Skip to main content
Yōko Minamida
★ Acting

Yōko Minamida

1933 – 2009 · Tokyo, Japan · Active 1952–2007

Yōko Minamida, born in Tokyo in 1933, is best known for her role in the surreal horror film House (1977). With a career that began in the 1950s, she quickly became a prominent figure in Japanese cinema, transitioning from Nikkatsu's youth-centric films to more avant-garde projects. In House, Minamida's performance contributes to the film's chaotic blend of horror and comedy, solidifying its status as a cult classic. Though her later career shifted towards television, her early work remains a significant part of Japan's cinematic landscape.

▶ Watch on SassyFlix 1 film available
House

House

1977 ★ 7.4
as Hausu Karei

In Japan, a young girl known as Gorgeous, so called for her beauty, has plans for a summer vacation with her father who had been in Italy scoring film music. Her father returns home and surprises Gorgeous by announcing she has a new stepmother, Ryoko Ema. This upsets Gorgeous, whose mother had died eight years earlier. Gorgeous goes to her bedroom and writes a letter to her aunt asking to come visit her for the summer instead. Gorgeous' aunt replies and allows her to come visit. Gorgeous invites her six friends, Prof, who is highly academic and very good at problem solving; Melody, who has an affinity for music; Kung Fu, who is athletic and especially skilled at kung fu; Mac, who is highly gluttonous and loves to eat; Sweet, who is bubbly and gentle; and Fantasy, who is a constant daydreamer, to come along with her. On arriving at the aunt's house, the girls are greeted by Gorgeous' aunt, to whom they present a watermelon. After a tour of the home, the girls leave the watermelon in a well to keep it cold. Mac later goes to retrieve the watermelon and does not return. When Fantasy goes to retrieve the watermelon from the well, she finds Mac's head, which flies in the air and bites Fantasy's buttocks before she escapes. The other girls also begin to encounter other supernatural traps throughout the house. The aunt disappears after entering the broken refrigerator, and the girls are attacked or possessed by a series of items in the house, such as Gorgeous becoming possessed after using her aunt's mirror and Sweet disappearing after being attacked by mattresses. The girls try to escape the house, but after Gorgeous is able to leave through a door, the rest of the girls find themselves locked in. The girls try to find the aunt to unlock the door but discover Mac's severed hand in a jar. Melody begins to play the piano to keep the girls' spirits up and they hear Gorgeous singing upstairs. As Prof and Kung Fu go to investigate, Melody's fingers are bitten off by the piano, and it ultimately eats her whole. Upstairs in the house, Kung Fu and Prof find Gorgeous wearing a bridal gown, who then reveals her aunt's diary to them. Kung Fu follows Gorgeous as she leaves the room, only to find Sweet's body trapped in a grandfather clock. Panic-driven, the remaining girls barricade the upper part of the house while Prof, Fantasy and Kung Fu read the aunt's diary. They are interrupted by the giant-sized head of Gorgeous, who reveals that her aunt died many years ago waiting for her fiancée to return from World War II and that her spirit remains, eating unmarried girls who arrive at her home. The three girls are then attacked by household items. Prof shouts to Kung Fu to attack the aunt's cat, Blanche. As Kung Fu lunges into a flying kick, she is eaten by a possessed light fixture. Kung Fu's legs manage to escape and damage the painting of Blanche on the wall, which in turn kills Blanche physically. The attacked Blanche portrait spurts blood, causing the room to flood. Prof tries to read the diary, but a jar with teeth pulls her into the blood, where she dissolves. Fantasy sees Gorgeous in the bridal gown and paddles towards her. Gorgeous appears as her aunt in the reflection in the blood and then cradles Fantasy. In the morning, Ryoko arrives at the house and finds Gorgeous in a classic kimono. Gorgeous tells Ryoko that her friends will wake up soon and that they will be hungry. She then shakes hands with Ryoko and burns her away to nothing. 

