Actor Haruko Wanibuchi (80) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on June 11th. She looked back on her time acting alongside legendary actress Setsuko Hara in the film "Non-chan Rides the Cloud" (1955).
Wanibuchi's father was violinist Kenshu Wanibuchi. Her mother was Austrian zither player Berta. She started playing the violin at the age of 4 or 5 and became famous as a genius violinist. At the age of 10, she appeared in the film "Non-chan Rides a Cloud" (1955). She made her debut as Hara's daughter.
On the program, photos of Wanibuchi from his childhood were shown. When Tetsuko commented, "You were cute, weren't you?", Wanibuchi responded with humor, "Yes, I was cute when I was little. Now people say I'm annoying (laughs)." Looking back, he said, "I think I was expressing my feelings through music by playing the violin."
When asked by Tetsuko, "When you co-starred with Hara when you were a child, I'm sure you were really pampered," Wanibuchi replied, "It was quite a tough life."
"Of course I had to play the violin, and I also had to go to school. But even when I went to school, I had a hard time fitting in. It was hard to converse smoothly with the students. In that sense, I felt very lonely. My mother always came to school with me. Sometimes stones would be thrown at me... I think she was worried."
When asked about his impression of Hara, with whom he co-starred in the film, he said, "She's a truly beautiful person, so charming that I think my heart would stop at first sight."
