Minakaze Yoko was a Japanese actress affiliated with the Mingei Theatre Company. She was born in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Her husband, Wakasugi Mitsuo, was a film director and producer, and their daughter, Wakasugi Tamami, is also an actress. Former Takarazuka Moon Troupe member Satsuki Rise was a distant relative.

After World War II, Minakaze returned to Kobe from Manchuria. During her involvement in student theater, she was encouraged by Hori Masaki, a director of the Takarazuka Revue and advisor to the Kwansei Gakuin University Drama Club. She graduated from Hyogo Prefectural Daiichi Kobe Girls' High School in 1948, then enrolled in Takarazuka Music School, joining the Takarazuka Revue the following year. As a member of the 36th class, she graduated at the top of her class and formed a duo with her classmate Arima Ineko before retiring from the troupe on March 25, 1953.

Minakaze then signed with Shintoho and joined the Mingei Theatre Company in 1959 on the recommendation of Uno Jukichi.

She passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 19, 2007, at a hospital in Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama, Japan, at the age of 77.

(Source: MyDramaList) Edit Biography