Sakura Hisako, born Kanzaki Fujiko (神崎不二子) in Otemachi, Hiroshima, Japan, was a Japanese actress and former musume-yaku performer of the Takarazuka Girls' Revue (宝塚少女歌劇団). Later in life, she became a Buddhist nun under the name Ogasawara Nichio (小笠原日凰). She was also known as Sakura Hisako (櫻緋紗子 / 桜ヒサ子) and, after marriage, as Ogasawara Fujiko (小笠原不二子).

Her father, a journalist for the Mainichi Shimbun (毎日新聞) Hiroshima bureau, relocated the family to Osaka during her childhood. In 1926, she enrolled at Tezukayama Gakuin Junior High School (帝塚山学院中学), but after her father took a position at Bantsuma Tachibana Universal Union Company (阪妻立花ユニヴァーサル聯合会社), she moved to Kyoto and transferred to Seika Girls' High School (精華高等女学校).

In 1929, encouraged by her uncle, she left school to enter the Takarazuka Music and Opera School (宝塚音楽歌劇学校) as part of the 19th class of the Takarazuka Revue (宝塚歌劇団). She debuted in April 1930 with the Flower Troupe (花組) in Haru no Odori (春のをどり), later transferring to the Star Troupe (星組) in 1934 and joining the Vocal Music Specialization (声楽専科) in 1937. Seeking a stage acting career, she left Takarazuka in 1940 to join the Shinsei Shinpa (新生新派).

She married a Shinpa patron but divorced within a year. She then worked as a secretary at Kureha Aircraft (呉羽航空機) in Tokyo and later at a Western-style dressmaking shop in Yurakucho. Following the resumption of Takarazuka performances, she co-founded Cattleya (カトレア), a store in Ginza selling Takarazuka memorabilia. She also established the Hoyukai (宝友会), an association for Takarazuka alumni, though financial struggles led her to close the shop after a car accident in 1951.

After recovering, she resumed performing, appearing in NHK radio dramas and later rejoining the Shinpa (新派) after its reunification. In 1961, she became a freelance actress but retired in 1965 at age 50 to enter Buddhist monastic life.

She first lived at Nichirinji (日輪寺) in Moto-Hakone before adopting the name Ogasawara Eiho (小笠原英法) and moving to Zuiryuji (瑞龍寺) in Omihachiman, Shiga, a Nichiren-sect monzeki nunnery (門跡尼寺). As head administrator, she provided life counseling for 37 years.

Sakura Hisako passed away on March 20, 2002, at the age of 88 due to chronic heart failure.

(Source: MyDramaList) Edit Biography