Watch Now
Career Highlights Top 6 by popularity · TMDB

Filmography

120 credits
2000s 3 credits
2007
Song of Goodbye as Kyoko Tanabe
Movie ★ 5.0
2004
The Motive as Kinue Ishida
Movie ★ 6.9
2002
Gokusen as Matsubara
TV ★ 8.0
1990s 5 credits
1997
Lost Paradise as Eto Kuniko
TV ★ 6.0
1990
Movie ★ 7.1
1980s 5 credits
1989
Tears of a Swan as Atsuko Kawata
TV
1987
Movie ★ 8.0
1987
Movie
1984
Zero as Ine Hamada
Movie ★ 5.8
1982
Yôi don as 栄市の母・せい
TV
1970s 12 credits
1978
Movie ★ 3.2
1978
Take Me Away! as Tomi Oguchi
Movie ★ 8.0
1977
The Wild Daisy as Fuki - Masao's Mother
Movie ★ 9.0
1977
House as Hausu Karei
Movie ★ 7.3
1976
TV ★ 7.0
1974
Movie ★ 8.5
1972
Movie ★ 6.8
1970
Movie ★ 10.0
1970
Niji as 三谷かな子
TV
1960s 53 credits
1967
Portrait of Chieko as Kazuko Tsubaki
Movie ★ 8.0
1967
Movie ★ 8.0
1966
Movie ★ 7.3
1966
Movie ★ 7.0
1965
The Soundless Cry as Tokie Matsuura
Movie ★ 9.0
1965
Movie ★ 8.0
1965
Movie ★ 7.5
1965
Movie
1964
Movie ★ 5.0
1964
Movie ★ 7.3
1964
Movie ★ 6.5
1964
Prison Gambler as Kimura Uta
Movie ★ 9.0
1964
Gambler as Kimura Uta
Movie ★ 9.0
1963
Movie ★ 9.0
1963
Okashina yatsu as Fujiko, Shuntô
Movie
1963
Movie ★ 8.0
1963
Movie
1963
Movie ★ 7.0
1963
Movie ★ 10.0
1963
Movie
1962
Movie
1962
Movie
1962
Movie
1962
Movie ★ 7.5
1962
Movie
1961
Movie ★ 7.1
1961
Movie
1961
The Crimson Plains as Sakie Yazaki
Movie
1961
Wind and waves of the South as Yasuko, Kazuo's foster mother
Movie
1961
Tokyo Knights as Koji's Mother
Movie ★ 7.0
1961
Movie ★ 6.5
1961
Quick Draw Joe as Jane, the dancer
Movie
1961
Movie
1961
Movie ★ 10.0
1961
Movie ★ 6.0
1960
Movie ★ 9.0
1960
Movie ★ 5.0
1960
Movie ★ 10.0
1960
Movie ★ 7.0
1960
Jungle Block as Kayoko Komuro
Movie ★ 7.0
1960
Movie
1960
Lone Wolf as Naomi
Movie
1950s 42 credits
1959
Yuganda tsuki as Namiko Eda
Movie
1959
Movie
1959
Movie
1959
Movie
1959
Movie
1959
Movie
1959
Movie
1958
Voice Without a Shadow as Asako Kotani
Movie ★ 6.5
1958
Stolen Desire as Chidori Yamamura
Movie ★ 6.6
1958
Movie
1958
Unga as Ryôko Fujiyama
Movie
1957
Movie ★ 7.0
1957
Streetlights as 早川千鶴子
Movie
1957
The Champion as Natsuko Miyagawa
Movie ★ 6.4
1957
Movie ★ 7.3
1957
Movie
1957
Movie
1957
Movie
1956
Season of the Sun as Eiko Takeda
Movie ★ 6.6
1956
The Happy Dancers as Michiko Morishita
Movie
1956
Our Town as Otsuru / Kimie
Movie ★ 6.9
1956
Movie
1956
Hungry Soul as Reiko Shiba
Movie ★ 6.2
1956
Hungry Soul, Part II as Reiko Shiba
Movie ★ 6.5
1955
Movie ★ 6.7
1955
Movie ★ 10.0
1955
Movie ★ 9.0
1955
Movie ★ 10.0
1955
A Daughter's Life Guide as 田部三津子
Movie
1954
Movie ★ 7.8
1954
Movie
1953
Zoku jūdai no seiten as Akiko Yasutomi
Movie
1953
Movie ★ 7.0
1952
Movie ★ 8.0