is a Japanese actress and singer.

Biography

After passing the audition for the film produced by Haruki Kadokawa, she began her acting career. Along with teen idols Tomoyo Harada and Noriko Watanabe who debuted from Kadokawa Haruki Corporation, she was often dubbed as one of "Kadokawa Sannin-musume" in her early career.

Yakushimaru made her acting debut in the 1978 movie Never Give Up. She had also worked as a prolific recording artist until her marriage with Kōji Tamaki, the leader of the band Anzen Chitai. According to the Japanese Oricon chart, combined sales of her singles and albums have been estimated approximately 5.9 million copies to date.

Filmography

Film

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Role

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

|1978

! scope="row" | Never Give Up

| Yoriko Nagai

|

  • Japan Academy Prize for Popularity Award

|-

|rowspan=2| 1981

! scope="row" |

| Yuka Mitamura (leading role)

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Izumi Hoshi (leading role)

|

  • Japan Academy Prize for Popularity Award (Character)

|-

| 1982

! scope="row" |

| Kayoko Ōdate (leading role)

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 1983

! scope="row" |

| Naomi Arai (leading role)

|

  • Japan Academy Prize for Popularity Award (Character)

|-

| 1985

! scope="row" |

| Tamako Arisugawa (leading role)

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 1986

! scope="row" | Cabaret

| waitress (cameo)

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Etsuko Kirino (leading role)

|

|-

| 1988

! scope="row" | Downtown Heroes

| Fusako Nakahara (leading role)

|

|-

| 1989

! scope="row" | Ready! Lady

| Ryoko Takahashi (leading role)

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 1990

! scope="row" |

| Midori Yoshikawa (leading role)

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Naoko Hirashima

|

  • Japan Academy Prize for Popularity Award (Character)

|-

| 1992

! scope="row" |

| Shoko Kishida (leading role)

|

|-

| 1993

! scope="row" | Nurse Call

| Kozue Igarashi (leading role)

|

|-

| 1997

! scope="row" |

| Yoko Hioki

|

|-

| 2003

! scope="row" |

| Mirei Asada

|

|-

| 2004

! scope="row" | Lakeside Murder Case

| Minako Namiki

|

|-

|rowspan=3| 2005

! scope="row" |

| O'Hagi no Tsubone

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Yoko Kaneda

|

|-

! scope="row" |Always: Sunset on Third Street

| Tomoe Suzuki

|

  • Japan Academy Film Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
  • Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress
  • Kinema Junpo Year-End – Best Supporting Actress for Domestic Film
  • Hochi Film Award for Best Supporting Actress

|-

|rowspan=3| 2006

! scope="row" |

| Mari Minegishi

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Mirei Asada

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Yoshiko Iida

|

|-

|rowspan=3| 2007

! scope="row" width="300" |Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust

| Mariko Tanaka

|

|-

! scope="row" | Always: Sunset on Third Street 2

| Tomoe Suzuki

|

  • Nominated – Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

|-

! scope="row" |Megane

| Morishita ("Megane"'s Friend)

|

|-

| 2008

! scope="row" |Utatama

| Yuko Senuma

|

|-

| 2009

! scope="row" |Heaven's Door

| Mariko Shiraishi

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 2010

! scope="row" |

| Sakura Kitami

|

  • Nominated – Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

|-

! scope="row" |Hanamizuki

| Ryoko Hirasawa

|

|-

| 2011

! scope="row" |

| Setsuko Kikutani (leading role)

|

|-

| 2012

! scope="row" |Always: Sunset on Third Street 3

| Tomoe Suzuki

|

|-

| 2015

! scope="row" |Sinbad: A Flying Princess and a Secret Island

| Sinbad's Mother (voice)

|

|-

|rowspan=2| 2017

! scope="row" |Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura

| Shizuka

|

|-

! scope="row" |The 8-Year Engagement

| Hatsumi Nakahara

|

|-

|rowspan=1| 2018

! scope="row" |Cafe Funiculi Funicula

| Kayo Kōtake

|

|-

| rowspan=1| 2019

! scope="row" |Black School Rules

| Virginia Woolf

|

|-

| rowspan=1| 2020

! scope="row" |Mio's Cookbook

| Ohyaku

|

|-

| rowspan=2| 2022

! scope="row" |Riverside Mukolitta

| (voice)

|

|-

! scope="row" |Tombi: Father and Son

| Taeko

|

|-

| rowspan=2| 2024

! scope="row" |Last Mile

| Natsuyo Misumi

|

|-

! scope="row" |Blue Period

| Masako Saeki

|

|-

|}

Television

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Role

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

| 1978

! scope="row" |

| Third daughter of the wife

|

|-

| 1979

! scope="row" |

| Kayoko Ōdate (leading role)

| It was released in cinemas later.

