Shima kara
Sugu Shinun Dakara
Mori Kaoru
Concerto
Houkago Groove
Toubousha
Dream Team
Yoshie Andou
Akechi Kogoro vs. Kindaichi Kosuke
Please Don't Chant Buddhist Prayers in the Hospital Room
Shibusawa Wakako
Tokumei! Keiji Dongame
Karyuu No Utage
Death Office
Shingu
夜の終る時
Bambino!
横山秀夫サスペンス シリーズ (TBS)
Welcome to National Treasures
Cleopatra na Onnatachi
The Files of Young Kindaichi
Hiruko Kirigoe
dele
My Happy Divorced Life
Time Limit Investigator
女タクシードライバーの事件日誌
警視庁継続捜査班
女の中の二つの顔
Kazama Kimichika: Kyojo Zero
California Dreamin'
Sanctuary
Yasashii Neko
Matsuko
Trillion Game
Mitsuzono Shizuku
現ナマ弁護士
The Gift of Your Heart
Yukino Aihara
Taro no Tō
Re:リベンジ-欲望の果てに-
Tendo Ichiko