|-

| 1997

! scope="row" | Mrs. Cinderella

| Mizuho Kayama (leading role)

|

|-

| rowspan=2| 2000

! scope="row" |

| Miu Minazuki (leading role)

|

|-

! scope="row" | Africa Pole Pole

| Naoko

|

|-

| 2002

! scope="row" |

| Nanami Fujiki (leading role)

|

|-

| 2002

! scope="row" |

| Satomi Kudo (leading role)

|

|-

| 2002

! scope="row" | Kisarazu Cat's Eye

| Mirei Asada

|

|-

| rowspan=2| 2004

! scope="row" |

| Yoshie Tsujimoto

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Chie Aida (leading role)

|

|-

| rowspan=3| 2005

! scope="row" | Tiger & Dragon

| Katsuko Shiraishi

| Guest of Episode 6

|-

! scope="row" |

| Shioka Ikeuchi

|

|-

! scope="row" | Umeko

| Momoko Kawai

|

|-

| rowspan=3| 2007

! scope="row" | Byakkotai

| Shige Sakai

|

|-

! scope="row" | 1 Litre no Namida: Special Edition – Tsuioku

| Shioka Ikeuchi

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Fumika Kawamura

|

|-

| rowspan=4| 2008

! scope="row" |

| Sachiko Nozoe

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Keiko Tamura

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Tome Torihama

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Yuka Enomoto

|

|-

| 2009

! scope="row" |

| Hamako Watanabe (leading role)

|

|-

| rowspan=3| 2010

! scope="row" |

| Nobuko Maehara

| Guest of Episode 5

|-

! scope="row" |

| Chiyoko Suma

|

|-

! scope="row" | Q10

| Kuriko Yanagi

|

|-

| 2011

! scope="row" |

| Shoko Sakuragawa

|

|-

| rowspan=2| 2012

! scope="row" |

| Fukuko Ishii (leading role)

|

|-

! scope="row" |

| Haruko Hasebe

|

|-

| 2013

! scope="row" | Amachan

| Hiromi Suzuka

| Asadora

|-

| 2016

! scope="row" |

| Yuriko Onodera

|

|-

| 2018

! scope="row" | Unnatural

| Natsuyo Misumi

| Special appearance

|-

| 2022

! scope="row" |

| Yamamura

|

|-

|}

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable"

!rowspan="2"|Year

!rowspan="2" width="400"| Album details

!colspan="1" width="20"|Chart positions

!rowspan="2"| Label

|-

!style="width:3em;font-size:90%"|JPN

|-

|1982

|<br><small>(featuring monologue by Hiroko Yakushimaru)</small>

  • Collection of excerpts from the motion pictures that Yakushimaru starred in: Never Give Up <small>(1978)</small> and Nerawareta Gakuen <small>(1981)</small>
  • Released: April 21, 1982

|align="center"|1

|align="center"|Nippon Columbia

|-

|1984

|

  • 1st studio album
  • Released: February 14, 1984

|align="center"|1

|rowspan="8" align="center"|Toshiba EMI/East World

|-

|1985

|

  • 2nd studio album
  • Released: August 8, 1985

|align="center"|2

|-

|1986

|

  • 3rd studio album
  • Released: June 9, 1986

|align="center"|2

|-

|1987

|

  • Live album
  • Released: July 7, 1987

|align="center"|3

|-

|1988

|Sincerely Yours

  • 5th studio album
  • Released: April 6, 1988

|align="center"|8

|-

|1989

|Lover's Concerto

  • 6th studio album
  • Released: February 15, 1989

|align="center"|2

|-

|1990

|Heart's Delivery

  • 7th studio album
  • Released: March 28, 1990

|align="center"|3

|-

|1991

|Primavera

  • 8th studio album
  • Released: March 13, 1991

|align="center"|13

|-

|1998

|

  • 9th studio album
  • Released: February 2, 1998

|align="center"|—

|align="center"|BMG Funhouse

|-

|2018

|Etoile

  • 10th studio album
  • Released: May 9, 2018

|align="center"|18

|rowspan="2" align="center"|Victor Entertainment Japan

|-

|2024

|Tree

  • 11th studio album
  • Released: January 24, 2024

|align="center"|17

|-

|align="center" colspan="4" style="font-size: 85%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

|}

Compilation albums

{|class="wikitable"

!Year

!Album

!Chart positions<br>(JP)

|align="center"|EMI Music Japan

|-

|2021

|